CWA District 1 Occupational Safety and Health Conference Call

CWA District 1 Occupational Safety and Health Conference Call Minutes

Conducted Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Agenda-

Participants-

• Chris Young, CWA Local 1040
• Carol Finley, CWA Local 1103
• Maggie Sporbert, Bobby Perez, Treasurer, and Bobby Shannon,Vice President, CWA Local 1105
• Beth Fronczak, CWA Local 1118
• Joe Dunn, CWA Local 1123
• Dana McCarthy, CWA Local 1168
• John Hanson, President, CWA Local 1171
• Micki Siegel de Hernandez, Director, CWA District 1 Safety and Health  Program
• David LeGrande, Director, CWA Occupational Safety and Health  Department.

Introductions-

Ten CWA District 1 OSH activists participated in the conference call. Of these, nine were local union activists representing seven locals. In addition, Micki Siegel de Hernandez represented District 1 Headquarters and David LeGrande the Union's Occupational Safety and Health Department.

CWA Occupational Safety and Health Conference, March 23-25, 2007, Washington, D.C.-

David LeGrande reported 170 OSH activists participated in the conference. Of these, 33 were from District 1 Headquarters and Locals. Also, District 1 had more participants than any other district.  This is indicative of the level of concern, the importance given to safety and health issues, and the number of activities in which District and local leaders and activists are involved.

Further, David thanked all District 1 OSH activists for participating and playing a leadership role in the conference. In particular, he noted the outstanding presentations given by Micki Siegel de Hernandez and Joe Dunn, CWA Local 1123, on electrical hazards; Ted Comick, IUE-CWA 81201, re. effective occupational safety and health committees; and Dana McCarthy,CWA Local 1168, on using occupational safety and health as a tool to help build and strengthen CWA.   

Driving the conference agenda was the electrical hazards issue. Five of the Union's members employed as telecommunications outside plant technicians have suffered fatalities since 2003. During this time, the represented telecommunications employers (of the deceased members), i.e., AT&T and Verizon, have demonstrated more concern about increased profits and productivity than they have regarding abating electrical hazards and, in general, improving working conditions and preventing member injuries, illnesses, and fatalities.

Electrical Hazards-

In response to the OSH Conference presentations, CWA OSH activists (and conference call participants) strongly encouraged the Union's Safety and Health Department to develop additional educational and training materials on electrical hazards, making them available to all CWA officers, staff, and local leaders and members (including OSH activists). The importance of this need was echoed by conference call participants – indicating represented telecommunications employers would not develop comprehensive education and training materials. In developing materials, Micki Siegel de Hernandez pointed out the need to have the materials include coverage of the electrical hazards faced by craft technicians who work with/near power plant equipment.

National and Regional Safety and Health Issues-

Micki Siegel de Hernandez reported on the continuing World Trade Center medical surveillance activities emphasizing the importance of placing pressure upon national, state, and local elected officials for the purpose of continuing and expanding medical surveillance programs for victims of  the September 11, 2001  tragedy. At present, language is included in the 2007-2008 federal appropriations bill that would help accomplish these needs. Also, additional state funding needs to be allocated. CWA and the rest of the labor movement will need to work to ensure necessary funds are provided for medical surveillance. This topic will need to be revisited (at least) annually to ensure there are sufficient funds in future years. 

Also, Micki encouraged all participants to contact local union members letting them know that employees who performed construction and reclamation work at the World Trade Center are eligible to file for workers' compensation protections. However, given the open period for filing a claim only runs through August 14, 2007, time is of the essence (particularly in having CWA members who came from other parts of the U.S. to work in construction and reclamation activities file claims). She suggested introducing this topic at local union meetings, organizing special sign-up meetings at union events, and publicizing the    information via websites.

David LeGrande indicated the renewed interest from and opportunity to work with Congressional staff and members. Thus far, during this Congressional session, legislation has been introduced specific to banning asbestos in the U.S., occupational and environmental chemical security, safe health care worker and patient handling, and improved funding for federal safety and health agencies (including education and training grants). More generally, labor representatives have met with and discussed key congressional staff regarding a variety of other workplace and environmental safety and health issues.

Chris Young, CWA Local 1040, discussed the work of CWA OSH activists, the New Jersey Work Environment Council, and other members of the occupational and public health communities in expanding and strengthening the New Jersey Indoor Air Quality Standard. With additional resources and support from the  Governor's office, this work has led to increased investigative and resolution work.

Micki Siegel de Hernandez mentioned the interest and preliminary work being performed by the New York State AFL-CIO to identify various safety and health issues (e.g., workplace ergonomics, indoor air quality, workers' compensation, and World Trade Center health concerns) for translation into legislative and political activity. Micki asked participants to send her ideas and suggestions for  attention. CWA District 1 Headquarters and local unions will be directly involved in these activities.

Dana McCarthy, CWA Local 1168, noted the efforts he is involved with/at Kaleida Health Care Systems in accessing and identifying the costs savings (regarding health care, workers' compensation, and litigation) produced by the collaborative work of the local union and the employer. This work has been translated into legislative activity within New York State as well as received favorable attention from federal OSHA.  

John Hansen, CWA Local 1171, reported on the work of the Democrats in U.S. Congress to provide safety and health and FMLA coverage for aircraft workers, e.g., passenger agents and flight attendants. This work is being coordinated by Pat Friend, President, AFA-CWA, with the AFA-CWA Legislative and Safety, Health, and Security Departments. Passenger agents and flight attendants are not covered for work performed in/on an aircraft by the Occupational Safety and Health Act and, thus, are left to having the Federal Aviation Administration provide/ensure adherence to safety and health guidelines. Unfortunately, given the lack of resources and lack of commitment/concern for identifying and resolving aircraft safety and health issues, this has meant passenger agents and flight attendants are provided virtually no safety and health protections (while performing work in/on an aircraft).  

Maggie Sporbert and Bob Shannon, CWA Local 1105, discussed the difficulties they are having in getting Verizon to continue their commitment to computer workplace ergonomics. As master trainers, Maggie and Bob have been working with Company  personnel to identify and resolve many problems related to member use of computers and related equipment. This work has included participating in and conducting ergonomics training, evaluating working conditions, and recommending/implementing corrective measures.

However, for more than one year, the Company has been reneging on taking the necessary corrective measures to resolve member ergonomic injuries and illnesses. Recently, contrary to the agreement between the District 1 and the Company, Verizon has introduced a management-only ergonomics training program (thus, preventing the Union from participating). At present, in   coordination with District 1 Headquarters, Local 1105 is working to have this labor-management situation corrected. However, the long-term ramifications of the Company's behavior as well as its continued commitment to working with CWA to correct workplace ergonomics deficiencies and, thus, improve computer workplace ergonomics remains unclear.