Retirees minutes

The meeting was called to order at 6:50 pm. We did not have a copy of the previous meeting minutes. We will make copies available at the March 18th meeting. There was no communications.

The CWA Arizona State Council has had their charter pulled, but the RMC will continue to move towards changing the 7019 RMC into a state wide organization. The subcommittee will start to work on the by-law changes.

April 15^th, Linda Glass’ house-Pot luck and movie-Documentary’ “Sicko”, at 6:30

TBD—any suggestions on where we can meet?? Peggy talked to Cecelia Valdez in Tucson-7026 to find a place for a meeting in Tucson. In Phoenix Peggy will check senior centers and the YMCA, Sue Hemphill will check the Glendale library, Faye Shaw will check the main library on Central Ave and Midge will check the Maryvale Community Center.

Peggy read the letter from Dist 7 Vice President, Annie Hill, appointing Ann Cummings as the CWA RMC District 7 Emeritus. We want to thank Ann for all her many years of active unionism and support for all retirees. She will be honored at the District 7 Conference on Sunday, May 4, 2008, in Layton, UT.

Peggy discussed the outcome of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) rule regarding retiree health care. The rule, in essence, allows employers to provide a lower level of benefits or even no benefits at all to retirees who are Medicare eligible and a higher level of benefits to those retirees who are under age 65 (Medicare eligibility age). The new ruling was made by the EEOC as an exemption to the Age Discrimination statutes. The decision is referred to as the Eric County Decision, because the employer involved was Erie County, PA who was charged with Age Discrimination stated they had to spend the same amount on health insurance benefits provided Medicare-eligible retirees as those received by younger (under 65 years old) retirees. When the case was finally settled in March of 2002, Erie County equalized benefits by preserving the level of benefits for Medicare-eligible retirees and reducing the benefits paid to younger retirees. AARP opposes the ruling, calling it discriminatory and will appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.

We approved this year’s membership drive letters and Dee will ask Jim Weeks, International Printing to donate the printing.

Some of the accomplishments the RMC had for 2007 were: Social Security speaker, sponsored-bus trip to Laughlin, spring training baseball game, Phoenix Coyotes night-raising money for Pediatric AIDS Foundation and participated in Back to School drive, Holiday gifts and spring basket drive for Labor’s Community Service Agency.

Linda will contact Guy Vetrano to speak at a March, May or June meeting to talk about reverse mortgages and the impacts they can have.

Sue Hemphill said we need to establish a Community Services Committee for the chapter. We need to also change the by-laws. She has volunteered to help with the by-laws.

John Hemphill reported on the ARA. The Executive Committee meets monthly while the General Board now meets quarterly. They are building more chapters around the state. There is an Ohio state group that wants to talk to the ARA about affiliation. The CWA Arizona State Council (ASC) has always paid the $450 yearly fee for CWA. He has contacted CWA Staff Rep, Larry Larson to see if we can get any assistance and John holds the seat on the board, so now what happens, without the ASC.

Dee Cantoni reported that she is not sure if the local will sponsor the Spring Basket Drive for LSCA this year. Dave Wood is to bring it to the 7019 E-Board to see if there is a commitment or not. She also discussed she had been watching the democratic and republican debates and how she hears the democrats talking about people and the impacts the economy, etc has on them, where as the republicans are talking only issues.

John Hemphill moved to pay any transportation costs to Yuma on February 15^th. (The CWA RMC could reimburse the expenses). Second. Carried.

There will be a by-laws meeting sometime after the 1^st of the year. We have 3 volunteers already, however more are needed. Please email Peggy Dewey at pdewey7019@qwest.net if you would like to volunteer or have any questions.

The December meeting of the RMC will be held on December 18 at the Hometown Buffet at 1501 West Bethany Home Road. The meeting will be held from 6-8pm and the cost is $11.75 per person.

The AT&T Telco Retirees Association-is made up of managers. Please disregard the newsletter that has circulated. It is not intended for retired occupational employees.

Linda reported on her meeting with Keith Peters. He represents 7019 on the Retirees Health Care Advisory Committee. The Committee is anticipating that health care will be an issue next summer during bargaining and is helping develop strategies for the talk

New Business—Peggy made a motion to have Door Prizes once a quarter to increase attendance. Motion was accepted by Pepper and second by Maggie.

Congratulations to Loretta Dorman—she won tickets to see Mannheim Steamroller !

