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Cooperation, Creative Thinking Keys to Organizing Success
CWA Executive Vice President Larry Cohen set the tone for honoring individuals and locals who work to build CWA by presenting a choice: "Stronger together or weaker forever."
"We grow strong by working together," he pointed out, noting that through organizing and through its merger with the IUE, in the past year CWA has grown by more than 126,000 members.
He acknowledged the difficulties many locals face in building their power, developing an organizing plan and mobilizing to bring in new members, often workers in companies and occupations the local has never represented.
But he challenged locals to avoid the alternative: "Standing still means weaker forever," he said. "That is the nature of this economy."
He challenged members in every field and sector to "consistently practice building unity in the fight for economic justice, understanding that it has been at least 50 years - someone else's lifetime - since it was this difficult for union builders and members."
He praised locals and staff for organizing efforts that were not successful in overcoming management resistance, efforts that won small increases in membership that never received formal recognition, and for cooperative efforts involving two or more locals such as the Printing Sector's I-95 project which has organized numerous small shops along the interstate corridor and joint work by the San Jose Newspaper Guild and CWA Local 9423 and by locals that comprise the Arizona CWA Council.
The delegates applauded four workers Cohen brought to the stage to highlight the struggles they are facing to build CWA: Brian Malobisky of Local 13000 spoke of his local's successful campaign to organize 600 AT&T Broadband workers in Pittsburgh, Pa. (see story page 5); President Angelo Andujar of recently chartered Local 3010 in Puerto Rico told of his and colleagues successful struggle to organize 400 installers who perform work for the Verizon-controlled Puerto Rico Telephone Company; and Brooke Cavanaugh and Bob Hale, sales representatives for Verizon Information Services, thanked the membership for support in Baltimore, Md., where 80 percent of their co-workers have signed cards for CWA membership.
The union is battling legal maneuvers by Verizon to escape its commitment to card check and neutrality for the Baltimore workers and for hundreds of others around the country.
President's Award
Acting on a recommendation from District 7 Vice President John Thompson, CWA President Morton Bahr presented the President's Annual Award for organizing excellence to the Arizona CWA Council and in particular to Locals 7026, 7019, 7050 and 7077.
The delegates applauded wildly for Local 7026 President and Council Chair Michael McGrath, Local 7019 President Joe Gosiger, Local 7050 President Annie Rogers and Local 7077 President Chuck Foy. Each received a blue plaque engraved with a rendering of the famous Stetson hat worn by CWA's founding President Joe Beirne, and McGrath on behalf of the council accepted a marble and cast metal Stetson statuette. The name of the Council will also be engraved on a 3-foot-tall statue displayed at conventions and at CWA headquarters, bearing the names of all recipients since 1972, the year Beirne established the award.
"Here's Arizona, one of the toughest states to organize, and CWA has more that 4,000 new members," Bahr pointed out. "All of CWA can learn from what these locals have accomplished."
Local 7026 organized 1,500 administrative and professional city workers in Tucson by last August. The local turned in 600 signed cards to get an election, ran an energetic campaign and nearly tripled its size, expanding union representation from 15 to all 23 city departments.
Local 7077 organized 2,150 corrections officers plus an additional 900 members in 18 law enforcement groups across the state.
Local 7050 won a neutrality and consent election in June 1999 and a first contract last August for 223 workers at AT&T Local Services in Mesa, Ariz. The election was a test case, leading to CWA's agreement with AT&T for neutrality and consent elections nationwide. The local now represents 400 AT&T ALS members.
Local 7019 played a major roll in a campaign involving several locals at Valor Telecommunications installations in the Southwest. The local signed up 90 Valor customer service representatives in Espanola, N.M. The mostly Hispanic-owned company is made up of former GTE properties.
McGrath thanked local organizers and officers throughout the state and regional and national CWA officers for their support. He singled out several officers serving on the Council but not named in the award, particularly Local 7032 President Dean Shelton, Local 7060 President Ellen Rojas, Local 7090 President Dennis Aycock, and the president of Local 7096 who recently resigned because of illness, Michael Harper.
District 7 Organizing Coordinator Kevin Mulligan and Chris Kennedy, assistant to CWA Public and Health Care Workers Vice President Brooks Sunkett, were "pivotal in some of the strategies we put together," McGrath said.
"There are entirely too many people to thank," McGrath said, "because that is the basis for our success."
Organizing Awards
Cohen presented checks for $1,000 and awards recognizing their accomplishment to 30 locals that each organized more than 100 members in the past year, including for the first time two from the IUE-CWA Industrial Division: Local 768, Dayton, Ohio, organized 252 workers at Jamestown Inc. (see story page 5), and Local 717, Warren, Ohio, signed up 200 members at Lexington Connectors. Continuing a tradition established at the last convention, Local 1101 received $5,000 and special recognition as the ninth local to receive an Organizing Award five or more times.
In what Cohen called a "record year," the locals receiving Organizing Awards accounted for more than 7,000 new members. In addition to those above, they are: Locals 1032, 1034 and 1040, Trenton, N.J.; 1105, Bronx, 31003, New York City, 1118, Albany, 1168 and 1122, Buffalo, 1123, Syracuse, and 1108, Patchogue, N.Y.; 1165, North Andover, Mass.; 2201, Richmond, Va.; 3121, Hialeah, Fla.; 4100, Detroit, Mich.; 4202, Waukegan, Ill.; 4320, Columbus, and 4340, Cleveland, Ohio; 4603, Milwaukee, Wis.; 6171, San Angelo, and 6200, Fort Worth, Texas; 7077, Glendale, Ariz.; 7901, Portland, Ore.; 7911, Albuquerque, N.M.; 9400, Los Angeles, 9588, Colton, and 39521, San Francisco, Calif.; and 13000, Philadelphia, Pa.
