Mobilization Report

Mobilization moves forward through the Independence Day Weekend.

Saturday July 4th is a National holiday, but for those of you that do not normally work on a Saturday, CWA negotiated Friday to be the observed holiday.  You either have the day off, or you are making time and a half plus 8 hours pay for working on the holiday.   

This is just one of the many types of Union negotiated benefits that AT&T would like to remove from the contract.  Some of the other proposed retrogressions would have devastating effects on many of our active and retired workers. 

As you enjoy your Holiday weekend, remember:  there is much work to be done.  We have an opportunity this weekend during many festivals & parades to alert the public about AT&T's Corporate Greed, their AT&Tack on middle class jobs & families and the sick idea of cutting Healthcare for retirees.  Bring your signs and leaflets with you to every public event, ask for support on www.StandUpForWorkers.com and ask Elected Officials to write letters to Randall Stephenson demanding a fair contract for workers at AT&T.

It has been a busy week as Locals gear up for the 3-month contract expiration anniversary Saturday.  Here are the reportable actions from around the country:

1058 continues to "work to the rule" and wear red on Thursdays.  Our members have been writing to Congress asking them to send a letter to AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson requesting him to bargain justly and fairly with CWA.  Additional inside and many outside actions are planned for the month of July.

1062 members joined in the Health Care Rally last Thursday in Washington, D.C. Represented employees of AT&T continue to wear RED on Thursdays, BLACK on Fridays, and wear their CWA button every day while working to the rule to make sure we are in compliance with AT&T's expectation with every interaction.  1062 is still looking for clickers, so if you have extras in small quantity let us know!

1152 is standing up at 12:00 p.m. every day, making loud noise with our rulers, banging them on the metal rail of our pods, while reps randomly shouting out "Contract! Health Care! Job security! Strike! We are Standing strong and ready to walk the talk!!!".

1153 has a 90-95% compliance with wearing red Monday thru Thursday and black on Fridays. We have 100% compliance with no voluntary overtime and ensuring that EVERY customer gets every single thing we can do for them no matter HOW long it takes. We shake red Easter eggs filled with Good and Plenty candy at various times through the day to keep management on their toes.  We have staged an informational picket in front of the 440 Hamilton Avenue office building in White Plains, NY and will be doing so again soon. We have mini picket signs on all desks and many regular picket signs that read "I Don't Want to Strike.... But I Will." hanging all over the office. We have boycotted the company sponsored "Recognition Parties." And our Outside Plant and Construction Techs are performing Safety Checks every day.

2252 is standing hourly and clicking, members are wearing red.  The Local continues to prepare for and participate in outside actions including visits to AT&T stores and other public events.

3204 wears red every Thursday. The primary focus has been outreach through meetings and public radio to all represented workers and the community.  Churches, Labor Council and AFL-CIO are asking for support and to write letters to their Legislators.  

3310 met in Washington with legislators and asked for support of CWA in our fight for a fair contract at AT&T, Employee Free Choice Act & Healthcare Reform.   Members have continued to write their legislators and complete an online healthcare survey.  We proudly wear red on Thursdays, and continue to prepare for the SE negotiations that begin in July.  

4320 has the homemade billboard signs out and about in the city once again this week.  We had the trucks at Sterling last week.  We have also been receiving phone calls from the management at AT&T Mobility Corporate Stores asking us not to have our signs at their locations.  We will be visiting more of them across the state of Ohio!  We also plan on doing a "feet to the street" campaign.  We are in the process of contacting the Ohio AFL-CIO for home address information so we can do leaflets to other union member households, and tell them our story on how AT&T is refusing to negotiate in good faith with us, and ask them to contact www.StandUpForWorkers.com.  We are looking into doing some phone banking to our membership as well.  Informational picketing continue at our garage locations daily before and after work.  Additional outside actions include those at Apple & Authorized agent stores continue.

4340 members sent a strong message to AT&T that they will continue their boycott of overtime until a fair and equitable contract is reached.  During their standing room only meeting to discuss future mobilization, Local 4340 membership spoke out, in no uncertain terms, that they remain as unified as ever.  AT&T needs to get the message that "we won't back down". 

4998 Along with wearing red on Thursdays and our Apple store activities, we have posted mini picket signs saying "ready to walk".  We have posted WE SUPPORT OUR BARGAINING TEAM posters, as well as almost daily bargaining updates. We are also getting ready to send "Dance Cards" to Randall Stephenson. The dance cards include our names, city/state and number of years' service.  We are reminding Mr. Stephenson that, even though he is NOT a member of the "Real Generator of Revenue Club", The Active and Retired Revenue Generators still want to invite him to the Ball. CWA wants to remind him that you dance with the ones who brought you! We need Randy to know that WE Built the Network! WE Built customer Loyalty! WE built the company! CWA expects to be treated with fairness and dignity that our years of loyal service have earned us. Lowering the standard of living of active employees and abandoning the promise made to retirees are unconscionable ways to save a dime! We will continue to fight the fight with our bargaining team until we have a contract that is fair for active and retired workers!