Dee suggested changing the night for RMC meetings from Wednesdays to possibly boost attendance.---Change time ? Change location??

The children’s Holiday Party with Santa will be at the hall on December 8^th from 1-3pm

Linda moved to donate $200.00 to the 12^th annual Holiday Gift Drive. John second the motion. We ask for donations of new gifts with an approximate value of #20.00. Ages infant to 16. Or, if you prefer checks can be made out to “LABORS COMMUNITY SERVICE AGENCY.’ Bring all items to the hall no later than December 3.

Penny informed us of a Habitat for Humanity House to be built in Glendale, The Pioneers donated $50,000.00. Information can be found at the Pioneer Store at the 20 East Thomas building.

THE HALL HAS BEEN SOLD AND WE MUST HAVE THE BUILDING CLEANED OUT BY DECEMBER 14. More info on our move to follow.

Peggy entertained a motion to table the agenda. John moved to accept. Second. Carried.

We had an abbreviated meeting because we had a guest speaker from the Attorney Generals Office.

Deb Boehlke works for Terry Goddard in Community Outreach. She presented us with information in regards to various telephone and internet scams. Arizona is # 1 in the country as far as identity theft is concerned.

She explained how scam artists get our personal information, and how we can protect ourselves. This information can be found on the Attorney Generals website at www.azag.gov Click on news and there is an entire list of scams. She handed out an

Identity Theft Repair Kit, which gives you everything you need to know about ID theft.

Old BUSINESS: Retiree cards—Old members will get cards. There is a delay due to a backlog

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

7:00pm

Officers in Attendance-

President: Peggy Dewey

Vice President: Linda Glass

Secretary: Maggie Regan

John Hemphill moved to accept the previous meeting minutes, second carried.

COMMUNICATIONS - 2 items

1-Thank you LCSA for the money contributed to the Back to School Drive.

2- Letter regarding change from MEDCO

OFFICERS REPORT- The October meeting (10-17) will have a Guest Speaker from the Attorney Generals Office. The agenda will discuss consumer fraud and scams.

Rick Dumas resigned as Secretary Treasurer of Local 7019 on 9-17-07

Saturday, November 3, 2007 Phoenix Coyote game- Flyer to follow. There will be upper and lower deck tickets. The coyotes will play the St. Louis Blues. For the price of the ticket you will receive a hat, tee-shirt, hot dog and a coke. (price of ticket yet to be determined)

RMC is becoming a state chapter. Volunteers were needed to rewrite the by-laws. Peggy Linda, Dave and Maggie volunteered. Anyone else that would like to volunteer please contact Peggy. pdewey7019@qwest.net.

Linda discussed COPE- (Committee on Political Education) and how we can contribute.

OLD BUSINESS- Retiree card- Peggy is still working on this matter.

NEW BUSINESS- New pop machine at the hall.

GOOD AND WELFARE- Dee informed us that that Union Plus has a program for $4.95 monthly to protect individuals from identity theft. All info can be found on the Union Plus website. http://www.unionplus.org/

Next Executive Board Meeting 10-10 4:30 pm

Next RMC meeting 10-17 7:00 pm social at 6:30pm

Respectfully

Maggie Regan

Secretary

Dave Starkson moved to accept the minutes of the previous meeting. Second carried.

John Hemphill swore in Maggie Regan as Secretary and Pepper Garcia as Treasurer.

Peggy discussed the upcoming Consumer Advocacy Meeting October 17, 2007. A speaker from Terry Goddard’s office will discuss a report regarding scams involving seniors. ( ID Theft and refinancing)

The new President and CEO of Qwest is Edward Mueller a former CEO of Ameritech and Williams-Sonoma.

We now have a retiree on the 2008 Qwest bargaining team. (yea) Kent Anderson is the president from Salt Lake City.

Discussion of Lucent’s increase of health care premiums--1/2 of 1 percent per year.

RMC-confusion over dues. There are 497 members from the international in Arizona. 188 paid their $25.00 membership dues. Only 36 have paid their $12.00 membership dues to the local. A Clean Up committee will be established and Linda will send an e-mail to those who haven’t sent in their $12.00 dues.

Rick and Bea Dumas reported on the 7019 convention in Toronto. RMC did attempt to appoint a new member to the CWA Executive Board, however it was denied by Larry Cohen, our CWA international President. The issue regarding the Canadian members was settled and now have a voice through the TNG/CWA unit.