"We grow strong by working together," he pointed out, noting that through organizing and through its merger with the IUE, in the past year CWA has grown by more than 126,000 members.
He acknowledged the difficulties many locals face in building their power, developing an organizing plan and mobilizing to bring in new members, often workers in companies and occupations the local has never represented.
But he challenged locals to avoid the alternative: "Standing still means weaker forever," he said. "That is the nature of this economy."
He challenged members in every field and sector to "consistently practice building unity in the fight for economic justice, understanding that it has been at least 50 years - someone else's lifetime - since it was this difficult for union builders and members."
He praised locals and staff for organizing efforts that were not successful in overcoming management resistance, efforts that won small increases in membership that never received formal recognition, and for cooperative efforts involving two or more locals such as the Printing Sector's I-95 project which has organized numerous small shops along the interstate corridor and joint work by the San Jose Newspaper Guild and CWA Local 9423 and by locals that comprise the Arizona CWA Council.
The delegates applauded four workers Cohen brought to the stage to highlight the struggles they are facing to build CWA: Brian Malobisky of Local 13000 spoke of his local's successful campaign to organize 600 AT&T Broadband workers in Pittsburgh, Pa. (see story page 5); President Angelo Andujar of recently chartered Local 3010 in Puerto Rico told of his and colleagues successful struggle to organize 400 installers who perform work for the Verizon-controlled Puerto Rico Telephone Company; and Brooke Cavanaugh and Bob Hale, sales representatives for Verizon Information Services, thanked the membership for support in Baltimore, Md., where 80 percent of their co-workers have signed cards for CWA membership.
The union is battling legal maneuvers by Verizon to escape its commitment to card check and neutrality for the Baltimore workers and for hundreds of others around the country.
President's Award
Acting on a recommendation from District 7 Vice President John Thompson, CWA President Morton Bahr presented the President's Annual Award for organizing excellence to the Arizona CWA Council and in particular to Locals 7026, 7019, 7050 and 7077.
The delegates applauded wildly for Local 7026 President and Council Chair Michael McGrath, Local 7019 President Joe Gosiger, Local 7050 President Annie Rogers and Local 7077 President Chuck Foy. Each received a blue plaque engraved with a rendering of the famous Stetson hat worn by CWA's founding President Joe Beirne, and McGrath on behalf of the council accepted a marble and cast metal Stetson statuette. The name of the Council will also be engraved on a 3-foot-tall statue displayed at conventions and at CWA headquarters, bearing the names of all recipients since 1972, the year Beirne established the award.
"Here's Arizona, one of the toughest states to organize, and CWA has more that 4,000 new members," Bahr pointed out. "All of CWA can learn from what these locals have accomplished."
Local 7026 organized 1,500 administrative and professional city workers in Tucson by last August. The local turned in 600 signed cards to get an election, ran an energetic campaign and nearly tripled its size, expanding union representation from 15 to all 23 city departments.
Local 7077 organized 2,150 corrections officers plus an additional 900 members in 18 law enforcement groups across the state.
Local 7050 won a neutrality and consent election in June 1999 and a first contract last August for 223 workers at AT&T Local Services in Mesa, Ariz. The election was a test case, leading to CWA's agreement with AT&T for neutrality and consent elections nationwide. The local now represents 400 AT&T ALS members.
Local 7019 played a major roll in a campaign involving several locals at Valor Telecommunications installations in the Southwest. The local signed up 90 Valor customer service representatives in Espanola, N.M. The mostly Hispanic-owned company is made up of former GTE properties.
McGrath thanked local organizers and officers throughout the state and regional and national CWA officers for their support. He singled out several officers serving on the Council but not named in the award, particularly Local 7032 President Dean Shelton, Local 7060 President Ellen Rojas, Local 7090 President Dennis Aycock, and the president of Local 7096 who recently resigned because of illness, Michael Harper.
District 7 Organizing Coordinator Kevin Mulligan and Chris Kennedy, assistant to CWA Public and Health Care Workers Vice President Brooks Sunkett, were "pivotal in some of the strategies we put together," McGrath said.
"There are entirely too many people to thank," McGrath said, "because that is the basis for our success."
Organizing Awards
Cohen presented checks for $1,000 and awards recognizing their accomplishment to 30 locals that each organized more than 100 members in the past year, including for the first time two from the IUE-CWA Industrial Division: Local 768, Dayton, Ohio, organized 252 workers at Jamestown Inc. (see story page 5), and Local 717, Warren, Ohio, signed up 200 members at Lexington Connectors. Continuing a tradition established at the last convention, Local 1101 received $5,000 and special recognition as the ninth local to receive an Organizing Award five or more times.
In what Cohen called a "record year," the locals receiving Organizing Awards accounted for more than 7,000 new members. In addition to those above, they are: Locals 1032, 1034 and 1040, Trenton, N.J.; 1105, Bronx, 31003, New York City, 1118, Albany, 1168 and 1122, Buffalo, 1123, Syracuse, and 1108, Patchogue, N.Y.; 1165, North Andover, Mass.; 2201, Richmond, Va.; 3121, Hialeah, Fla.; 4100, Detroit, Mich.; 4202, Waukegan, Ill.; 4320, Columbus, and 4340, Cleveland, Ohio; 4603, Milwaukee, Wis.; 6171, San Angelo, and 6200, Fort Worth, Texas; 7077, Glendale, Ariz.; 7901, Portland, Ore.; 7911, Albuquerque, N.M.; 9400, Los Angeles, 9588, Colton, and 39521, San Francisco, Calif.; and 13000, Philadelphia, Pa.