Mobilization

 

 

Attention All Active and Retired Members of 4603

If you haven’t heard AT&T is at it again - they recently announced their intention to surplus 118 more  members of our Local.  This is on top of work completing 50 RLT’s (working on the U-Verse build) on August 29th, and 9 more by the end of the month.

We must get our Legislators involved in the fight to save these jobs and to hold AT&T accountable for the commitments it made to the Legislators when they were lobbying for passage of the Statewide Video Franchising Act last fall.

There are 2 ways in which to do this.  Either use regular mail to send a copy of the letter to your Assemblyperson and Senator along with Governor Jim Doyle, or scroll down this page to find copies of the letters to cut and paste into e-mail’s to your representatives.

If you do not know who your representatives are simply go to http://waml.legis.state.wi.us/ and enter your information or call the Legislative Hotline at 1-800-362-9472.

Participation by ALL members is crucial.  AT&T is shirking it’s responsibilities to its employees and it’s customers in the State of Wisconsin by continually reducing the workforce and shifting jobs to areas outside of Wisconsin . Remember an injury to one is an injury to ALL so let’s show our solidarity. Please take the time today to make your voice heard

CWA Local 4603 Mobilization Committee, Rich Pearson, Chair

CWA Local 4603 Legislative Committee, Joy Roberts, Chair

 

Letter to your State Legislators: 

Dear Senator/Representative ( insert name of your Senator and Representative):

As an employee of AT&T and a member of the Communications Workers of America, Local 4603, in Milwaukee , I am writing to ask for your assistance in holding AT&T accountable to the employees and customers in Wisconsin .  Last year, when the Statewide Video Franchising bill was pending in the Legislature we heard a lot of promises from AT&T about infrastructure build and increased employment.

The truth of the matter is now that the bill has been signed into law the infrastructure development has been phased back dramatically.  The promised employment to help build the infrastructure has come in the form of Term Employees, not regular full time employees.  AT&T has already informed the Union of its intention to “work complete” (which means lay-off or terminate) all of these Term Employees by the end of 2008.  They have already done so to 59 of these Employees in Milwaukee alone.

All of the jobs generated by the UVerse product have been Regular Limited Term jobs with no guarantees that they will continue past April 4th, 2009 when the current contract with the Communications Workers of America expires.

Now, to add insult to injury, AT&T has announced the intention to lay off another 118 workers covered under the traditional contract.  In the Greater Milwaukee area alone this is about 5% of the membership of the Communications Workers of America, Local 4603.  Add in the Term Employees that have been let go or will be let go by the end of the year and the percentage jumps to almost 10%. 

This has been a continuing trend.  Since the late 1990’s Milwaukee has suffered through two major business office and several smaller office closings, resulting in a loss of over 1,000 jobs.   

The truth of the matter is that since Governor Doyle signed the Bill into law AT&T has reduced infrastructure investment, reduced employment levels and refused to guarantee that any of the other jobs created after the passage of the bill will remain in Wisconsin after April 4th, 2009 .

I respectfully request that you call Scott VanderSanden (president of AT&T Wisconsin) at 414-270-5900 and Randall Stephenson (CEO of AT&T) at 210-351-5401 and demand that they live up to the promises they made while lobbying for the passage of the Statewide Video Franchising Act.

Sincerely,       

 

Letter to the Governor

Dear Governor Doyle:

As an employee of AT&T and a member of the Communications Workers of America, Local 4603, in Milwaukee , I am writing to ask for your assistance in holding AT&T accountable to the employees and customers in Wisconsin .  Last year, when the Statewide Video Franchising bill was pending in the Legislature we heard a lot of promises from AT&T about infrastructure build and increased employment.

The truth of the matter is now that the bill has been signed into law the infrastructure development has been phased back dramatically.  The promised employment to help build the infrastructure has come in the form of Term Employees, not regular full time employees.  AT&T has already informed the Union of its intention to “work complete” (which means lay-off or terminate) all of these Term Employees by the end of 2008.  They have already done so to 59 of these Employees in Milwaukee alone.

All of the jobs generated by the UVerse product have been Regular Limited Term jobs with no guarantees that they will continue past April 4th, 2009 when the current contract with the Communications Workers of America expires.

Now, to add insult to injury, AT&T has announced the intention to lay off another 118 workers covered under the traditional contract.  In the Greater Milwaukee area alone this is about 5% of the membership of the Communications Workers of America, Local 4603.  Add in the Term Employees that have been let go or will be let go by the end of the year and the percentage jumps to almost 10%. 

