September 11, 2014

Want to be in next week's CWA Newsletter? Send your stories and photos to
blog@cwa-union.org or @CWANews. Follow the latest developments at
www.resistancegrowing.org.
Cablevision CEO Dolan Intimidates Workers in Sham Vote
BREAKING: Senate Republicans Block Final Vote on
Constitutional Amendment
Senate Action This Week on Historic Amendment to Get Money
Out of Politics
Democracy Initiative Members on Getting Big Money Out of
Politics
Political Action Update
A Texan Rising
TPP UPDATE
Republican Senators Ambush NLRB Nominee at Confirmation
Hearing
Risky Christie Investments Triggered Pension Shortfall
Bargaining Update
Organizing Update
Our Climate, Our Economy and Our Democracy
Movement Building Update
Next CWA Telephone Town Hall Call on Sept. 18
Cablevision CEO Dolan Intimidates Workers in Sham Vote
Share This Article:
CWA members have rejected as illegal and a sham a vote conducted by a
contractor hired by Cablevision management in Brooklyn this week. Replete
with voting irregularities and intimidation, this phony vote is just the latest step
by CEO James Dolan to intimidate union members that has included illegal
mass firings, bad-faith bargaining, and other actions intended to break
workers' support for their union.
Apparently, this sham vote is intended to pressure techs, members of CWA
Local 1109, into dropping their fight for a fair contract, but the workers remain
united.
CWA President Larry Cohen said, "In my decades of organizing I have never
seen such arrogant actions as those taken by billionaire CEO Jim Dolan.
Dolan's Tuesday night captive audience meeting followed, within hours, by
the "Honest Ballot Association" vote is a new low in the behavior of American
management. It is up to the rest of us to stop him and use this case as an
example of what America has become."
CWA District One Vice President Chris Shelton issued this statement:
"The only election that matters happened almost three years ago when
Cablevision workers voted 180-86 to join CWA in an election supervised by
the Federal government. In June of 2013, 174 workers reaffirmed their
support for the union in an advertisement printed in The Daily News. And just
two months ago, despite the fear campaign, 189 Cablevision workers sent
Dolan individually-signed petitions stating 'we're sticking with the union' and
they continue to fight for parity in pay and treatment with workers outside of
Brooklyn."
BREAKING: Senate Republicans Block Final Vote on Constitutional
Amendment
Share This Article:
The following is a statement by Larry Cohen, president of the
Communications Workers of America, on the failure of the Senate today to
move to a final vote on the "Democracy for All" amendment:
It is distressing to see the polarization of the U.S. Supreme Court, and now
the Senate, on the critical issue of getting big money out of our politics. Every
Democrat in the Senate has stood up for the ability of Congress to set
reasonable limits on money in politics. Every Republican has voted for no
limits, even though many had previously supported reform, led by Senator
John McCain.
This vote is a huge marker as to what America is becoming. We are on our
way to control by the wealthy of nearly all aspects of public and economic
policy. As workers, we see our rights trampled every day. This has only
worsened over the past 40 years, as the Chamber of Commerce continues its
relentless focus on wiping out any balance between the voice of working
Americans and management.
Today's vote makes it clear that the Republican Senate is joined at the hip
with the billionaires who increasingly dominate our lives and prevent fair
elections and real debate on the critical issues of the day. We will continue to
build the Democracy Initiative and work as broadly as possible with millions of
Americans to change this, not only by amendment, but by adopting fair
disclosure rules, public financing at the state level and many other measures
that enable citizens to Stand Up and Fight Back.
Senate Action This Week on Historic Amendment to Get Money Out of
Politics
Share This Article:
The historic fight to wrest control of American politics from the super rich
began this week in the U.S. Senate with a vote to allow debate of a
Constitutional Amendment that seeks to invalidate recent Supreme Court
rulings that flooded our political system with money from corporations and the
1 percent.
After several days of debate, Senate Republicans blocked a final vote on the
amendment this afternoon.
"Money isn't speech and corporations aren't people," CWA President Larry
Cohen said, "but over the past few years, working and middle class
Americans have seen the billions of dollars spent by corporations and the
wealthy result in special access, special tax breaks and special treatment.
That's not what democracy looks like."