Secretary and treasurer reports were accepted by Pepper and second by Penny. Carried.

Sue Hemphill moved to donate $150.00 towards door prizes for the convention. Second. Carried

We spent a few minutes introducing ourselves since we had so many new faces at the meeting.

Communications: Linda read a letter she received from Ann Wollums, a retiree who now lives in Iowa.

Peggy again asked for volunteers for Secretary and Treasurer. YES! Pepper Garcia volunteered to be the Treasurer and Maggie Regan volunteered to be Secretary.

Peggy reported on the AZ Dept of Economic Security has a call center at the old AT&T building at 67^th Ave and Camelback and looks to hire ex-AT&T or Qwest people that have call center experience. You can apply online at the state website.

Target stores are now matching WalMart $4.00 prescriptions-so there’s no excuse for shopping WalMart now. Also Target will match Medco’s 3 month prescription for $12.00.

Bea Dumas attended the CWA Nation RMC convention for us and will give us a report at our August meeting.

Local 7019s local convention will be Sept 29^th and is looking for volunteers to help with registration, stuffing bags, etc. If you are interested, please contact Peggy, 623-247-3241 or Thomas Sandoval at 602-331-7019.

Peggy reminded us that the RMC is sponsoring a night at the Phoenix Mercury’s basketball game on July 29^th, for $10.00.

Linda shared that there has been several tragedies and our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of Mary Mokry, who passed away this month; Mike Roger’s son was killed in an accident and Rich Baker’s daughter was also killed in an accident.

The AZ Alliance for Retired Americans Convention will be held Thursday, August 09, 2007 at the Wyndham Hotel. They sent a letter requesting donations or sponsorships. The smallest sponsorship was $400.00. It was decided to donate $100.00 under new business.

Next year will be very important to many retirees as the contracts for Qwest and Verizon expire in August, 2008. We know the attack will be on retiree healthcare and those that are under 65 years old, before Medicare kicks in. With last year’s negotiations at Lucent, retirees are having pay premiums. That will increase ½ of 1% each year until the contract expires in 2012. AT&T’s contract expires in 2009.

The new movie, Sicko, by Michael Moore is a must see movie about the healthcare crisis in the United States.

Penny Kuche says there is a company called Lescor that you can purchase eyeglasses for $25.00.

With the change in the dues structure with the CWA international, there is still confusion. We hope by the time we get through this first year. Those retirees that signed up with the national ($25.00) received a retirees card from the Retired Members Council. Do the grandfathered retirees get a card? Peggy will check with the international. This is different than our gold card that we received when we retired.

Again Peggy stressed the importance of the elections that are coming up and how the retirees must become engaged and support those candidates that support labor and retiree issues.

Rumor has it Vontage may buy out Verizon. Joe Nacchio, Ex-Qwest CEO will be sentenced July 27^th.

The Pioneers need help at the store at 20 East Thomas. If you are interested in helping call Audrey Gregory, 602-548-1521.

Penny Kuche moved to donate $100.00 to Labor’s Community Service Agency for their Back to School Drive. Second. Carried

Linda gave the treasurers report. We currently have $2,546.00 in our treasury. Linda also brought up the fact that our bank offers free checking but we are being charged $3.00 a month for a mailed statement. They will send it electronically for free. A motion was made by Faye to have it sent electronically. Motion passed.

New Business: The upcoming meeting for retirees in Toronto was discussed. Due to lack of funds we will not be able to send anyone this year. Our dues mailer will go out next week. Because of the lateness of the mailer and this years dues we have decided to not attend.

We discussed the social before the meetings. Due to lack of attendance we will not be providing dinner. The original thought was that we could use the money raised to help send delegates to the retirees meeting prior to convention. We are averaging 10 to 20 dollars a meeting. The cost to provide the dinner is more than the money made. Starting in June we will have a social with snacks from 6:30 to 7:00 with the meeting starting at 7:00pm.

NEXT MEETING IS JUNE 20, 2007 AT 7:00 P.M., WITH A SOCIAL PRIOR TO THE MEETING BEGINNING AT 6:30 P.M.

Peggy again reported that we are looking for someone to volunteer to become the Secretary and Treasurer of the chapter.

