April 2011 Districts 2 and 13 OSH Conference Call

CWA Districts 2 and 13 Occupational Safety and Health Conference Call Conducted Wednesday, April 6, 2011 from 10:00 a.m.- 12:00 p.m.

• Participants-

Mark Balsamo, President, CWA Local 2100
Mike Parker, CWA Local 2107
Jim Hilleary, President, and Jesse Davis, CWA Local 2222
Bill Evitt, CWA Representative and
David LeGrande, CWA Occupational Safety and Health Director

• Participant Reports/New Issues-

Jesse Davis, CWA Local 2222, raised the issue of potential radiofrequency emissions and exposure involving Verizon telecommunications technicians. Noting potential health effects, he advocated taking action to ensure members are not exposed to harmful levels of radiofrequency radiation. During a follow-up discussion, Mark Balsamo, CWA Local 2100, noted a potentially harmful exposure occurred among Verizon technicians performing cellular equipment work on top of a government building in Washington, D.C. As a result of this incident, Mark and Local 2336 personnel arranged to have the Company conduct radiofrequency radiation monitoring at agreed upon/selected cellular equipment work locations. Upon completion of this work, the Company has agreed to share this information with CWA personnel and take the necessary preventive action.

• CWA Local 2100 Maryland Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MOSH) Complaint against Verizon-

Mark Balsamo and David LeGrande led a discussion re. the MOSH citation against Verizon’s use of computer-based-only first aid training (rather than instructor-led training). Unfortunately, after Verizon appealed the citation, a Maryland Administrative Law Judge ruled against the MOSH citation. In an attempt to seek legislative relief, CWA District 2 led an unsuccessful effort to have the Maryland legislature pass a bill requiring instructor-led first aid training for telecommunications confined space workers.

• CWA/USW Tony Mazzocchi Center Occupational Safety and Health Training and Regional Conferences-

David LeGrande summarized the development and status of the CWA/USW National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences-funded grant training activities as well as the conducting of joint occupational and environmental safety and health conferences. He mentioned the CWA /USW Regional Occupational and Environmental Safety and Health Conferences are scheduled May 15-20, 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; September 11-16, 2011 in Atlanta, Georgia; and September 25-30, 2011 in Phoenix, Arizona describing the purpose of and topics to be discussed during the regional conferences. He encouraged all conference call participants to attend and recruit for the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania regional conference.

• CWA Heat Stress Campaign- “A Burning Issue-”

David LeGrande reported on the variety of past, present, and future campaign activities including the development of the CWA Heat Stress Fact Sheet, developing and conducting the Union’s Heat Stress Survey, and analyzing collected company policies, and federal and state guidelines/regulations into the recently-produced publication “A Burning Issue.” David encouraged activists to review the fact sheet and report, “A Burning Issue,” with the idea of providing this information to affected local members. Also, he suggested locals should re-initiate member survey distribution and completion efforts. As needed, copies of the materials are available from the CWA Occupational Safety and Health Department. Several participants expressed their interest and satisfaction with this work indicating they would be very active in the campaign efforts.

• Premise/U-Verse Technician Field Safety Guide-

David LeGrande discussed the development, distribution, and use of the CWA U-Verse Technician Field Safety Guide. Developed by CWA leaders and safety and health activists within the CWA District 9 Central Valley Council and available on the CWA Occupational Safety and Health webpage, the guide covers all major workplace safety and health issues experienced by Premise/U-verse technicians. Several participants mentioned they had reviewed the guide and planned to provide/use it to educate AT&T U-Verse and Verizon Premise technicians as well as bring these issues to the attention of employer representatives.

• Workers’ Memorial Day, April 28, 2011-

David LeGrande reminded participants to become engaged in Workers’ Memorial Day activities providing reports and photos of these events. All participants indicated they would be involved in Workers’ Memorial Day events.

• Republican Congress Assault on Occupational and Environmental Safety and Health-

David LeGrande reported on the assault by Republican members of Congress against workplace and environmental safety and health. He suggested we should expect this behavior to continue until we are able to elect worker/environmental friendly candidates to Congress (and other public offices). The need for this activity is also evidenced by the assault on public and private sector workers in Florida, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and several other states.

• Date of the Next CWA Districts 2 and 13 Occupational Safety and Health Conference Call-

The next Districts 2 and 13 Occupational Safety and Health Conference Call is scheduled for Wednesday, July 6, 2011 from 10:00 a.m.- 12:00 p.m.