Executive VP

It is time for you to get involved in your union! The theme from our District 7 Conference held in Layton, Utah in May was "One Vote, One Voice, One Victory. It is imperative that we all make an honest effort to ensure that our fellow workers, our family members, neighbors and friends are not only registered to vote, but fill out an absentee ballot application for this year's General Election in November. Your vote is your voice. Please take the necessary time to cast your vote in this year's upcoming elections. One vital piece of legislation that CWA is endorsing this year is the "Employee Free Choice Act" (EFCA). EFCA would restore the workers right to join a union if the majority of employees working for a company felt it was in their best interest. Why should a company be able to tell their workers that they do not have the right to join a union. It is the worker's right and choice, not the company's. The tainted environment that exist today consists of company threats to the employees of shutting down or moving the work else where if the employees talk about joining a union. Then the company has the gall to bring in their anti-union attorneys to talk with the employees one-on-one on company paid time and intimidate, threaten and even fire some employees for wanting to join a union. This is the environment that exists today because of the corporate run government. How would that benefit us since we already belong to a union you might ask? It would create union density. Our union's strength is in our numbers. If you recall back in the 50's, 60's or even the 70's when union workers had issues with their employers or even the government, the union workers would take it to the streets in huge numbers and create panic and havoc for the government and even the company CEO's. This just recently happened in France over transportation issues and the workers took it to the streets in huge numbers. I would like to remind you that we are in a labor movement. Nothing is given, everything is won.

Remember, as isolated individuals working is scattered workplaces, we are powerless. Together, we have a voice! It is time for our voices to be heard! We are in the process of scheduling training for our union members to attend and learn about CWA's Stewards Army. This philosophy educates our members how to actively participate in upcoming union functions other than the grievance procedure and a steward's normal routine. There is lot's of work to be done and together, we can accomplish many goals.

We are also approaching bargaining for Qwest. Our contract expires August 16, 2008 at 11:00p.m. pacific time. Ask your AVP's for the time and place of your next scheduled Unit Meeting. Also ask them what role that you may participate in their mobilization structure in your unit. It is time to get off of your seat and get on your feet and get involved. Together, we can make good things happen for us. Refrain from purchasing any item(s) that can wait until we have successfully reached a new contract. Start thinking about purchasing in bulk and saving any any money made while working overtime. Let our preparations begin for bargaining.

Without you, we will continue to struggle in our endeavors. Inclusion is everything!

THE LAW IS THE LAW

So if the US government determines that it is against the law for the words "under God" to be on our money, then, so be it.

And if that same government decides that the "Ten Commandments" are not to be used in or on a government installation, then, so be it.

I say, "so be it," because I would like to be a law abiding US citizen.

I say, "so be it," because I would like to think that smarter people than I are in positions to make good decisions.

I would like to think that those people have the American public's best interests at heart.

BUT, YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE I'D LIKE?

Since we can't pray to God, can't Trust in God and cannot post His Commandments in Government buildings, I don't believe the Government and its employees should participate in the Easter and Christmas celebrations which honor the God that our government is eliminating from many facets of American life.

I'd like my mail delivered on Christmas, Good Friday, Thanksgiving & Easter. After all, it's just another day.

I'd like the US Supreme Court to be in session on Christmas, Good Friday, Thanksgiving & Easter as well as Sundays. After all, it's just another day.

I'd like the Senate and the House of Representatives to not have to worry about getting home for the "Christmas Break." After all it's just another day.

I'm thinking that a lot of my tax payer dollars could be saved, if all government offices & services would work on Christmas, Good Friday & Easter. It shouldn't cost any overtime since those would be just like any other day of the week to a government that is trying to be "politically correct."

In fact....

I think that our government should work on Sundays (initially set aside for worshiping God...) because, after all, our government says that it should be just another day...

What do you all think????

If this idea gets to enough people, maybe our elected officials will stop giving in to the minority opinions and begin, once again, to represent the 'majority' of ALL of the American people.

SO BE IT...........

Please Dear Lord,
Give us the help needed to keep You in our country!

'Amen' and 'Amen'

Touché!

These are definitely things I never thought about, but from now on I will be sure to question those in government who support these changes.

P.S. In God We Trust... & God bless you & yours.