Read Cohen's Huffington Post column on the Amendment here.
S.J. Resolution 19, sponsored by Sens. Tom Udall (D-NM) and Michael
Bennet (D-CO), is a Constitutional Amendment to enable Congress and the
states to set reasonable limits on political spending and get big money out of
politics. It would repair the damage to our democracy caused by the U.S.
Supreme Court's Citizens United, McCutcheon and other rulings, which
determined that contributions by corporations and the richest Americans were
actually free speech and entitled to protections. Those decisions warped our
political process, allowing virtually unlimited political spending and giving the
richest one-tenth of 1 percent the ability to control our elections and drown
out the voices of ordinary citizens.
Add the Supreme Court's 2013 Shelby decision on voting rights into the mix,
and suddenly it's more difficult for ordinary Americans to vote but much easier
for the super-rich to influence elections.
Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM), one of the co-sponsors of the amendment to get
money out of politics, speaking at a rally before the Senate vote. In front of
him were boxes containing 3.2 million petitions signed by ordinary Americans
calling on senators to do the right thing.
The desire to overturn these decisions and their harmful effects on the
political system has galvanized diverse groups of Americans.
CWA and other unions, Sierra Club, Public Citizen, Common Cause, People
for the American Way and others began gathering petitions, making phone
calls and sending email messages to their Senators. This week, 3.2 million
petitions from ordinary Americans calling on their Senators to pass the
Amendment were delivered to the U.S. Senate.
Udall, speaking at a rally Monday afternoon before the vote and flanked by
boxes containing the petitions, thanked allies and supporters for their
extraordinary efforts in collecting the signatures.
"We are here today to take back our democracy from billionaires who
exercise undue influence, from special interests and from large corporations,"
Udall said as he was joined by demonstrators at the U.S. Capitol carrying
signs saying "Democracy is Not for Sale;" "3 Million Americans Calling to
#GettheMoneyOut;" "Protect Our Democracy;" and "Restore the First
Amendment."
"Our elections are not auctions up for the highest bidder. Now, recent
Supreme Court rulings have taken us back a hundred years when robber
barons and large corporations had tremendous influence and control. We will
not let that happen again," Udall said.
Rallies continued through the week outside the U.S. Capitol and across the
nation as Americans waited to see whether the Senate would actually vote on
the amendment.
CWA commends Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for cutting through
Republican obstruction to get the amendment before the full Senate and
Sens. Udall and Bennet for their leadership in the fight to get big money out
of politics.
Democracy Initiative Members on Getting Big Money Out of Politics
Share This Article:
Many Democracy Initiative partners are supporting the historic Democracy for
All constitutional amendment, being debated this week in the Senate. See all
the statements here.
From Miles Rapoport, Common Cause President:
"The amendment is crafted to restore the ability of Congress and our state
legislatures to put reasonable limits on political spending after the Supreme
Court opened the floodgates to unlimited election spending from corporations
and wealthy individuals in Citizens United. It stands for the proposition that
big ideas, not big money, should rule in the public square. It preserves every
American's right to speak and write as he or she pleases and protects against
efforts by a privileged few to drown out that speech with a flood of negative
advertising. The access and influence that money buys corrodes the integrity
of our democracy."
From Larry Cohen, Communications Workers of America (CWA) President:
"Money isn't speech and corporations aren't people. But over the past few
years, working and middle class Americans have seen the billions of dollars
spent by corporations and the wealthy result in special access, special tax
breaks and special treatment. That's not what democracy looks like."
From Heather McGhee, Demos President:
"The promise of American democracy is that we are all afforded an equal say
over the policies that shape our lives. Instead, today's campaign finance
system allows wealthy donors and corporate interests to use million-dollar
megaphones to influence government, drowning out the voices of the 99
percent of Americans who don't make large campaign donations. The
Constitution should not tolerate our public debates descending into proxy
fights between billionaires and CEOs."
From Wenonah Hauter, Food & Water Watch Executive Director:
"Today, the Senate begins debating an opportunity to reduce the influence of
money in our politics. By passing the Udall Amendment, the Senate will send
a signal that Supreme Court decisions like Citizens United and McCutcheon
don't represent the will of American citizens.
