Bargaining Update

BREAKING!

Momentive Performance Materials

Workers at the Momentive chemical plant in Waterford, N.Y., have reached a tentative agreement after standing together for 14 weeks on the picket line. Details of the tentative settlement are being provided to the 700 members of IUE-CWA Locals 81359 and 81380; contract explanation meetings will be held this weekend. If members ratify the proposed agreement, they will return to work on February 15.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was directly involved in the negotiations and helped bring about the tentative settlement. Many New York State elected officials supported the Momentive workers and joined them on the picket line. The strikers were bolstered by support from throughout the labor movement. 

CWA District 1 Vice President Dennis Trainor said the CWA bargaining team "believes it has hammered out a deal that will give our members – both active employees and retirees – peace of mind for themselves and their families."

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Avaya

CWA has been named a member of the creditors committee as part of Avaya's bankruptcy filing. The creditors committee plays a significant role in investigating the company's actions and overall financial condition, and in overseeing the process of reorganization. The other committee members are AT&T, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., SAE Power, Flextronics, Network One, and Westron.

Separate from this role, CWA and the bankruptcy counsel we have retained will continue to diligently represent our members' interests, said Lisa Bolton, vice president of Telecommunications and Technologies. CWA represents about 550 active workers and thousands of retirees at Avaya. 

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Doña Ana County Sheriff's Department

Deputies, sergeants, and investigators in the Doña Ana County (New Mexico) Sheriff's Department will receive pay raises and be covered by the CWA local's proposed new contract following a federal arbitrator's decision that was affirmed by a state district court judge.

The final step in the process is approval of the contract by the Doña Ana County Board of County Commissioners. That meeting is scheduled for Feb. 14.

The 90 Sheriff's Department staff, members of CWA Local 7911, will receive pay increases totaling $750,000. The total value to workers of the contract that's been affirmed is $1.1 million.

Members of Local 7911 in Doña Ana County, N.M., celebrate their contract win.

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AT&T Mobility

By a 93 percent vote, AT&T Mobility workers authorized a strike if a fair contract can’t be reached.

The contract covering more than 21,000 retail workers, technicians, and customer service representatives in Districts 1, 2-13, 4, 7, and 9 expires on Feb. 11.

On a media conference call announcing the strike vote, Ghiajaira Paz, a retail store worker in New York, said now there were just four floor representatives in her store, down from seven not too long ago. "I can't take so much as an hour off because we're short-staffed…And because of cuts in our commission structure, I have to make more sales and work ten times as hard to get the same amount of commission as I did before."

Nicole Popis, a customer service representative in Illinois, said AT&T is continuing to cut call center jobs, sending thousands offshore. "At my call center, I’ve seen our staff shrink from 200 employees down to 130, and I worry about my job constantly."

On Friday, AT&T Mobility workers will rally in 35 cities, coast to coast. Actions also will be held on Saturday, Feb. 11 as CWAers countdown to contract expiration. Read more here.

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DIRECTV

Bargaining got underway this week covering about 300 technicians, warehouse, and administrative workers at DIRECTV Mid-Atlantic and West, in Delaware, Maryland, New Mexico, and Oregon.

The CWA bargaining team, from left: Lisa Fazzini, D2-13; Jay Boyle, D7; Manuel Gonzalez, Local 7011; Steve Jaynes, Local 7906; Michael Lewis, Local 2106; and Martha Flagge, T and T.