Chuck Foy, CWA Political Director for the AZ State Council gave an update on what’s happening at the Legislature. He would like to have input from us in regards to retiree issues that we would like to see presented at the next legislative session. He needs the issues by mid-summer, so bills can be written. Chuck said there was 1400 bills introduced this last session-it’s just mind boggling. Chuck did a great job of lobbying against some bad bills that had been introduced impacting state workers and retirees-Long Term Disability, wanted to change points for retirement from 80 to 85, etc. Governor Napolitano vetoed the “Sign Walker” legislation that was passed. It would have greatly inhibited our ability to do picketing on sidewalks, etc. He said to look for it to be back next year. There still may be issues around workers comp, state employee pay raises and minimum wage for the disabled. He reported that organizing is still going on around the state, but SEIU is coming in with nearly 30 organizers in the state. We lost Pima County to SEIU. We want to thank Chuck for keeping us informed on the important issues and bills going on at the legislature.

Peggy Dewey reported there were 50 people at the Brewers baseball game. Loretta Dorman attend the Coyotes hockey game and said she thought there was about 25 people who went, even though it was on Easter Sunday.

Because of the change in the way the CWA international is structuring retiree dues, where you must have been a member of a RMC in 2006 (will be grandfathered and not have to pay the one time $25.00 to the international) or have paid the $25.00 to the international in order to be a member of a local RMC the following motion was made:

Dave Starkson moved to waive, for 2006, the $12.00 dues for NEW members (who were not members in 2006) joining the local RMC that have paid the $25.00 membership to the national RMC. Second. Carried

The local RMC will no longer have to send $2.00 per member to the international.

Dave Starkson moved to pay the 2007 dues to the AZ Alliance for Retired Americans (AARA), for 230 members, which is $75.00. If, with this dues drive we have more than the 250 members, we will send in the additional dues amount (for 251-300 members=$100.00, we would send in and additional $25.00). Second. Carried

Dave Starkson gave the legislative report and handed out fact sheets on social security, health care and the federal budget. Linda will email the links out to these off of the CWA website. Obviously we want national health care for everyone and medicare becomes the default. Dave believes we have to start forming alliances with other groups like the US WEST retirees group, even if it is made up mostly of managers. We have to make people aware early and often about the health care issue as things happen.

John Hemphill reported that the AARA is starting to get more organized and will check into why Joan Serviss has not put Linda on the email list for updates.

We drew for the person that would golf in the Local 7019 Golf Tournament, benefiting Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Congratulations to John Hemphill.

Linda Glass chaired the meeting and Dee Cantoni was kind enough to take notes. Thanks, Dee!

A motion was made to suspend the general order of business, so Chuck Foy, CWA AZ State Council Political Director, could make a presentation on the political climate at the AZ Legislature and other activities around the state. Chuck stated the honor it was as Diane Bacon, Local 7019 Political Director, who passed away of cancer in December was honored at the AZ Legislature. The organizing campaign of State workers is continuing, with Scott Ramsey, CWA has a committee formed at the State Hospital at 24^th St & Van Buren, in Phoenix.

Chuck reported on several bad bills that are at the legislature right now that will harm state workers and retirees. One bill would extend the age and service to 85, with no match in their retirement plan from the employer. Chuck believes we have been able to kill this bill as of today, but it could pop up again. We must keep the pressure on. Unfortunately the retirement plan for the state is only 83% funded, as we continue to hear around the nation as other states are reporting their plans are under-funded.

Chuck also talked about informational signs that are becoming illegal in some cities, the Phoenix City Council meetings coming up this fall. The Corporation Commission will have 3 open seats.

Chuck also discussed the importance of having relationships with the legislature, whether they are Republican or Democrat as we need them to help us as workers and retirees to fight back anti-worker legislation. Chuck said it is very important that we respond to requests to contact our representatives. To make a call or send a letter is more impactful than emails.

The RMC would like to thank Chuck for a very informative session and we hope he will return soon.

Linda reported on the spring Basket drive for LCSA. Thanks to all the retirees who brought in their basket or money for the drive. She also requested that everyone turn in the Stewards’ Army form for various activities that we would like to be involved in. She also handed out the Pension Protection Act flier from Principal Financial Group. There is still discussion on the $25.00 dues from the national and the $12.00 local dues. We decided that we will move forward with our dues drive. Linda will talk to Peggy to see where we are in regards to any help from the national on the mailing list for the other locals. The Local 7019 Golf Tournament is May 6^th and we had 45 people attend the Brewers game on April 8th. Great turn out. April 14^th is the Gay Pride Parade in Phoenix. Linda also discussed the plans to establish our whole years activities and advertise them as soon as possible.