"So long as corporations and a handful of very wealthy donors are allowed to
buy elections, it will be difficult to protect our most important resources. The
Udall Amendment will help level the playing field and allow citizens to regain
their voice in our political system. Then, we can win more victories in the
struggle to ban fracking, label GMOs and protect our environment from bad
trade deals."
From John Bonifaz, Co-Founder and President of Free Speech for People:
"The start of this Senate floor debate marks a huge milestone for the growing
grassroots movement for the 28th Amendment. Across the political spectrum,
Americans want a constitutional amendment which will reclaim our
democracy. In just four years since the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in
Citizens United v. FEC, millions of citizens across the country have propelled
this movement to overturn the Supreme Court and to defend our Republic.
Sixteen states have already gone on record calling for such an amendment,
including the states of Montana and Colorado where 75% of the voters in the
2012 election supported ballot initiatives demanding an amendment. More
than 550 cities and towns are also already on record, as are more than 100
Republican officials who have voted for legislative resolutions urging the U.S.
Congress to pass an amendment bill and send it to the states for ratification.
"The pressing question before the nation today is whether it is 'we the people'
or 'we the corporations and big money interests.' This not a Democratic issue
or a Republican issue. This is a deeply American issue. Whatever our
political differences may be, we all share the common vision of government
of, by, and for the people."
From Greenpeace USA:
"The Koch brothers and other dirty energy advocates are polluting both our
environment and our politics, our air and our airwaves," said Annie Leonard,
Executive Director of Greenpeace USA. "The Democracy for All Amendment
will strengthen the chance for Americans to vote for candidates that care
about our communities and environment, rather than those whose voices
have been bought by big business. This is an essential step to ensuring a
future free from catastrophic global warming."
"The Pentagon describes global warming as a top national security threat, yet
the Koch brothers and their billionaires club have spent a fortune to help deny
its existence," said Charlie Cray, co-author of a new Greenpeace report, The
Kingpins of Carbon and Their War on Democracy. "Greenpeace wants to see
the Democracy for All Amendment stop Koch Industries, Peabody,
ExxonMobil and others from using their excessive profits to dominate our
elections."
From Hillary O. Shelton, NAACP Washington Bureau Director & Senior Vice
President for Policy and Advocacy:
"The corrupting role of money in politics is no secret and sadly it is ever
increasing, informing who stands for office, who wins, and, most critically, the
eventual public policy Congress enacts. The U.S. Supreme Court decisions in
2010, Citizens United v. FEC, and 2014, McCutcheon vs. FEC, will only
exacerbate these problems. Big money is the main reason Congress is
increasingly out of step with the interests of everyday Americans, particularly
on issues of economic insecurity, and particularly with racial and ethnic
minorities and low-income Americans. It is becoming increasingly clear that
income and wealth inequality is rooted in political inequality. Until we break
this dependence on big money special interests in our campaign system, the
policy agenda for everyday Americans will be thwarted whether it be
improving Americans' economic security, fighting for workers' rights,
improving stewardship of the environment, or improving our neighborhoods,
you name it. The basic imperatives of a healthy democracy the right to vote
and the right to have your voice be heard desperately need to be
strengthened for individuals' votes to mean something."
From Mary Kusler, National Education Association (NEA) Director of
Government Relations:
"Since the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. FEC four years
ago, corporate money has flooded our political system, drowning out the
voices of ordinary Americans. In McCutcheon v. FEC, issued earlier this year,
the Court lifted the cap on the total amount a single individual can contribute
to candidates, political parties, and political committees, further tipping the
scales in favor of big money donors. In 2012 alone, "Super PACs" and
501(c)4 entities spent hundreds of millions of dollars to influence the outcome
of elections.
"Congress and the states are helpless to prevent the resulting distortion of
our democracy. In effect, the Supreme Court decisions cited above are
denying regular people an equal say in determining the future of our country.
The proposed constitutional amendment would allow Congress to turn down
the volume on corporate speech and big money donors, so individual citizens
could be heard as our nation's founders intended."
From Marge Baker, People for the American Way Executive Vice President:
"Today more money than ever is flooding our democracy. But something else
is also happening: everyday Americans are fighting back. Americans are no
longer willing to settle for elections auctioned to the highest bidders."