This has been a continuing trend.  Since the late 1990’s Milwaukee has suffered through two major business office and several smaller office closings, resulting in a loss of over 1,000 jobs.   

The truth of the matter is that since Governor Doyle signed the Bill into law AT&T has reduced infrastructure investment, reduced employment levels and refused to guarantee that any of the other jobs created after the passage of the bill will remain in Wisconsin after April 4th, 2009 .

I respectfully request that you call Scott VanderSanden (president of AT&T Wisconsin) at 414-270-5900 and Randall Stephenson (CEO of AT&T) at 210-351-5401 and demand that they live up to the promises they made while lobbying for the passage of the Statewide Video Franchising Act.

Sincerely,       

--

The Stewards Army

The CWA 'Stewards Army' – What Is It?

 

One of the key initiatives in CWA's Ready for the Future program is the creation of a volunteer "Stewards Army" of rank-and-file activists to mobilize for positive change, both within our industries and in American society.

The initial goal is to recruit 25,000 activists into the Stewards Army by July 2007, and then build our ranks to 50,000 by 2009.  CWA is developing a special education and training program for members who sign up.

Those who join won't all be shop stewards in the traditional sense of handling grievances and enforcing contracts at the job site – a critically important job that is done by thousands of CWA stewards in countless locations.

The Stewards Army is really about "stewardship" in a broader sense:  stewardship to strengthen workers' bargaining and organizing rights and advocate for our other major goals – jobs, health care, and retirement security.

The goal is to join CWA's 50,000 with another 500,000 or more activists from other major unions to create a powerful force to change the priorities of the country and refocus on an agenda for working families.

The Stewards Army will include both active union members and retirees.  Its action program will sometimes be directed at a CWA employer or workplace, and other times will be more broadly focused on a CWA industry goal or even a national issue such as health care.  Actions can range from sending an e-mail message to participating in rallies, meeting with elected officials and mobilizing thousands for mass action.

We need to reorient America 's priorities – and to do that we need to ignite a movement.  Join us!  Please contact Rich Pearson at 414-258-4010!

________________________________________________________________________________

Your union needs your input.  As a democratic union, what members think is extremely important, but what members do can be even more important!

Between now and the time our contract expires, a lot of work needs to be done to put us in the strongest bargaining position possible. Seeing what’s on the horizon for workers means we’ll need every ounce of strength we can muster.

For starters, we need you to fill out this form completely.  Be honest with yourself about your time commitment, but for you and your family’s future, make the greatest commitment possible.

Your Name________________________________ Home Phone___________________________

WorkLocation___________________________Email_________________________________________

(Your e-mail will only be used for the most urgent mobilization alerts.)

I’ll do my part to gain the best contract possible.  I will (check all that apply):

____ Wear union shirts, buttons, stickers, etc.

____ Handout flyers to co-workers.

____ Distribute and collect Bargaining Surveys within my work group.

____ Circulate petitions in the community, my church, etc.

____ Meet with community organizations about bargaining.

____ Discuss bargaining issues with my minister, priest, rabbi, etc.

____ Attend informational pickets

____ Deliver materials to workers at other locations.

____ Serve on the Local’s Mobilization Committee.

I’ll do my part to help unorganized workers gain the same right to collective bargaining that we have.  I will (check all that apply):

____ Explain the benefits of a union to my friends and neighbors.

____ Provide the my union with the names and phone numbers of non- union friends.

____ Help my union organizers with leafleting.

____ Assist the local organizers with home visits.

____ Serve on the Local’s organizing Committee.

Below is information about friends who would benefit from forming a union in their workplace.  (Note: we are especially concerned with workers at like or competing companies & healthcare workers.)

  Name:______________________________           Name:_________________________________

Home Phone:________________________              Home Phone:____________________________

Workplace___________________________            Workplace______________________________

Job_________________________________            Job____________________________________

  I will (check all that apply):                                          I will (check all that apply):

  ____ Set up a meeting with the above                       ____ Set up a meeting with the above person

         Person & the Local’s organizer.                                 & the Local’s organizer.

____ Contact the above person &                              ____ Contact the above person

         talk about the Union .                                                    talk about the union.

        

A PowerTool for Working Families!

For more info call CWA Local 4603 at 414-258-4010