Dave Starkson moved to sponsor a Bronze sponsorship for the Local 7019 Day of Sunshine Golf Tournament, for $150.00. (We will draw at the next RMC meeting on April 18^th for the person to attend as our entry). John Hemphill seconded. Carried.

There was a special meeting held at 6:00 pm. Jim Pauletich, Public Affairs Officer from the Social Security Administration had a power point presentation explaining the many facets of Social Security. He discussed earning our social security credits, retiring early (62 years old vs 65 years old), Medicare Parts A, B and D. He stressed the importance of checking your Social Security Statement you receive once a year. It is sent every year, 3 months before your birthday, beginning at age 25. If you find inaccuracies on the statement you need to call them. He also discussed survivor benefits. Social Security has a very user friendly web sit with an excellent FAQs section. You can now apply online for your social security benefits.

John Hemphill administered the Oath of Office to the following new officers for the next term of office:

Dave Starkson moved to pay the 2006 feed for the AZ Alliance for Retired Americans. For 227 members, we owe $75.00. Second. Carried. The AZ ARA failed to mail the dues request out at the beginning of 2006, so we anticipate another request shortly after the first of the year.

Our next RMC meeting will be DECEMBER 13, 2006 at 7:30 pm, with the social hour to be held from 6:30-7:30 pm. This is due to the holidays.

Please bring a toy or a check to the December 13^th meeting for the Holiday Gift Drive the local is sponsoring for LCSA.

Dennis Hintz discussed our RMC becoming a statewide Retirees Chapter. He is working with Helen Gibson at the National (CWA) on what needs to occur to make this all happen. The 7019 designation will be removed and we will be 70002, but Local 7019 would still be our sponsor. Dennis talked to Chris Rossie and Rossie agreed to have the sponsorship to Helen by the end of the week. We all agreed that we must first get the approval of our membership at the December meeting before this can take place.

A by-laws committee will be established to make the appropriate changes and presented to the membership at a later membership meeting. Local 7016 in southern AZ needs to retire their local chapter also.

NOTICE: At the December 13^th RMC Membership meeting we will be voting on retiring the RMC Local 7019 Chapter, so we can move toward chartering a statewide chapter.

We had much discussion around how a statewide RMC would be structured to make sure that everyone was involved in the decisions of the RMC. If anyone has any ideas, please email them to Linda Glass at mlglass@qwest.net and she will forward them to Dave Starkson, chair of the Bylaws Committee and President, Peggy Dewey.

There is a possible “rumor” out there that Bank of America has loaned AT&T money for a call center in Phoenix. No one has heard of this, but Peggy will email the information to Linda Glass and she offered to send it to C&T Vice President, Ralph Maly.

Linda Glass reported on the Laughlin trip held October 7^th, 2006. We had paid on 30 people but approximately 26 had attended. The bus was overbooked so Linda and another guest bumped off. A motion will be made to pay the guest back the $15.00. Linda will call Paradise Valley Bus Lines to get reimbursed for the 4 that did not attend, since people bumped off.

REMINDER-The Social Security Administration will be at our November 15^th meeting to make a presentation on Medicare Part D, social security benefits, etc. The meeting will be held at 6:00-7:30. The social hour will be from 5:00-6:00 (dinner is $5.00). The General Membership meeting will begin at its usual time of 7:30 pm.

Peggy Dewey reported that she has opened the RMC’s checking account at Compass Bank on Peoria. Linda will be the second signature on the card. Peggy also reported that she received a letter from Helen Gibson stating the International had received our per capita dues of $444.00 for 2006.

Sue Hemphill reported on the AZ State Council meeting that she and Dennis Hintz attended on Saturday, September 30^th. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss with the AZ Presidents about starting their own RMCs and if needed our RMC would help them. The discussion grew from each local establishing their own RMC to setting up a statewide RMC for all of AZ. Dennis Aycock, President of 7092 said retirees from Lucent meet the 3^rd Thursday of each month at 11:45 at Bell Rd and 45^th Ave, Belair Golf Course, at the Iron Skillet. The AFA locals stated they do not have any local RMCs, only on the national level. The AZ State Council passed a motion to give $2,000.00 to the RMC to help with the mailing. The mailing will start with only those retirees that have retired from AZ locals, with the hopes of in the future expanding it to all CWA retirees living in AZ, no matter what local they retired from. There was much discussion around what process must be used to change from RMC-7019 to a statewide RMC. Dennis Hintz will contact Helen Gibson for guidance. Helen did tell Dennis there is no jurisdiction associated with RMCs, but there needs to be some number associated with it. Helen told Dennis we will be the first statewide RMC in the nation.