From Amalgamated Transit Union President Larry Hanley:
"Right now, the political playing field looks like a long, steep hill with working
families at the bottom and big business and the wealthy at the top. If we don't
level the playing field, corporations and the ber rich will continue to rule
America at the expense of everyone else."
From Nick Nyhart, Public Campaign President and CEO:
"In the simplest terms, this debate will let the American people know who is
on the side of the many and who is on the side of the money. A successful
vote on the Democracy for All amendment would set us on a course for
change, permitting common sense limits on campaign spending and a way to
stem the tide of special interest money in elections."
From Robert Weissman, Public Citizen President:
"Outside money hundreds of millions in "dark money," from sources
undisclosed are determining the contours of elections across the country,
often stealing control of campaign narratives from candidates themselves.
Degrading and depressing negative ads fill the airwaves, heightening citizen
cynicism and frustration. Meanwhile, candidates scramble to raise the
millions they can from the narrow band of wealthy people who fund most
campaigns.
"We need a fundamental fix, which is why it is so vital to enact the
Democracy for All Amendment, which would overturn Citizens United and
other decisions, and restore our democracy."
From Mike Brune, Sierra Club Executive Director:
"The fundamentally-flawed Citizens United decision opened up the floodgates
for a tidal wave of toxic polluter money into our government, drowning out the
voices of those who are fighting for the health of our communities. Enough is
enough. With the vote on this amendment, each Senator goes on the record
as to whether they want a government for the polluters or for the people."
From American Postal Workers Union President Mark Dimondstein:
"Since 2010, it's gotten harder for minorities, young people, senior citizens
and working people to vote, but easier for the super-rich to buy elections.
Corporate money is drowning out the voice of the people."
Political Action Update
Share This Article:
Primary Elections and Candidacies
CWA Local 1109 members staffing phone banks on primary day in New York
State.
Pennsylvania Democratic candidate for Governor Tom Wolf meets with CWA
District 2-13 Vice President Ed Mooney, LPAT activists and Local 13000
leaders in Philadelphia.
A Texan Rising
Share This Article:
Texas Lieutenant Governor Candidate Leticia Van de Putte came to
Washington this week for meetings, including with the Texas Congressional
delegation, and CWA hosted a breakfast in her honor.
Van de Putte, herself a member of CWA Local 6186, the Texas State
Employees Union, said workers all over the state, especially union members
like CWAers, are putting her on the map in her race. She was joined on the
trip by key supporter Jim Hightower, a syndicated columnist-political activist
and former Commissioner of the Texas Dept. of Agriculture.
Texas Lt. Governor Candidate Leticia Van de Putte at a CWA breakfast in her
honor with Texas activist Jim Hightower and CWA President Larry Cohen.
"Folks would say that Texas is a red state. We really aren't. We're just a non-
voting state," she said.
Van de Putte said she senses this time is going to be different because of the
turnouts she is seeing around the state, like the 250 people who showed up
for a cold, late spring campaign event in Amarillo. The difference this time,
she added, is that she has been going to places and meeting people that for
so long Texas Democrats have taken for granted. When she released her
campaign advertisement recently, for instance, she put it in heavy rotation in
Latino markets and followed that up with visits.
And Van de Putte said she has been seeing the results in her travels to
places like Wichita Falls, Midland, Tyler and Nacogdoches. There have been
outpourings of support from small business owners, from women, people of
color, and, especially, union members.
"Everybody is really doing their part," she said. "Our problem is that we can't
fit any more people into the rooms. There is no union hall big enough in San
Antonio to hold all our supporters, people coming out to express support."
TPP UPDATE
Share This Article:
In a strongly worded letter to Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) this week, a diverse
coalition of more than 550 groups firmly rejected the fast-track model of trade
promotion authority and called for more public scrutiny of trade deals.
The coalition told Wyden, who is Senate Finance Committee Chairman, that
fast track is an outdated mechanism that would limit Congressional and
public oversight over trade negotiations. It is "simply not appropriate" given
the broad subjects covered by today's trade deals like the proposed Trans-
Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Transatlantic Trade and Investment
Partnership (TTIP).
