CWA Newsmakers

Betty Smith, a member of CWA Local 3695 in Charlotte, N.C., and an 18-year employee of Teamsters Local 71, has won a back pay award of $40,000 and full reinstatement to her job. Smith was one of the four workers at the IBT local who voted to form a union in October 1995. Negotiations began immediately and a first contract was signed in January 1996. The IBT local — then under a different administration — refused to recognize the union, but a decision by the full National Labor Relations Board upheld the workers’ position later that year. Smith, who was laid off in November 1996, pressed for reinstatement with the help of CWA Local 3695 President Dean Haskett, pictured above with Smith. After years of appeals by the IBT local, the full NLRB recently upheld the original decision reached by both the initial hearing and regional panel. Smith was awarded $40,000 in back pay and benefits, and her job. Haskett also noted that a new administration in the Teamsters local helped resolve the case.

Doris Crouse-Mays, a past CWA District 2 organizer recently appointed as the AFL-CIO’s field director in Virginia, was named “Woman of the Year” recently by the Western Virginia chapter of CLUW, the Coalition of Labor Union Women. Known as the Bread and Roses award, it was presented to Crouse-Mays by CWA Secretary-Treasurer Barbara Easterling. The plaque honored Crouse-Mays for “your dedication to the labor movement and your work on behalf of working men and women of Virginia.” Crouse-Mays is a member of TNG-CWA Local 32035.

David Weiner, president of CWA Local 1081, has been honored for years of volunteer work at United Way of Essex and West Hudson counties in New Jersey. Weiner received the chapter’s annual Connie Woodruff Award, named for a 50-year community volunteer. Weiner is vice chairman of the chapter’s board of trustees and has been a board member for more than a decade. He also chairs the resource investment committee and chaired the bylaws revisions committee. His behind-the-scenes efforts are invaluable, said Donna Dolce, director of the chapter’s Volunteer Institute. “He’s the silent, conscientious dependable worker who ensures that the systems and operations are fully intact so the organization runs smoothly,” she said. “He’s extremely knowledgeable and sensitive to the social needs of the Newark area, and able to align the resources of those who have with the resources of those in need.”

Locals 1103 and 1120, two large CWA locals in central New York state, have merged. The 1,600 members of Local 1120 are now members of Local 1103, bringing its membership to more than 4,000. Both locals comprised public and private employees, including many Verizon workers. As Verizon grew, the locals decided that merging would give them more clout in dealing with the increasingly impersonal company, said 1103 Vice President Michael Jordan, formerly the executive vice president of 1120. In addition to Jordan, the new 1103 executive board comprises President Bob McCracken, longtime president of 1103; EVPs Glenn Carter, former president of 1120, and John Black, former EVP with 1103; Treasurer Doug Sheahan, former secretary-treasurer of 1103; and Secretary Paula Belluardo, former secretary-treasurer of 1120. McCracken, center, and Carter, left, are pictured above at the merger’s signing ceremony. The new local covers the state north of New York City to just south of Albany, west to Sullivan County and east into Connecticut.

Alan Goldblatt, an executive board member of CWA Local 1180, was honored in December by the AFL-CIO for his work on the employment of people with disabilities. Goldblatt, who heads 1180’s disability committee, was recognized at a conference sponsored by the AFL-CIO’s Civil and Human Rights Department and the Subcommittee on Labor of the President’s Committee on the Employment of People with Disabilities. A letter from the two organizations to Goldblatt said, “We extend this honor for your leadership and work on behalf of labor for the advancement of people with disabilities.”