CWA 1104

As our contract expiration draws near for our employees of Verizon, all our time and effort will be spent reaching a fair contract. However, we must not lose sight of the political battle we must engage in this fall. With the Presidential race at the top of the ticket and an ailing economy that is stressing all of us, turnout and involvement in this election cycle should be very high. We at CWA 1104 must maintain an active participation by our members now more than ever. For our future and for the future of all working people, the CWA needs your help.

ALBANY 2008 – CWA supported many initiatives in Albany this year with a focus on our nurses and within the telecom sector. Their session ended on June 23rd. For our nurses, we were successful. With the passage of Assembly bill A.11711 and Senate bill S.8637, nurses will now have restrictions on the number of consecutive hours they will be required to work. This not only benefits an already overworked nursing staff but protects all patients.

In telecom we were successful in passing A.10043 in the Democratic controlled Assembly with a vote of 100-10, a landslide of support. This bill would protect all New Yorkers and telecom employees in the event of a copper line sale, which we expect Verizon to attempt again. Although 100 Assembly members thought it important enough to pass, the Republican controlled senate didn’t even bring it (S.7263) to the floor for a vote and let it die in committee. We will pass this very important legislation in both chambers next year. First we NEED a majority in the Senate that will work for working people and to do that, we need your help.

We were also successful in introducing a call-center bill in the Democratic controlled Assembly to protect all our operators around the state, A.11077. This bill is modeled after IBEW’s bill A.606, which was passed in both houses, but excludes telecom. We were unsuccessful in convincing the NYS Senate to introduce a version of this bill in the Senate. We do have a commitment from some Senators to introduce it next year, but we need both Republicans and Demorats to put politics aside and put working people first. Some Senators do this, but those who don't unfortunately are in control of the Senate leadership now. For our own livelihoods, again, we need your help.

What kind of help? We only need 3 hours of every member’s time on a Saturday or Sunday in October or a weeknight to phone bank. For your union, your community, your family and your livelihood – 3 hours a year, is nothing. The labor movement is not a spectator sport, get active! Call the local at 516-420-1104 and sign up now for our political action army.

Political Action Links

Employee Free Choice Act
Sign the Petition to help give non-union working people a voice@work! http://www.freechoiceact.org/cwa?source=email&subsource=20080626_cwa

Telecom Reform Bill
Please follow the link to urge your NYS Senator to sponsor S. 7263. This bill will mandate a comprehensive study and help protect consumers and telecom workers in the event of a sale of copper access lines. Be sure to let them know your 2008 vote will be predicated on their sponsorship of this very important legislation.

To view the bill visit:
http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=A10043

Sign the Petition Now!

Anthony Eramo
CWA Local 1104 Political Coordinator
ape4cwa@yahoo.com