Today, 15 million Americans, including us in the Communications Workers of America (CWA), enjoy the benefits of union representation. We formed unions with our co-workers so we could have a voice on the job and be able to negotiate fair working conditions. We formed unions so we would have the same due process rights that we are guaranteed as U.S. citizens when we’re away from the workplace. With due process, we can’t be fired without just cause, we have the right to representation, a hearing, and to appeal unfavorable decisions. Without a union and due process we can be fired for any reason at all.

December 10 is International Human Rights Day and we are celebrating the special meaning this day has for workers’ rights. On December 10^th in 1948, Eleanor Roosevelt won ratification of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United States and 46 other nations. Besides recognizing the basic freedoms we often take for granted, this historic document recognized that workers’ rights to form unions is a fundamental human right . It was only 14 years earlier, in 1935, that our own right to form unions in the U.S. was officially recognized and protected when Congress passed the National Labor Relations Act.

Workplace rights – a voice on the job and collective bargaining – are important for all Americans. They are a fundament part of our democracy, because we can’t have a true democracy if workers’ rights are being taken away by extremists, so we in CWA are marking this International Human Rights Day as part of our effort to take back our rights as workers. We are asking all who care about democracy to so with us.

Our ability to exercise our lawful rights as workers today depends largely upon where we work. This is because employers have learned how to skirt the law as a means to prevent employees from organizing a union. When workers succeed in overcoming these obstacles and form a union, employers often refuse to bargain fairly, preventing them from ever getting a contract.

The fact remains, most U.S. employers use some form of unlawful means- intimidation, harassment, plant-closing threats, terminations – to prevent workers from exercising their lawful rights. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

When workers are given a fair opportunity to exercise their lawful rights, they usually choose union representation. This is why the current legislation supporting the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) is so important to our labor movement. In today’s environment, most of the time, workers don’t get a fair opportunity because corporations know that they can get away with using fear, intimidation, and worse to prevent workers from forming a union or getting a fair contract.

It’s clear that we need stronger and more enforceable laws to protect workers’ rights. Please urge your Senators and Representatives in Congress to support the Employees Free Choice Act (EFCA). It will restore fairness to the workplace and enable American workers to exercise our lawful rights – without fear.

“Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood one lives in; the school or college one attends; the factory, farm, or office where one works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.”

U.S labor laws are broken because they are ineffective in preventing employers from interfering with employee’s lawful right to organize unions. Section 8 of the National Labor Relations Act prohibits employers from coercing, punishing or discrimination against employees for union activity, but in today’s environment most employers engage in some form of illegal activity.*

*Source: Kate Bronfenbrenner. New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University, 2000.

It’s pretty obvious to most of us that our nation’s economy is on a rocky road. Home foreclosures, credit card debt, gas prices, stagnant wages and a staggering stock market show warnings by progressive economists are on the mark. But the Bush administration and media coverage of the economy have painted a pretty positive picture—except for those low-income families who took out subprime foolish mortgages they really couldn’t afford. But guess what? It has been discovered many upper-income people are being pinched by the subprime/foreclosure debacle, too! With the well-to-do suffering, maybe now the pro-Bush media will start to take our economic woes seriously.

Today’s polls find voters more worried about our economy and healthcare than terrorism. Due to the faltering state of our nation’s economy, 52 percent of Americans say economy and healthcare are most important to them in choosing a president compared 34 percent who cite terrorism and social and moral issues according to the latest Wall Street Journal (WSJ)/NBC News poll.

That is a reverse of the percentages recorded just before the 2004 (s)election. The poll also shows that voters see healthcare eclipsing the Iraq war for the first time as the issue most urgently requiring a new approach.

The WSJ precedes that this new polling data with a profile of a Republican lawyer so worried about the economy, he is voting Democratic in 2008

Bolstering the poll is a WSJ investigation published yesterday that finds far more home owners affected by the nations subprime debacle are in the middle – or upper – income brackets.

The surprisingly high number of subprime loans among more credit-worthy borrowers shows how far such mortgages have spread into the economy—including middle-class and wealthy communities where they once were scarce.

The analysis also raises pointed questions about the practices of major mortgage lenders. Many borrowers whose credit scores might have qualified them for more conventional loans say they were pushed into risky subprime loans. They say lenders or brokers aggressively marketed the loans, offering easier and faster approvals—and playing down or hiding the onerous price paid over the long haul in higher interest rates or stricter repayment terms.