"By any name, the flawed 'fast track' approach still would enable negotiators
to bypass Congress and put in place new and binding agreements that have
real consequences for all of us. We need 21st-century trade authority that
allows Congress to do its job and represent the interests of U.S. workers,
consumers and communities." CWA President Larry Cohen said.
"A new model of trade authority is the only way to ensure that workers and
communities have a voice in these trade decisions. We want to determine
what kind of economy we have, not simply accept super-power status for
multinational corporations and a snail's pace for the enforcement issues
raised by the rest of us," he added.
Wyden is drafting a new trade authority bill, and the coalition stressed that a
new model of trade authority is necessary, one that includes a Congressional
role in selecting trade partners, a set of mandatory negotiating objectives,
enhanced transparency, Congressional certification that negotiating
objectives have been met before trade negotiations can conclude, and
others.
The coalition includes CWA, the AFL-CIO and other unions, Democracy
Initiative partners Sierra Club, Greenpeace and NAACP, Public Citizen, and
other community and advocacy groups.
Republican Senators Ambush NLRB Nominee at Confirmation Hearing
Share This Article:
At a hearing this week on the nomination of Sharon Block to the National
Labor Relations Board, Republicans on the Senate Health, Education, Labor
and Pensions Committee pushed Block to justify many of the board's
decisions during her term as a recess appointee.
Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) opened the hearing by praising Block's
qualifications and calling for her speedy confirmation. Block would replace
Nancy Schiffer who leaves the board in December.
"A little over a year ago, for the first time in over a decade, we were able to
confirm a fully functional five-member NLRB," Harkin reminded his
colleagues. "It is my hope that by promptly confirming Ms. Block's nomination
to fill the looming vacancy, we can continue the progress that has been made
and begin a new era where orderly transitions are the norm, not the
exception."
But the hearing was contentious, with Republican members of the committee
attacking Block.
Block served as a member of the Board from January 2012 until summer
2013, as a recess appointment made by President Obama. The Supreme
Court's Noel Canning decision in June 2014 held that the president's recess
appointments were invalid, despite the fact that they were necessary to
counter the Senate Republicans' refusal to move forward on any presidential
nominations.
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), who is the ranking member of the committee
and is in line to become chairman if Republicans take over the Senate in the
fall elections, has announced that he and Senate Minority Leader Mitch
McConnell (R-KY) plan to introduce legislation soon "to restore the NLRB to
its original purpose," which is to "act as an umpire instead of an advocate."
Alexander said Block already had "demonstrated a willingness to tilt the
playing field in favor of organized labor" and questioned her ability to make
impartial decisions, especially concerning cases from January 2012-June
2013 that may be reconsidered.
Block said she would take any request to recuse herself seriously and also
consult with the agency's ethics department, but that didn't satisfy any of the
Republican members.
Already, labor laws rarely work in the U.S. because Republicans like
Alexander make crippling the NLRB their mission.
Risky Christie Investments Triggered Pension Shortfall
Share This Article:
It's no surprise, but Gov. Chris Christie isn't great with money.
A new report from the International Business Times illustrates how New
Jersey officials "directed increasingly large slices of state pension money into
riskier investments," often funds run by Christie's cronies. And in the years
following, it underperformed the stock market, jeopardizing workers'
retirements:
Since Gov. Chris Christie took office, he has nearly tripled the amount
of retiree cash invested in alternative investment firms many of whose
employees have made financial contributions to political groups backing
Christie's election campaigns. In that time, the gap between New
Jersey's alternative portfolio and the broader market has rapidly
expanded, costing taxpayers billions in unrealized returns and
threatening the financial stability of the $78 billion pension system. The
state's pension funding shortfalls which have been exacerbated by
Christie's market-trailing investment strategy were one of the factors
cited by Fitch Ratings in its decision last week to downgrade the state's
bond rating for the second time.
The below-market results from the state's $20 billion alternative investment
portfolio belie repeated assurances from New Jersey officials who said the
investments would overperform the stock market. Instead, the results buttress
arguments by investors like Warren Buffett and some local lawmakers, who
assert that pension money should be invested in stock index funds rather
than hedge funds, private equity, venture capital, real estate and other
alternative investments.
Read the full story here.
Bargaining Update
Share This Article:
T-Mobile MetroPCS
Members of CWA Local Local 1101 unanimously ratified a three-year
contract with T-Mobile that improves job security, ensures fair treatment on
wages and benefits and includes improvements in scheduling and other
working conditions.
