Special Industry Report: Telecom

For CWA's 300,000 members in telecommunications, rapid technological, competitive and structural changes in the industry continue to present multiple challenges: 

• Gaining access to the growth jobs in Internet-based and wireless communications, as the landline business steadily shrinks by 3 to 5 percent each year;
• Fighting to preserve quality services and jobs as companies either spin off, neglect or try to jettison altogether their less-profitable rural phone operations;
• Maintaining and building union bargaining power — especially at the overtly anti-union Verizon — to protect members' health and retirement security and continue to win contract improvements.
• Promoting the roll-out of high-speed Internet through the CWA Speed Matters campaign to spur job and economic growth.

CWA is consolidating strategic focus and staff coordination within its new Telecom Office and deploying Strategic Industry Fund campaigns to take on Verizon and promote high-speed Internet services.

Another SIF campaign in support of universal health care (see separate story in the health care report) bears on telecom and every other CWA industry, where this issue arises at each round of bargaining.  Embarq, formerly Sprint's local telephone operation, recently reneged on its promise to extend health coverage to current and future retirees, and Verizon has cut back on health benefits for management retirees and also has frozen their pension plan.

The following reports detail these and other actions and trends, including the battle against outsourcing of jobs and global partnerships with other unions, in today's telecom industry.