Funny. In much of the media coverage over the past few months describing the deleterious effects of the subprime crisis on lower-income Americans, many of those interviewed said the same thing: Lenders and brokers aggressively, and sometimes duplicitously, marketed them loans. They could do so unhindered by regulatory laws or federal oversight. But rather than supporting their statements, the media often followed up with moralistic tsk-tsking about how low-income people taking a risk should have known better. Not so now.

As Princeton economist Paul Krugman notes, mainstream policymakers ignored the warning signs along the way to the subprime chaos. But at least now we can all rest assured. With the Bush administration-driven economic morass seeping into the handsomely groomed homes of the nation’s well-to-do, policymakers and the media will start to take seriously our economic woes. Imagine that.

As of December 1, 2007 there are only 260 days left on our current contract with our largest employer, Qwest Communications.

Who is tired here of every time going to the bargaining table it is a defensive posture we are in? How much further are they going to push us back? Who is tired of playing defense?

We are playing offense! That is what the Strategic Industry Fund (SIF) is all about. We are playing offense on healthcare. We are playing offense on fighting for our jobs and on fighting for worker’s rights to organize and collective bargaining. We are playing offense to win!

If we learn from each other what we do well, for example the CWA Triangle, what we do well in organizing, in political action, in bargaining, that is the single best way we can learn. It is not from some talk from the top table. It is learning from each other. That is how I learned—being with you. That is how all of us here learn—being with you, working with you, fighting with you against the greatest greed in the history of capitalism. That is what we are fighting against, the greatest greed in capitalism.

Unity does not fall from the sky like rain, it takes work. We have to show that we are prepared to trust each other even if we have differences, we need figure out a way to work through them. It is not a movie. It is not a show. It is a movement of strength! It is a show of solidarity! It is a show of commitment. It is a show that CWA Local 7019 is on the march.

As unionists, despite huge challenges, we always have the chance to make a difference—with every grievance, with every contract but especially now with a historic opportunity to energize our movement and keep it focused.

Each of us need to aim higher, imagining that we can play a major role in building a political movement, enacting legislation like the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), universal healthcare, a progressive trade policy that fights for our jobs. There are many issues that will unite us, public issues at the hearts of economic justice, not private issues that the right wing would use to divide us based on where we were born, where we worship, or who we love.

We are being asked to consider a resolution calling on the U.S. Congress to extend the ethical use of frozen embryonic stem cells that will never be live tissue so that we can fight diseases like ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease), diabetes, alzheimer’s disease etc. Think of the consequences that this could have on our healthcare issues including costs. Imagine how one’s life could change. Image a person not having to decide whether to buy a prescription instead of putting a meal on their table. It is worth pondering.

This is an article written by Joseph L. Galloway and it reveals Memorial Day observance every Friday morning at the Pentagon. This is one real reason to why we celebrate Memorial Day. God Bless America.

"Friday Mornings at the Pentagon"

   By JOSEPH L. GALLOWAY McClatchy Newspapers

   It's that time of year again. Memorial Day weekend is the beginning
   of summer fun for most Americans, and as I've done before in this
   space, I want to pause to take note of the real reason there is a
   Memorial Day.

   It's meant to honor and pay our respects to those Americans who've
   given their lives in service to our nation, who stand in an unbroken line
   from Lexington's rude bridge to Cemetery Ridge to the Argonne Forest
   to the beaches of Normandy to the frozen Chosin Reservoir to the Ia
   Drang Valley to the sands of Kuwait to the streets of Baghdad.

   Over the last 12 months, 1,042 soldiers, Marines, sailors and Air
   Force personnel have given their lives in the terrible duty that is war.
   Thousands more have come home on stretchers, horribly wounded and
   facing months or years in military hospitals.

   This week, I'm turning my space over to a good friend and former
   roommate, Army Lt. Col. Robert Bateman , who recently completed a
   year long tour of duty in Iraq and is now back at the Pentagon.

   Here's Lt. Col. Bateman's account of a little-known ceremony that
   fills the halls of the Army corridor of the Pentagon with cheers, applause
   and many tears every Friday morning. It first appeared on May 17 on the
   Weblog of media critic and pundit Eric Alterman at the Media Matters
   for America Web site.

   "It is 110 yards from the "E" ring to the "A" ring of the Pentagon.
   This section of the Pentagon is newly renovated; the floors shine, the
   hallway is broad, and the lighting is bright. At this instant the entire
   length of the corridor is packed with officers, a few sergeants and
   some civilians, all crammed tightly three and four deep against the walls.
   There are thousands here.