We had a tremendous amount of discussion at this meeting in regards to the logistics of moving from a 7019 to statewide RMC. What do we call it? Someone suggested “CWA Family of Retirees from Arizona.” Who is included in the mailings? What does the officer structure look like? We may need to retire the charter for 7019 and start a new one. Helen Gibson will help us with these decisions.

Keith Peters was added to the Organizing Committee. He wants to help organize the retirees for the new statewide RMC.

Peggy will be meeting with the Retired Printers on November 13^th to ask them to get involved and participate with our RMC.

Dave Starkson moved to change the December Membership meeting from December 20^th to December 13^th, due to the holidays. Second. Carried

Sue Hemphill moved to reimburse the guest $15.00, that bumped off the bus for the Laughlin Trip. Second. Carried

Dave Starkson moved to accept the previous meeting minutes, with a correction to remove Dave Starkson as adjourning the meeting. Second. Carried

Sue Hemphill moved to accept by acclamation, Peggy Dewey as President and Linda Glass as Vice President. Second. Carried

There will be no elections held in October since there was only one person running for President and Vice President. The new officers can appoint a new Secretary and Treasurer if anyone volunteers. No elections will need to be held. The new officers will be sworn at the November meeting.

Guest Speaker-Keith Peters who is serving on the CWA District 7 Retiree Healthcare Committee to prepare for 2008 bargaining against Qwest in regards to the attack on retiree healthcare. There are 6 people on the committee, with Reed Roberts from District 7 as advisor. Keith stressed the importance of the retirees becoming active in the upcoming round of bargaining and how we must get involved in supporting candidates at the national and state level. This November and the 2008 elections will be critical to retirees and what happens with healthcare, social security, etc. Qwest employees who retired pre-1991 will not be affected by bargaining, they are grandfathered. On page 154 of the contract it discusses the retiree Healthcare Caps. Over the last 3 contracts, the caps have not gone up, but healthcare has. The CWA National put together a graph that projects what retirees may have to pay over the next 4 years, *assuming Medicare Part B remains at the 2005 level.

*Assumes Medicare Part B premium at 2005 level for period shown ($78.20 part B premium - $48.10 Q reimbursement=$30.10 individual/mo) but Medicare part B premiums will likely increase each year.

Retirees have nothing more to give, like active employees. They now have a $300.00 deductible a year they pay. We have nothing. In 2009 it is feasible that a retiree under 65 with a spouse could pay a premium of $924.00. We must unite as retirees and come up with ideas that can soften the blow to retiree healthcare. We must mobilize and build effective Retiree Chapters around the country.

Keith suggested that some retirees are requesting from their doctors to double the milligrams on their pills, ordering them through the plan and then cutting the pill in half. More generics are coming out all the time, but a drug must be on the market for 10 years before it’s a generic. Because of our contract negotiations, we have kept our same drug plan and didn’t go to Medicare Part D. Qwest gets reimbursed by the government $1300.00 for each retiree not on Medicare Part D.

Keith asked the group to identify some Q & As that might be put in a brochure that will be sent to the retirees:

Q-How do I handle my benefits when I retired from Qwest and have a new job with benefits?

Q-My pension is only $1200.00 a month. If I have to pay above the caps, is the company ever going to give me a pension increase?

Q-Is the Qwest pension plan still over-funded? If so, can retiree healthcare be supplemented from the pension plan as it has been done in the past?

We thanked Keith for the very informative information and he will keep up updated as the committee continues to meet.

Dennis reported on the follow up to Chris Rossie asking the AZ State Council (ASC) allowing the retirees to address them in regards to helping the locals establish their own RMC or including a statewide mailing from our RMC. Chris just sent an email to all the ASC presidents today, so there is no answer yet.

Linda Hatfield, President of Local 7000 has asked us to make a presentation at her local convention on October 7^th on how to start an RMC. Dennis will be attending and if her schedule permits, Sue Hemphill.

