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Proxies Needed for Bell Atlantic, AT&T Shareholder Actions
With the help of CWA members nationwide, union leaders plan to march into the upcoming Bell Atlantic and AT&T shareholder meetings and call on the boards of directors to show respect for employees and their union.
Both corporations are holding their meetings May 24. Bell Atlantic’s meeting is at the Hyatt Regency in Denver; AT&T’s is at the Lakeside Center in Chicago.
CWA has been collecting proxy ballots from members who own stock in either company in hopes of carrying thousands of union votes into the meetings. Shareholders who return their cards to Bell Atlantic or AT&T — as the companies urge — allow the corporate boards to vote their shares.
In Denver, District 2 Vice President Pete Catucci and District 13 Vice President Vince Maisano will present the Bell Atlantic proxies. They will call on the company to stop violating the union contract, actions that have lead to mounting unfair labor practice complaints. They will also call for support for organizing employees in the company’s rapidly expanding wireless sector, and seek protection for workers’ wages, pensions and benefits.
“We will make it clear that Bell Atlantic’s success depends on its workers, who are making record profits for the company,” CWA President Morton Bahr said. “They deserve to be treated fairly and respectfully.”
CWA will pass out its own report at the shareholders’ meeting, with research showing how much money employees are making for the company and the value of having a union presence, as well as personal stories of management abuses.
The same report will be distributed to CWA members at Bell Atlantic work sites, part of an overall campaign to unite workers in preparation for summer negotiations with the company. Union staff and local officers are discussing plans for rallies, demonstrations and other types of events at Bell Atlantic offices the day of the shareholders’ meeting, but events hadn’t been finalized as the CWA News went to press.
Bargaining between CWA and Bell Atlantic, as well as the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, begins June 26. The contract, affecting 71,000 CWA members and 13,000 IBEW members, is the largest that CWA is negotiating this year and is the third-largest contract on the table nationwide. The contract expires Aug. 5.
At the AT&T meeting, CWA leaders will present the proxy cards and submit a resolution on behalf of workers. It calls for the AT&T Board of Directors to develop standards for evaluating and compensating executives based on their efforts to foster employee participation in workplace decisions and improve worker training and job satisfaction.
CWA members who are AT&T shareholders are asked to send their proxy cards by May 19 to the AT&T mobilization coordinator in their district. Names and addresses are available from CWA locals or online at www.cwa-comtech.org/mobilization.
Bell Atlantic proxy cards need to be returned to CWA by May 15. Send ballots to District 2 headquarters at 8611 Second Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20910.
For either proxy, members should write “CWA representative” and cross out the names of corporate representatives the company has listed to vote the shares. Sign the cards, but don’t mark the proposal boxes.
Both corporations are holding their meetings May 24. Bell Atlantic’s meeting is at the Hyatt Regency in Denver; AT&T’s is at the Lakeside Center in Chicago.
CWA has been collecting proxy ballots from members who own stock in either company in hopes of carrying thousands of union votes into the meetings. Shareholders who return their cards to Bell Atlantic or AT&T — as the companies urge — allow the corporate boards to vote their shares.
In Denver, District 2 Vice President Pete Catucci and District 13 Vice President Vince Maisano will present the Bell Atlantic proxies. They will call on the company to stop violating the union contract, actions that have lead to mounting unfair labor practice complaints. They will also call for support for organizing employees in the company’s rapidly expanding wireless sector, and seek protection for workers’ wages, pensions and benefits.
“We will make it clear that Bell Atlantic’s success depends on its workers, who are making record profits for the company,” CWA President Morton Bahr said. “They deserve to be treated fairly and respectfully.”
CWA will pass out its own report at the shareholders’ meeting, with research showing how much money employees are making for the company and the value of having a union presence, as well as personal stories of management abuses.
The same report will be distributed to CWA members at Bell Atlantic work sites, part of an overall campaign to unite workers in preparation for summer negotiations with the company. Union staff and local officers are discussing plans for rallies, demonstrations and other types of events at Bell Atlantic offices the day of the shareholders’ meeting, but events hadn’t been finalized as the CWA News went to press.
Bargaining between CWA and Bell Atlantic, as well as the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, begins June 26. The contract, affecting 71,000 CWA members and 13,000 IBEW members, is the largest that CWA is negotiating this year and is the third-largest contract on the table nationwide. The contract expires Aug. 5.
At the AT&T meeting, CWA leaders will present the proxy cards and submit a resolution on behalf of workers. It calls for the AT&T Board of Directors to develop standards for evaluating and compensating executives based on their efforts to foster employee participation in workplace decisions and improve worker training and job satisfaction.
CWA members who are AT&T shareholders are asked to send their proxy cards by May 19 to the AT&T mobilization coordinator in their district. Names and addresses are available from CWA locals or online at www.cwa-comtech.org/mobilization.
Bell Atlantic proxy cards need to be returned to CWA by May 15. Send ballots to District 2 headquarters at 8611 Second Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20910.
For either proxy, members should write “CWA representative” and cross out the names of corporate representatives the company has listed to vote the shares. Sign the cards, but don’t mark the proposal boxes.