Broadcast Union News is a clearing center for information of interest to people working in television, film, print/electronic media, and theater. A chance for AEA, AFTRA, IATSE, IBEW, CWA-NABET, DGA, SAG, Newspaper Guild, WGA, and non-represented entertainment industry workers to share information with an eye towards improving wages, benefits, and working conditions for all.
Hundreds of CWA members, activists and allies descended on Verizon's
annual shareholders meeting in Huntsville, Ala., to make that message
crystal clear. Protesters from the 99 Percent Spring coalition came
from as far away as New Orleans and New York City.
College students
from the University of Central Florida, part of the Student Labor
Action Project, made the 11-hour bus trip from Orlando to join the
rally, and UCW-CWA members from the University of Tennessee made the
trek from Nashville. Jobs with Justice, the AFL-CIO and the Greater
Birmingham Ministries also lent their support, helping post VeriGreedy
signs all along Interstate 565.
“They thought they could escape the voices of working people by
taking their meeting to Alabama,” said Alabama AFL-CIO President Al
Henley. “Well, it looks like they misjudged our sense of solidarity
here in the South.”
CWA members and supporters are continuing to hold actions and
rallies to spotlight Verigreedy Verizon and Verizon Wireless, and
activists are leafleting outside Verizon Wireless stores around the
country. More than 45,000 workers, members of CWA and the IBEW, have
been bargaining for a year for a fair contract. Meanwhile, the $100
billion company continues to demand big cuts in workers’ compensation.
“Enough of the attacks on middle-class jobs while paying executives
obscene salaries and dodging taxes,” said CWA Chief of Staff Ron
Collins. “Enough of outsourcing good jobs to low wage workers here and
overseas. Enough of deepening the digital divide in communities most in
need of a reliable and fast Internet connection that comes with FiOS.”
At the rally outside the meeting, activists chanted a twist on the
familiar chant: “You can’t run! You can’t hide! This time we'll be
right inside!”
Verizon: A Big Tax Dodger
Verizon Communications is among the nation’s biggest tax dodgers.
The telecommunications giant placed third on a list of top tax
evaders compiled by Citizens for Tax Justice, grossing $7.7 billion in
tax subsidies between 2008 and 2011. Its aggressive manipulation of tax
loopholes, economic development subsidies, and business restructuring
has produced a negative tax rate year after year.
Sadly Verizon isn’t alone. Twenty-six major corporations haven’t
paid federal income taxes, despite raking in billions of dollars in
profits, over that four-year period. In fact, these companies actually
made more money after taxes than before taxes over the past four years,
thanks to IRS rebate payments.
Labor relations between Arthur Sulzberger, Jr.,
chairman of the New York Times Co., and the Newspaper Guild — which
appeared to be edging toward less hostility a few weeks ago — took a
turn for the worse this week.
The Guild, with more than 1,100
members, has been without a contract since March 1, 2011. Talks broke
off last year and only resumed following the December 2011 ouster of CEO
Janet Robinson.
There were actually two
contracts, one that covered 1,000 mainly print side employees, and a
second one that covered about 100 digital-only editorial workers.
The expectation has been that there would be one new contract for both types of employees.
The
talks have gone through ups and downs, but recently as more serious
negotiations on issues such as the pension plan began to take place, the
rhetoric appeared to be cooling off a bit.
But earlier this week, Bill O’Meara, president of the Guild, said that the company “dropped a bomb” on the process by demanding dual contracts.
O’Meara feels the move by the Times is a prelude to declaring an impasse.
The
union boss is threatening to file grievances with the National Labor
Relations Board over the digital work that many have been asked to do
and said he might seek a strike authorization vote from members.
“With
a possible breakthrough looming after nearly a year and half of
negotiations, Times corporate management inexplicably dropped a bomb on
the process [Tuesday] by presenting two new comprehensive proposals
aimed at negotiating two separate contracts: print and digital.”
“Management’s
dual-contract demand is a legal maneuver to preserve its option to
declare the talks at an ‘impasse’ — a rarely used, draconian move that
would enable management to impose its ‘last, best’ contract offer on
members.”