   "This hallway, more than any other, is the `Army' hallway. The G3
   offices line one side, G2 the other, G8 is around the corner. All
   Army. Moderate conversations flow in a low buzz. Friends who may not have
   seen each other for a few weeks, or a few years, spot each other, cross
   the way and renew. Everyone shifts to ensure an open path remains down
   the center. The air conditioning system was not designed for this press of
   bodies in this area. The temperature is rising already. Nobody cares.

   "10:36 hours: The clapping starts at the E-Ring. That is the outermost
   of the five rings of the Pentagon and it is closest to the entrance to
   the building. This clapping is low, sustained, hearty. It is applause
   with a deep emotion behind it as it moves forward in a wave down the
   length of the hallway.

   "A steady rolling wave of sound it is, moving at the pace of the soldier
   in the wheelchair who marks the forward edge with his presence. He is
   the first. He is missing the greater part of one leg, and some of his
   wounds are still suppurating. By his age I expect that he is a private,
   or perhaps a private first class.

   "Captains, majors, lieutenant colonels and colonels meet his gaze and
   nod as they applaud, soldier to soldier. Three years ago when I
   described one of these events, those lining the hallways were somewhat
   different. The applause a little wilder, perhaps in private guilt for
   not having shared in the burden ... yet.

   "Now almost everyone lining the hallway is, like the man in the
   wheelchair, also a combat veteran. This steadies the applause, but I
   think deepens the sentiment. We have all been there now. The soldier's
   chair is pushed by, I believe, a full colonel.

   "Behind him, and stretching the length from Rings E to A, come more of
   his peers, each private, corporal, or sergeant assisted as need be by a
   field grade officer.

   "11:00 hours: Twenty-four minutes of steady applause. My hands hurt,
   and I laugh to myself at how stupid that sounds in my own head. `My
   hands hurt.' Christ. Shut up and clap. For twenty-four minutes, soldier
   after soldier has come down this hallway - 20, 25, 30. Fifty-three legs
   come with them, and perhaps only 52 hands or arms, but down this hall
   came 30 solid hearts.

   "They pass down this corridor of officers and applause, and then meet
   for a private lunch, at which they are the guests of honor, hosted
   by the generals. Some are wheeled along. Some insist upon getting out
   of their chairs, to march as best they can with their chin held up, down
   this hallway, through this most unique audience. Some are catching
   handshakes and smiling like a politician at a Fourth of July parade.
   More than a couple of them seem amazed and are smiling shyly.

   "There are families with them as well: the 18-year-old war-bride pushing
   her 19-year-old husband's wheelchair and not quite understanding
   why her husband is so affected by this, the boy she grew up with, now a
   man, who had never shed a tear is crying; the older immigrant Latino
   parents who have, perhaps more than their wounded mid-20s son, an
   appreciation for the emotion given on their son's behalf. No man in
   that hallway, walking or clapping, is ashamed by the silent tears on more
   than a few cheeks. An Airborne Ranger wipes his eyes only to better see.
   A couple of the officers in this crowd have themselves been a part of
   this parade in the past.

   "These are our men, broken in body they may be, but they are our
   brothers, and we welcome them home. This parade has gone on, every
   single Friday, all year long, for more than four years." Did you know
   that? The media hasn't told the story.

   (Copyright 2007 by Robert
   Bateman; reprinted here by permission.)

One evening, an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all.

It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.

Your job, your paycheck, your quality of life. That’s what’s at stake in the political process. It’s a simple reality. Everything we win at the bargaining table can be taken away by the state legislature, an act of Congress or the stroke of the President’s pen. Wealthy, powerful special interests are spending hundreds of millions of dollars trying to do just that…and silence the voice of working families in our nation. The political power of anti-worker politicians is destroying the communities and living standards of working families. CWA is not immune from this crisis. We are faced with increasing problems and declining resources. We need your help. We need your voice.

That’s why we’ve got to use OUR VOICE and demand our seat at the table where political decisions are made that impact our lives.

Your voluntary contribution to CWA-COPE – even pennies a day – will ensure that your voice is heard. You can enhance our political power by filling out a COPE contribution form today and donating $1.00 a week or $2.00 a pay period which equivocates to $4.00 a month. Your $4.00 voluntary contribution would be a small investment. However, combined with the donations of hundreds of thousands of other CWA members participating in this endeavor, that would generate a huge investment towards your job, your paycheck, your quality of life. This makes us a powerful voice from the state house to the White House, from the state legislature to Congress.