Linda Glass reported that we now have 29 people going on the Laughlin trip on October 7^th. Pick up is now at 5:45 am, not 6:00 am. Everyone should be at the local for check-in at 5:30 am. We can still take reservations until October 1^st if anyone has decided to go along.

The RMC held several raffles at the Local 7019 convention and collected $171.00.

Ed Pastor is having a walk in his district on September 23^rd. Fliers are available for those wishing to attend.

Linda reported that at the November 15^th meeting we will have a speaker from the Social Security Administration, from 6:00-7:30 pm. Social hour/dinner ($5.00 ea) will be held from 5:00-6:00. The membership meeting will begin at 7:30 pm.

Next month’s RMC meeting, October 18^th, at 7:30 pm (social 6:30-7:30) will be held upstairs in the Cesar Chavez room as the local is having an education fair in the main hall.

Bryce Lambert moved to authorize Peggy Dewey and Linda Glass to open an account in the name of the RMC at Compass Bank. Second. Carried

Officers in Attendance: Dennis Hintz, President; Peggy Dewey, Vice President; Linda Glass, Secretary. Cindy Stiefel, excused.

The meeting began with Local 7019 President Chris Rossie addressing the retirees in regards to the Local not paying per capita dues to the AZ State Council (ASC) and either him or a member of the RMC addressing the ASC in regards to our RMC expanding it’s next year’s dues drive to all CWA Retirees in the state, no matter what local they came from or our RMC assisting the other CWA locals in establishing their own RMC. He stated he had brought it up in a special ASC meeting on August 10, 2006. He stated nobody said No, but only Dennis Nielsen of 7032 (Yuma) said yes. He talked about there would be several by-laws changed at the local convention. The one significant to the retirees is for the $1.00 a month dues paid to the RMC, a retiree may serve on a local committee, but can’t hold office, can’t vote and can’t be a chair. Chris then started on the issue of paying per-capita to the ASC. He talked about local 7026 (Southern/Tucson) and the members were complaining that their dues were being spent on public sector organizing. Then, how local 7000 was formed and Linda Hatfield is now the President. There were issues the ASC tried working through on whether Linda Hatfield should remain chair, the per-cap the AZCOPS were paying. The ASC could not produce proof that the dues were supposed to be 11 ½ cents so he held the check. Chris said the 15 cents to the State AFL-CIO is no longer being paid and stated the 11 ½ cents paid to the ASC has not been paid by 7019 since January, except for $3.00 he paid for himself, Thomas & Rick to be able to vote at the state council meeting during the first quarter and $1.05 for the 2^nd quarter meeting so he could vote. He said he made the decision not to pay the dues on his own and stated he had the authority. Several RMC members told him he doesn’t have the right to make that decision by himself, he must go through his own E-Board. An RMC member stated how upset she was at his behavior and that just because we are the big local doesn’t give him the right to hold a hammer over the smaller locals. We always pay our dues. CWA is the best union in the world because it is a bottom up organization and what he is doing does not get the work of the Union done.

To the issue of someone making a presentation to the ASC regarding next year’s dues drive: Sue Hemphill stated it would take about 20-30 minute presentation: Background of RMC, Our mission, Present Day, Resolution 1-#8, and Why other locals should have their own RMC and offer our help. Rossie said the next ASC meeting might be in Yuma and would someone be willing to come there to make a presentation. We stated we would have someone there. Chris was asked to call Linda Hatfield to ask if we can be put on the agenda for the next meeting. Chris stated he would do that and let Dennis Hintz know if we can attend.

Chris was asked about his comment to Sue Hemphill in their meeting about not giving any monetary help to the RMC this next year for our mailing. Sue stated she took it as the local not paying the postage, etc for our dues drive. Chris stated he didn’t remember stating that and he doesn’t see it as a problem. Maybe the ASC can subsidize part of the mailing if we send it out statewide. Chris finished by talking about who will be speaking at the local convention.

Linda Glass reported that we only have 19 people registered for the Laughlin trip. We decided to get info out at the local convention and extend the deadline to September 1^st. Linda will change the flier with the new deadline & get copies ready for the local convention.

The RMC is going to have to get their own banking account, separate from the local. Dave Starkson shared that when the RMC was first started, Joe Gosiger, the previous president of the local agreed to split it in the books for accounting purposes.

Several members requested that the meeting minutes be emailed to the retirees. Linda will start emailing them as soon as they are approved.