6203 Convention Delegates said it was fantastic to see & hear Vice President Joe Biden at the 71st National Convention, as well as Hilda Solis, Secretary of Labor and Tom Harkin-Iowa U.S. Senate talk about Employee Free Choice Act, Health Care Reform and Labor Relations and their support & unity.  Delegates also met with several Legislators or their Aids.  We attended the massive rally regarding Health Care on Capitol Hill.  Back in Lubbock the members wore red on Thursday & black on Friday.  Also, the talk show on Clear Fox 950am with host & retiree, Linda DeLeon & guest speaker, Local Core Vice President Joy Fabry, for public awareness regarding the contract & negotiations happened on Saturday, June 19th.  They had a great response for the show & also the show was streamed video.  Follow up talks will be schedule to keep people aware.  Also, still working on our float for the 4th of July Parade which will include not only our CWA local but we will have members & support from locals that will be with us of postal workers, IBEW, Sheet Metal Workers, Iron Workers, Asbestos Workers, Teachers, to state a few.

6350 continue the Click or Picket at the prescribed times through the day, evening, and night tours.  At this stage of our mobilization efforts the clickers are starting to wear out (like many of the managers patience), some members have take plastic water bottles and put a number of tacks or pennies inside and shake them instead of clicking.  Our big event was an Informational Picket in front of the toll building at 2651 Olive St., Downtown St. Louis.  Members and retirees withstood the sunny 96 degree heat and humidity.  We grilled hot dogs which brought out more members during their break and lunch periods.  We were joined by MR. Bill Wildoner and Sonja, Local 6300 Mobilization Coordinator.  We were able to get KMOX radio & FOX 2 News. Overall we had great participation from the membership for the picket.  See the pictures posted on www.CWAatATT.com we included a picture of the company spy who has taken pictures of our events in the past.

6377 continues to wear RED on Thursday and BLACK on Fridays.  We work to rule, making sure to dot our "i's" and cross our "t's".  While in Washington, DC, we solicited legislator to send CEO Stephenson a letter in our behalf.  We will follow-up to make sure the letter is written and sent.

6450 stands at 10am and 2pm for five minutes. We also wear Red every Thursday and Black every Friday. As well as continue to encourage all members to send letters to President Obama and State elected officials regarding our struggle to get a fair contract and corporate greed.

7050 members remained focused on providing the highest quality service while maintaining worker safety.  Many states have OSHA regulations regarding the supply of drinking water in warm climates.  We are approaching the hottest part of the year and need to make sure that every member is safe on the job.

7250 Mobilizers gathered for an action at one of the Apple Stores Saturday.   Saturday & Sunday CWA joined the AFL-CIO at the GLBT Pride Festival & Parade where thousands of flyers were distributed and signatures collect for our www.StandUpForWorkers.com  petition, and we received much public support.   Wednesday Local Officers joined thousands on the steps of the MN State Capitol for the celebration to finally seat Senator Al Franken.  We also took this opportunity to tell hundreds more our message about AT&T's corporate greed, as well as at the Health Care Forum sponsored by Congressman Keith Ellison Wednesday night.   We have asked our Technicians across 5 states to make sure they have all of the necessary equipment to perform their jobs safely, and inside actions continue.

7750 is still fighting. Friday June 26th we handed out 100 black balloons for the solidarity walk. The theme was "Black Friday, leave a trail" so walkers took the balloons back to their desk and management asked who's birthday is it? They were surprised to learn the balloons were for the death of our contract not someone's birthday. July 1st we'll have American flags for the people at our informational picket. The flags are in honor of the retirees who helped fight the battles to give us the contract that management let expire. We continue to wear red, black or union attire daily.

13550 Made 30x20 signs for the office to display throughout the floor. Tuesday President Schaffer appeared on the Union Edge Talk Show, which is now streamlined on the internet.  We have been taking every opportunity to get word out to the public.   We continue to stand and click and squawk in the office and are making more signs for the office throughout the week.  See the photos on www.CWAatATT.com, click photos.

CWA members pride themselves on performing quality work safely.  If you experience unsafe working conditions, please be sure to report them to your Local Steward or Officer.  You can also contact OSHA directly and then notify your Local Union.  Make sure your safety and protective gear is functioning properly.

If you experience changes in working conditions (i.e. change in office policies; instituting new rules or guidelines) or any other Unfair Labor Practice (ULP), make sure to get specifics to bbates@cwa-union.org.  He is working with CWA Legal to keep track of the ULPs committed during bargaining.  Locals should be filing charges with the National Labor Relations Board

Summer fairs, festivals, farmers markets and any other public event is a great time for us to be spreading the message of AT&T's Corporate Greed.  Our collective action inside and outside the company is the only way to maintain affordable healthcare and get the fair and equitable contract we all need and deserve.   

If you have any questions or comments about this report, or would like to submit a your actions, please contact cwainfo@gmail.com

Stay Strong!  Stay Mobilized!