Terry Hayes
In the past, the Times Co. has declined to discuss the labor negotiations publicly, but a day after the Guild memo, Terry Hayes,
the company’s senior vice president, operations and labor, issued a
lengthy memo to employees, apparently in a bid to cool down the
situation.
Hayes countered that it was the Guild that dug in its
heels by refusing to commit to negotiating a single contract for print
and digital workers.
“While the Guild negotiators have intimated
that they, too, wanted a unified contract, when we asked them [Tuesday]
to explicitly commit to negotiate a single contract that erases the
increasingly irrelevant distinctions between our print and digital
journalism, they refused.”
The Times had been pushing to abolish its pension plan and replace it with a 401(k) pension plan.
########
Broadcast Union News Note:In a statement obtained by The Huffington Post, the Guild charged
that the paper was "disingenuously" portraying its position. "What we
told Times management during the July 17 talks is that we’re not waiving
that right, but that we intend to continue bargaining toward a unified
contract," the statement read.
Employees also hit out at the Times' response in a YouTube video,
called "NY Times blows up contract talks with Guild," on Thursday. The
video featured several staff members urging the paper to agree to a
"fair contract."
"If corporate management continues to show disrespect for its
journalists, the best and brightest will leave the Times," said staff
editor Clay Risen. Dan Wakin, who has been a reporter at the Times for
twelve years, added, "It's already happening."
The union has speculated that the paper wants to impose a pension
freeze and increased working hours on employees through a measure called
an impasse.
"If impasse is declared, the Guild would challenge the move at the
National Labor Relations Board. A strike authorization vote, members'
only other recourse, is another option," the Guild said in a statement
on Tuesday.
The Huffington Post
|
By Katherine Fung
Posted: 07/19/2012 3:14 pm Updated: 07/19/2012 4:55 pm
The Newspaper Guild of New York and New York Times staffers angrily
responded to the latest roadblock in contract talks on Thursday.
The negotiations took a dramatic twist
on Tuesday when the paper's management proposed two separate contracts
for digital and print employees. The Newspaper Guild of New York blasted
the decision as a "hostile move." Meanwhile, the Times said that it too
wanted a single contract, but alleged that the union refused to commit
to negotiating one.
In a statement obtained by The Huffington Post, the Guild charged
that the paper was "disingenuously" portraying its position. "What we
told Times management during the July 17 talks is that we’re not waiving
that right, but that we intend to continue bargaining toward a unified
contract," the statement read.
Employees also hit out at the Times' response in a YouTube video,
called "NY Times blows up contract talks with Guild," on Thursday. The
video featured several staff members urging the paper to agree to a
"fair contract."
"If corporate management continues to show disrespect for its
journalists, the best and brightest will leave the Times," said staff
editor Clay Risen. Dan Wakin, who has been a reporter at the Times for
twelve years, added, "It's already happening."
The union has speculated that the paper wants to impose a pension
freeze and increased working hours on employees through a measure called
an impasse.
"If impasse is declared, the Guild would challenge the move at the
National Labor Relations Board. A strike authorization vote, members'
only other recourse, is another option," the Guild said in a statement
on Tuesday.
Thursday's video marks the latest development in the talks, which
have stretched on for over a year.
Newspaper Guild members protesting outside the Times annual stockholders meeting
The internal strife at the Times
became public last December, when employees signed an open letter
objecting to management's call to freeze pensions and end independent
health care plans. Since then, staffers have protested outside editorial
and shareholder meetings, and condemned the proposals in a series of
videos.
Below, read the full text of the Guild's statement:
Dear Guild Members,
Times management issued a statement late yesterday disingenuously
claiming the Guild had refused to commit to bargaining a unified
contract for newspaper and digital employees
.
As we’ve said all along, we’re all in favor of a unified contract and
we always have been. In fact, we’ve gone through 17 months of contract
negotiations on the assumption that we’re going achieve that goal. Most,
if not all, of the tentative agreements we’ve reached with management
assume a unified contract.
But, as a responsible representative of its members, the Guild cannot
casually waive the legal rights that it has. One of those rights is to
maintain the dual-contract status quo in the event the talks go very
badly.
