News

CWA members in District 4 who work for SBC Yellow Pages stepped up mobilization as bargaining for a new contract continued past the Aug. 13 expiration as the CWA News went to press.

The contract covers more than 1,200 workers throughout District 4.

After years commanding his telecom empire, former WorldCom boss Bernard Ebbers is now stuck communicating through glass with an old-fashioned handset or making collect calls on a prison pay phone.

CWA reached a tentative five-year agreement with Bell South Corp. covering about 500 employees of Bell South Internet Services, just before the Aug. 6 contract expiration.

With a 95-percent "yes" vote, telephone sales and administrative workers at an Avaya facility in Brandon, Fla., have ratified an agreement that will place them under CWA's main Avaya contract. The contract caps a major organizing victory for the 143 workers and CWA Local 3108.

The 5,500 members of the Canadian Media Guild have been locked out by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation after negotiations broke down over management's demand to hire nearly unlimited numbers of "temporary workers," jeopardizing the jobs and careers of the CBC employees.