"Bargaining Update"

The Union and PIW met on February 25, 2008 committed to attaining an agreement that would be favorable for our members.

Details of these continued discussions will be presented to our members during an explanation/ratification meeting to be held in the Hoffman Auditorium at PIW on Wednesday, March 12, 2008. There will be two sessions—7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Final approval by the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission permits the sale of the Verizon Communications operations in northern New England to FairPoint Communications to go forward.

However, the campaign waged by CWA, the IBEW, elected officials and community groups throughout the three states resulted in real improvements in the final deal that will support quality service.

On Friday, February 29, 2008, Local Executive Vice President Mike Harris met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with brothers and sisters from CWA Districts 1, 2, 13 and the IBEW to discuss mobilization strategies in support of our bargaining efforts in this upcoming round of negotiations with Verizon Communications.

This session focused on the development of a mobilization activity timeline from March until August that will display our solidarity and express the seriousness of the Union’s expectations of a fair and equitable outcome.

Also discussed at this session was the necessity of educating our members of the significance of this mobilization activity timeline.

One of the first activities in this mobilization timeline will be the collection of proxies for Verizon’s annual meeting to be held in Lincoln, Nebraska on May 1, 2008. Proxies should be arriving in the mail or to your e-mail shortly. To have the Union deliver your proxy to Verizon:

1. Vote your proxy by placing an "X" in the For, Against, or Abstain box for each proposal. Voting recommendations will be posted at www.cwa-union.org/verizon
2. Sign and date the card where indicated.
3. Bring the proxy card, and the return envelope to your local.

We celebrate Women’s History in the month of March acknowledging and highlighting the significant role exhibited by Women throughout our Nation’s history. The courage, spirit and commitments of Labor Union Women in moving our society forward are especially noted by Local 2336 during this month.

The Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) is an organization that was formed in 1974 to address the critical needs of millions of workingwomen. Four main goals of CLUW were to 1) organize the unorganized, 2) promote affirmative action, 3) increase women’s participation in their unions and 4) increase women’s participation in political and legislative activities.

You may recognize the names of some of the CLUW sisters in this area who are very active in the Labor Movement—CWA National Secretary-Treasurer Barbara Easterling, former AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson, Maryland State Representative Veronica Turner, CLUW President Emeritus Gloria Johnson, Metro DC CLUW President Brenda Savoy and CWA Local 2336 Vice President Claudia Cole—just to name a few.

Every working person can look at the progress being made by these women and say "I can if they can". Two websites that can give you background history are the AFL-CIO www.aflcio.org and CLUW www.cluw.org . You will come away with a new respect for every woman in your life.

Coalition of Labor Union Women 

 Watch your e-mail for more information

On Thursday, February 28, 2008, Executive Vice President Mike Harris testified before the D.C. Committee on Consumer and Regulatory Affairs concerning the failure of the D.C. Public Service Commission (PSC) to serve the public interest by ensuring that the utility companies (especially Verizon) provide safe, reliable and quality service.

According to EVP Harris, "for years, CWA has presented data that Verizon has not met their service requirements. The Office of the People’s Council (OPC) has asked the PSC to investigate the performance of the city’s public telephone network. We know that there are serious Quality of Service problems with telecommunications services. Why, then, is the Public Service Commission not doing their job? Why are they not ensuring safe, reliable and quality service to the public?"

The Union will be submitting recommendations to the Committee on Consumer and Regulatory Affairs on how the PSC could better serve the public interest. It is our hope that this committee considers these recommendations and takes any other steps to insure that public utility companies provide safe, reliable and quality service to the citizens and consumers of D.C.

On March 4, 2008, the D.C. Council voted unanimously to pass the Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act and Mayor Fenty has announced that he plans to sign the bill.

Unfortunately, Council members voted in support of a number of amendments that dramatically affected the bill’s impact and reach. Instead of 90 days, workers now have to serve their employers for a full year before being guaranteed paid time off.

The final version of the bill has the following categories:

• 3 days of paid time off for businesses with 1-24 employees;
• 5 days of paid time off for businesses with 25-99 employees,
• 7 days of paid time off for all others.

D.C. is the first place in the nation to require paid safe days, which victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking can use to address their situations.

Further details, and impact of this act on our members who work in Washington, D.C. is forthcoming.