Why inflict a bad contract on two sets of members? What we told
Times management during the July 17 talks is that we’re not waiving that
right, but that we intend to continue bargaining toward a unified
contract.
Like anything else, Guild negotiators alone cannot combine the
two contracts. Legally, that can be done only by a vote of the members
of the newspaper unit and of the digital unit during the ratification
process for a new combined contract. We are a democratic union and are
committed to that process.
Management and its lawyers have long known our position.
They know
what our members’ rights are and they know that we’re not about to waive
them.
They know it because we sent them a letter in March telling them
so (see attachment). Yet despite knowing our position – and the fact
that we’ve come a long way in these talks on the assumption that we’re
going to wind up with a unified contract – they insisted on needlessly
pressing the point.
By putting their dual-contract alternative on the table on Tuesday,
management negotiators went out of their way to throw a wrench in the
talks. It’s a hostile move. It’s a transparent legal maneuver to set us
up for a declaration of impasse. And it could undo most, if not all, of
the tentative agreements already achieved.
It’s also a diversionary tactic. Times negotiators want to keep you
from focusing on the fact that they still have an odious set of
proposals on the table:
· No wage increase for 2011; a meager 1 percent raise with no
retro for 2012; and an equally meager 1 percent “bonus” for 2013
· A tiny increase in health care fund contributions (for which
The Times pays less than half than most other companies its size), which
means that you will almost definitely have to pay even more for medical
benefits that probably will have to be reduced
· A reduction in overtime pay for most employees
· Slashing severance pay and buyouts in half
The latest company proposal(s) contain NO movement on any of those
issues, and that will certainly set you back where it counts most: in
your pocketbooks and wallets.
Before this happened, we sincerely believed that we were on the road
to getting a unified contract that would be good for digital and
newspaper members alike, while giving management the relief it sought.
Now, we don’t know what to think.
Despite this act of hostility, with your help and support we’ll keep doing the best we can to get the best agreement possible.
In Unity,
The Guild Bargaining Committee
Bill O’Meara, New York Guild President
Peter Szekely, Secretary-Treasurer
Anthony Napoli, Local Representative
Grant Glickson, Unit Chairperson
Mindy Matthews, Grievance Chairperson
Steve Berman
Deborah Bratton
Dan Gold
Karen Grzelewski
Monica Johnson
Brian Leary
Thomas Lin
Steve Myers
Donald G. McNeil
Erik Piepenburg
Michael Powell
Thank you for your continued support of the 8,500 UWUA 1-2 members locked out by Con Edison!
Please
note the changes made to the various picket locations below. Feel free
to continue to join members at the locations. You may also bring food,
water and ice. It is appreciated.
SUPPORT LOCKED OUT UWUA LOCAL 1-2 WORKERS AT CON ED; JOIN THE PICKETS AT:
315 Old Saw Mill River Rd. / Eastview Service Location, Valhalla, NY: Operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
How
else can you help? This lockout has called for out of state, under-qualified workers to be working on the lines.
This puts all of our
lives at risk.
If you should see a safety issue or otherwise, please
snap a picture with your smartphone and email it to SCABS@uwua1-2.org or SAFETY@uwua1-2.org or you can call this number and notify them of the location of the workers 212-575-4400.
Lastly- there will be a picket on Saturday, July 14th at
Today
in NYC, Labor will be leafleting thousands of New Yorkers, this is a
sample of that flyer. We are letting people know what Kevin Burke CEO of
Con Edison is up to. Locking out workers, cutting off healthcare for
workers families and putting the public at risk during a heatwave with
unskilled replacement workers all while raising his OWN CEO pay.