Peggy reported that the CWA night for phone banking at Janet Napolitano’s headquarters at 200 E. Thomas is on Thursday, September 7^th and on Monday, Sept 18th, from 5 pm to 8 pm. We encourage everyone to help out in this important election to get Janet re-elected as the Governor of AZ again.

The officers of the RMC bought gifts at the national convention to raffle off at the local convention. The schedule to sell tickets for Saturday is:

Peggy reported we were going to have Social Security make a presentation at our October 18^th meeting, however, we have a conflict with an Education Fair in the main hall. Peggy will call the contact to get the date changed to the November 15^th meeting. The speaker will be there from 6-8 pm, with a social hour/dinner for $5.00 ea, from 5:00 to 6:00 pm. Linda will provide subs if other volunteers will bring chips, etc. We will finalize the plans at the next meeting. Linda will get a flier together as soon as Peggy confirms the date in November. After the presentation, we will swear in the new RMC Officers.

Linda will research the process for nominations in the bylaws and send out an announcement separate from anything else. It was decided the nominations at the September meeting will be from 7:30 to 8:00 only. This will be reflected in the announcement that will be sent out.

Peggy Dewey read Resolution 1, #8, from “CWA Ready for the Future” that was passed at the National CWA convention in July in Las Vegas, NV.

8. Retirees: Double our retiree membership in chapters from 25,000 to 50,000 in three years and create a “RetireE-Activist database.

We again discussed how we could find out retirees obituary information or current health status (sick) so that the appropriate card(s) could be sent.

Linda Glass handed out a report from the Retired Members’ Council convention held in Las Vegas on July 8^th. She will send the report out via email to the members and have it posted on the RMC website at the local.

Peggy Dewey reported that the RMC is sponsoring a night at the Phoenix Mercury game on Sunday, August 13^th at 7 pm. It’s at the US Airways Center and tickets are $15.00. They are playing the Sacramento Monarchs. Call Peggy for tickets and information. Linda will email the information to the RMC members via email. Fliers were put on the bulletin boards at 20 East Thomas and we will get the notice on the Local’s website.

Peggy will also check to see if the Arizona Cardinals have any group tickets available.

The Laughlin Trip is scheduled for October 7^th. So far there are no forms turned in.

Dennis reported on the RMC National Convention in Las Vegas. We will get on the web site 2 links: One for ARA and the National RMC website. He also reported on the issue with Coca Cola in Columbia. Workers are trying to organize and being killed. The US Govt subsidized Coke to have factories in Columbia. You can go to www.killercoke.com for information. He also reported on the issues that occurred at the CWA National Convention regarding the Canadian members wanting a seat on the Executive Board of the CWA. The vote came down to a division on the house and then a roll call vote. It was voted down by the delegates at the convention. The Executive officers of CWA talked about the importance of retirees and the voting power we have. The goal of the RMC nationally, is to increase our membership from 25,000 to 50,000.

The nomination of the RMC Local 7019 officers will be held at the September 20^th RMC Membership meeting and elections will be held at the following meeting on October 18^th.

We will have the Social Security Department back as a guest speaker on October 18^th, from 5:30 to 7:30, prior to the regular membership meeting. We hope everyone will attend. Peggy is making the arrangements with Social Security.

We discussed how our RMC could increase membership. Local 7019 is the only local in AZ that has an RMC. John Hemphill shared when we first started the RMC Joe Gosiger, then President of 7019, went to the other CWA locals at the AZ State Council (ASC) and got concurrence to mail to all retirees in the state, no matter what local they were a part of. We used a list from the National that included retirees from other states that were now living in AZ. We would like to have our next membership drive at the beginning of the year to include all retired members in the state. The question was asked if we are paying our per-capita dues to the ASC. The local has not paid since the first of the year, except for $3.00 for the first quarter and $1.25 for the 2^nd quarter. Rick Dumas was in attendance and verified this was true. The members at the meeting were surprised at the fact our local would not pay their dues to their own ASC. Sue Hemphill was designated by Dennis Hintz to have a meeting with Chris Rossie to see if he would have the same conversation with the ASC since the leadership has changed in many of the CWA locals in the state and she would verify the issue of the local not paying per cap to the ASC.

Our next E-Board meeting will be held at Denny’s at Baseline & I10, on August 3^rd at 9 AM. Everyone is welcome to attend. Sue Hemphill will report on her meeting with Chris Rossie.

Officers in attendance-