It is our only hope, so please participate in COPE. This is 2007, this year precedes the General Election in 2008. It’s time to voice your opinion now. It's time to be heard. After all there is much at stake; Employee Free Choice Act, Health Care for all Americans, Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) just to name a few. So, come one, come all and join the race for District 7 workers.

Union brothers and sisters, we have a collective bargaining agreement. We have the right to union representation in any meeting with management anytime one feels that discipline could be administered upon questioning by management requiring you to answer. Imagine that. Exercise your right but you need to actively participate. Don’t let management try to coerce or intimidate you one on one over an issue that appears to be unjust. You must ask for union representation because the company will not provide it for you as a courtesy. You need to “cut this card out” that is being printed here in the next newsletter for your protection in the event that the company ask that you come to a meeting that you feel might lead to disciplinary action. It is self explanatory. It’s easy and it’s fun. If the manager does not wish to sign the card, simply print the managers name on it and the date then write: manager does not wish to sign, then print your name, you sign it and date it (just like the company treats us) and give it to either a union steward or preferably your Area Vice President (AVP) of your unit. I believe your AVP will be chomping at the bit waiting to approach your manager with this information. This is just one step forward indicating to management that we demand dignity and respect. So, cut this card out. Ask your fellow members at work if they have cut out their copy of this tremendous right that we have. In solidarity,

Thomas

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“ Weingarten Act”

** Employee's Right to Union Representation **

Any employee in the bargaining unit has the right to be represented in closed door meetings with management officials. The presence of the union representative prevents supervisors from coercing employees into confessing to alleged wrongdoings and/or accepting undue or harsh remedial actions. The right of an employee to have a union representative present during such questioning comes from a Supreme Court Case decided in 1975. That case, NLRB vs. Weingarten, set out certain rules for employees subject to investigatory interviews on the job. The Weingarten Rule applies to federal and D.C. employees and was adopted in the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978.

Under the Weingarten, an employee has the right to union representation when:

a. he/she is subject to an investigatory interview. Investigatory interviews happen when a supervisor or other management official questions an employee to obtain information which could be used as a basis for discipline or asks an employee to defend her or his conduct. And;

b. he/she has a reasonable belief that discipline or other adverse consequences may result from what he/she says in the interview.

When those conditions are met, the employee has the right to request union representation.

Weingarten Rules at a glance...

Rule 1:

There must be an investigatory interview. The employee must, either before or during the interview, ask for union representation.

Rule 2:

Rule 3:

If the supervisor refuses to honor the employee's request and insists on the interview, he or she commit an unfair labor practice (ULP) and the results of the interview may be set aside by the FLRA if the charge is upheld.

Working people in the United States have struggled for almost 200 years to gain and maintain the right to form and join unions. Specific issues, such as the reduction of the working day from 12 to 10 to 8 hours, the introduction of an orderly procedure for the settlement of disputes, the protection of children and women from job exploitation, vacations and holidays with pay, health and welfare benefits, and pensions have been the focus of the struggle on different occasions.

Overall, the struggle has been to provide workers with the voice and the vote they need to be involved in the determination of their future, both on the job and in the union.

Collective bargaining is in fact industrial democracy. It is a system where the majority rules and workers exercise their power through an organization which represents their interests and which they control. It is in some ways the highest form of democracy practiced in this country.

The triumph of free democratic labor relations, based upon the idea of collective bargaining, is so commonplace in this country that it is often taken for granted. This is not always the case.

Within the union, workers are provided a voice in the daily operation of the organization through the votes which they cast as members of an institution that adheres to democratic principles and practices.

Each and every day, millions of rank-and-file members of unions vote at conventions, membership meetings, executive board meetings, and committee meetings on issues that will determine their future.

Each month, tens of thousands of local and national union officers are elected to office by the votes of members who they represent.

Each year, thousands of union contracts are negotiated by committees selected by the people they work with and voted on by the membership.

Unions are democratic institutions. They are organized by workers for the express purpose of protecting and extending the rights and benefits of their membership.

UNIONS truly represent the VOICE, the VOTE, and the FUTURE for all workers.

Remember, YOUR VOTE IS YOUR VOICE. We are the future. 2008 is the General Election year and is tremendously important for our Labor Movement. For questions regarding voter registration, call your (Maricopa) County Recorder at (602)-506-1511 (TDD# 506-2348) and request an absentee ballot today.