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Organizing Roundup
More Than 500 California Court Interpreters Join CWA
The ranks of union-organized court interpreters in California are growing quickly, thanks to the efforts of the energized interpreters and the Northern California Media Guild, TNG-CWA Local 39521.
Three groups of interpreters, totaling more than 500 new members, have now been certified to join the local after successful card-check organizing campaigns.
The first group, from Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo, brought about 350 members into the local after 74 percent signed cards supporting representation. Since then, a group of 125 interpreters in San Diego has been certified, as well as 82 more interpreters from the Bay Area.
CWA District 9 and the AFL-CIO lobbied for and won passage of a law last year granting the interpreters employee status and the right to unionize through card check, District 9 Organizing Coordinator Libby Sayre said. The law went into effect July 1 and "we submitted cards by July 18," she said.
"This outcome goes beyond choosing a representative," said Silvia Barden, president of the California Federation of Interpreters, which represents foreign-language and sign- language court interpreters. "It makes a strong statement that interpreters are ready to join ranks and actively participate in defining our collective, professional future."
Brothers Spark Intellicoat Campaign
Manufacturing workers at Intellicoat in South Hadley, Mass., now have a union because two brothers, one an IUE-CWA local president and the other a non-represented plant employee, worked together with CWA and IUE-CWA staff from concept to victory in a National Labor Relations Board election. The vote: 186-28 for a unit of 225.
Plant worker Bobby Sexton and his brother George, president of IUE-CWA Local 81228, discussed some of the problems at Intellicoat months ago. Management cut pay by $1 to $4 an hour in various departments and raised the amount workers paid for health care premiums. Arbitrary scheduling and work rules also drove the workers to seek a union.
District 1 Organizing Coordinator Erin Bowie got a tip from George Sexton in July, and together with IUE-CWA Representatives Keith Sweeney and Eddie Oakley helped the workers form an organizing committee.
Bobby Sexton, Mike and Bernice Kecki, Debbie Geaughan and others distributed information, did assessments and got 60 percent of the workers to sign a public unity pledge. George Sexton, who knew plant insiders and had their trust, met several times with the workers to explain the benefits of representation.
"We had people wearing t-shirts and buttons early in the campaign, and that helped push us to an overwhelming victory," Bowie said.
Organizers Paula Samolik of Local 1298 and Migdalia Santiago of Local 1032 also pitched in to help with phone banking as the vote, on Sept. 11, drew near.
The new bargaining unit has not yet been assigned a local.
Solidarity, Neutrality Pay Off at QCS
A CWA and IUE-CWA combined organizing committee worked wonders at Quality Containment Systems in Rochester, N.Y., bringing 54 light manufacturing and parts-sorting workers into the union.
Formed about a year ago, following a District 1 organizing retreat, the CWA Local 1170 and IUE-CWA 81509 committee did all the follow-up after the CWA Organizing Department negotiated a cardcheck and neutrality agreement in August. The employer, who provides contract services for Valeo, Xerox and other unionized employers, hoped to expand his business by having a unionized workforce.
More than 70 percent of the workers signed cards, which were verified by a neutral third party from the Cornell University Extension Service.
"We always tell people that over half of all Americans want a union and would vote for one if they had a chance," said Local 1170 President Linda McGrath. "This shows what can be accomplished - and fairly quickly and easily - when the employer remains neutral."
Local 1170 Organizer Don DePerna, who with Local 81509 Organizer Jeff Nieznanski helped finalize the card check agreement, said the employer granted the union access to the day shift, but that a blitz of house visits by IUE-CWA committee members Bruce Kulp, Loretta Pope, Gary Cranker and Buddy Granston - all retirees - was instrumental to getting swing- and night-shift workers on board.
The ranks of union-organized court interpreters in California are growing quickly, thanks to the efforts of the energized interpreters and the Northern California Media Guild, TNG-CWA Local 39521.
Three groups of interpreters, totaling more than 500 new members, have now been certified to join the local after successful card-check organizing campaigns.
The first group, from Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo, brought about 350 members into the local after 74 percent signed cards supporting representation. Since then, a group of 125 interpreters in San Diego has been certified, as well as 82 more interpreters from the Bay Area.
CWA District 9 and the AFL-CIO lobbied for and won passage of a law last year granting the interpreters employee status and the right to unionize through card check, District 9 Organizing Coordinator Libby Sayre said. The law went into effect July 1 and "we submitted cards by July 18," she said.
"This outcome goes beyond choosing a representative," said Silvia Barden, president of the California Federation of Interpreters, which represents foreign-language and sign- language court interpreters. "It makes a strong statement that interpreters are ready to join ranks and actively participate in defining our collective, professional future."
Brothers Spark Intellicoat Campaign
Manufacturing workers at Intellicoat in South Hadley, Mass., now have a union because two brothers, one an IUE-CWA local president and the other a non-represented plant employee, worked together with CWA and IUE-CWA staff from concept to victory in a National Labor Relations Board election. The vote: 186-28 for a unit of 225.
Plant worker Bobby Sexton and his brother George, president of IUE-CWA Local 81228, discussed some of the problems at Intellicoat months ago. Management cut pay by $1 to $4 an hour in various departments and raised the amount workers paid for health care premiums. Arbitrary scheduling and work rules also drove the workers to seek a union.
District 1 Organizing Coordinator Erin Bowie got a tip from George Sexton in July, and together with IUE-CWA Representatives Keith Sweeney and Eddie Oakley helped the workers form an organizing committee.
Bobby Sexton, Mike and Bernice Kecki, Debbie Geaughan and others distributed information, did assessments and got 60 percent of the workers to sign a public unity pledge. George Sexton, who knew plant insiders and had their trust, met several times with the workers to explain the benefits of representation.
"We had people wearing t-shirts and buttons early in the campaign, and that helped push us to an overwhelming victory," Bowie said.
Organizers Paula Samolik of Local 1298 and Migdalia Santiago of Local 1032 also pitched in to help with phone banking as the vote, on Sept. 11, drew near.
The new bargaining unit has not yet been assigned a local.
Solidarity, Neutrality Pay Off at QCS
A CWA and IUE-CWA combined organizing committee worked wonders at Quality Containment Systems in Rochester, N.Y., bringing 54 light manufacturing and parts-sorting workers into the union.
Formed about a year ago, following a District 1 organizing retreat, the CWA Local 1170 and IUE-CWA 81509 committee did all the follow-up after the CWA Organizing Department negotiated a cardcheck and neutrality agreement in August. The employer, who provides contract services for Valeo, Xerox and other unionized employers, hoped to expand his business by having a unionized workforce.
More than 70 percent of the workers signed cards, which were verified by a neutral third party from the Cornell University Extension Service.
"We always tell people that over half of all Americans want a union and would vote for one if they had a chance," said Local 1170 President Linda McGrath. "This shows what can be accomplished - and fairly quickly and easily - when the employer remains neutral."
Local 1170 Organizer Don DePerna, who with Local 81509 Organizer Jeff Nieznanski helped finalize the card check agreement, said the employer granted the union access to the day shift, but that a blitz of house visits by IUE-CWA committee members Bruce Kulp, Loretta Pope, Gary Cranker and Buddy Granston - all retirees - was instrumental to getting swing- and night-shift workers on board.