Please "Like" and "Share" and click on the link to tell Kevin Burke,
CEO, Con Edison - You Can't Con US Con Ed, Negotiate a Fair Contract
NOW! http://nysaflcio.org/conedlockout/
CALLING ALL UNION MEMBERS, OWS AND SUPPORTERS OF WORKER RIGHTS
JOIN MEMBERS OF UTILITY WORKERS OF AMERICA
LOCAL 1-2
STARTING THURSDAY, JULY 5TH AT 8:00 AM
PROTEST THE LOCKOUT OF LOCAL 1-2 REPRESENTED
WORKERS BY CON EDISON
CON-ED CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS
4
IRVING PLACE IN MANHATTAN
(1 Block from Union
Square)
WE NEED EVERYONE TO COME OUT AND SUPPORT OUR
CAUSE
STOP CORPORATE GREED!!
SHOW CON-ED & THE REST OF THE COUNTRY
THAT THE 99%
WILL STAND STRONG AND UNITED!!
WE WILL NOT LET CON-ED BUST OUR UNION OR
DENY
OUR MEMBERS FAIR WAGES
AND BENEFITS.
BRING SIGNS, WHISTLE OR UNION
BANNERS. LET OUR
VOICES BE HEARD!!!
This is 24/7 picket !!!!!!!!!!!!"
Con Ed Locks Out Workers During NYC Heat Wave!
Con Edison, the energy company which provides electricity to 3.2 million households in New
York City and Westchester County to the north, is increasingly running
the risk of power outages, delays in service and even deaths in the
worst heat wave of the year after locking out 8,500UWUA Local 1-2 represented employees. The lockout means that Con Ed is refusing to allow union employees to
report for work and be available to respond to utility emergencies. The Union had threatened a strike when the current contract expired in
the early morning hours of July 1, but Local 1-2 officials say they
offered to keep members working under the terms of the old contract
while talks continued.
However, according to an In These Times
report, Con Ed demanded that the union promise seven days' notice before
declaring a strike. When Local 1-2 refused, the company initiated the
lockout. On Monday, a spokesman for Con Ed told Crain’s New York Business:
“In order to protect customers we need a guarantee that there won’t be a
sudden work stoppage. We need to run the system safely and reliably and
a sudden work stoppage would put that in jeopardy.”
The reality,
however, is that the company’s attempt to maintain operations with
5,000 management employees is posing a severe threat to both the ability
of the system to function and the managers being plugged into the
locked out workers’ jobs.
One management replacement worker has already been injured, receiving burns on Monday at a job site in Brooklyn.
Con Edison, which saw profits of over a billion dollars last year, is asking
for significant givebacks in the workers’ health plan and the ripping up
of their pension plan, replacing it with a 401(k) dependent on the
vacillations of the stock market, along with salary freezes.
Management also wants to nearly double workers' contributions for
health insurance to $133 a week for a family plan--with co-pays
increasing from $28 to $40. This would basically wipe out the token
raise of $1 an hour being offered.
The company also wants to change sick leave policy. As it is, workers
are "allowed" three sick "frequencies" per year (a frequency is one to
three days off in a row). After the third "frequency," they are written
up. Another frequency results in suspension and denial of raises and
promotions for one year.
The company wants to make even that draconian policy even harsher.
According to Mike, a Con Ed worker on the picket line this week, the
company proposal would "reduce pay while on medical leave to 75 percent
the first week, 65 percent after six weeks, 55 percent after 12 weeks
and termination after 26 weeks."
Elias Claudio, a worker with 25 years of experience at Con Ed, said
about the lockout, “They want to take our pensions, benefits, and have
us not get raises. Con Ed CEO Kevin Burke is getting millions of
dollars already and he does not care about our pensions. Con Ed
President Craig Ivey is behind it; they brought him in from the South,
and he is known for busting unions.
“If we win this it will help
every worker and every union. If we win, Verizon workers will get a
contract. The managers will even benefit because they lost their
pensions, too, and they might be able to get them back.
“If we
lose it will affect workers all over America. Even the cops are
encouraging us because they know if we lose, their benefits will be
under attack.”
Local 1-2 has agreed to resume negotiations with the company on Thursday,July 5. Government mediators will be present
at the negotiations.
Please click HERE to
sign the pledge and leave a comment of your support for the 8,500
Con Ed workers that have now been forced into the street.
We will contact you
with more information on how you can stand with the workers of UWUA 1-2
in the coming days and weeks ahead.