Workers at the retail store in Harlem, New York, voted for CWA
representation a year ago, organizing around their goal of improving their
work environment. There are 10 workers at the store.
YP Holdings Bargaining in Texas
CWA Local 6300 members defy the rain as they rallied behind the CWA YP
bargaining committee meeting with management.
Despite the rain, members of CWA 6300 rallied behind the CWA YP
bargaining committee meeting with management in St. Louis. Outside the
bargaining session, CWAers wearing red made sure that management got
the message: we want a fair contract.
The contract covers YP Holdings (formerly Yellow Pages) workers throughout
D6. In August, CWA members did not ratify a tentative agreement;
negotiations resumed this week.
FairPoint Communications
NY State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli wrote to the CEO of Angelo, Gordon
& Co., which owns nearly 20 percent of FairPoint stock, alerting the investor
to FairPoint's federal law violations in bargaining with workers represented by
CWA and the IBEW.
He wrote: "We are concerned by publicly reported allegations that FairPoint
has not acted in good faith and has violated federal law."
FairPoint imposed a contract on about 2,000 telecommunications workers in
northern New England.
Organizing Update
Share This Article:
CWAers, Allies Give T-Mobile CEO John Legere the Business in San
Francisco
Members of CWA Locals 9410, 9415, 9412, 39521 and community allies
greet T-Mobile US CEO John Legere during his promotional tour in San
Francisco. SF is a union town!
Dozens of CWA members and allies confronted CEO John Legere at a
company advertising event in San Francisco this week. T-Mobile's parent
company, Deutsche Telekom, fully recognizes workers' union and bargaining
rights, but TMUS has spent millions fighting workers who want a union voice.
For more information on the union campaign go to
www.TMobileWorkersUnited.org.
Our Climate, Our Economy and Our Democracy
Share This Article:
In a joint blog post on The Huffington Post, CWA President Larry Cohen and
Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune recognized the working
Americans who are on the front lines, responding to and solving the climate
crisis. They wrote:
We want to honor the first responders who stayed on the job for days
and nights through and after Superstorm Sandy, even while their own
homes and families were devastated: The health care workers who
evacuated patients down darkened flights of stairs in hospitals that lost
power; the transit workers who restored flooded subway and bus
systems in record time; the utility workers who risked their lives to
restore power; the public workers who helped families and communities
hit hard by the storm.
We want to honor the 19 firefighters who lost their lives last summer
battling a savage and unpredictable wildfire near Prescott, Arizona.
And we want to honor the workers who are building the burgeoning
clean economy that is leading us toward healthier communities and a
stable climate: The electricians and pipefitters who are building the
solar, wind, and geothermal power that is meeting more and more of
our energy needs; the laborers, insulators, and building service workers
who are making our buildings more energy efficient; the transit workers
who are moving us forward on public transport; the utility workers,
pipefitters, and sheet metal workers who are repairing our aging power
grid and water and urban gas distribution networks.
Read the full story here.
And join us as CWA partners with more than 1,000 organizations for the
largest climate march in history.
What: People's Climate March
When: Sunday, Sept. 21 at 11:30 a.m.
Where: New York City
Movement Building Update
Share This Article:
CWAers Join Fast Food Workers
Activists and leaders from Local 3204 and D3 joined the fast food rally in
Atlanta, supporting workers who engaged in civil disobedience to win a raise
and bargaining rights.
Next CWA Telephone Town Hall Call on Sept. 18
Share This Article:
Sign up now for the next CWA town hall call, on Thursday, Sept. 18, starting
at 7:30 pm ET. The call will last half an hour.
Register at http://cwa-union.org/cwacall and pick up the phone when you get
the call.
We'll hear from amazing activists from the American Airlines/US Airways
campaign, and more. Don't miss it.
CWA
501 Third Street NW
Washington, DC 20001
www.cwa-union.org
Follow CWA on:
Text CWAACTION to 69866 to Join Our Rapid Response Text List
Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO, CLC. All Rights Reserved.
You have received this message through your subscription to a Communications Workers of America e-mail list.
If you did not subscribe or would like to unsubscribe click here.