News

CWA District 4 News | May 2020

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Dear Sisters and Brothers:

I hope you are all staying safe and healthy.  I’d like to reiterate that we in CWA are ALL essential.  Safety of our members, our Local officers, and our families is of the utmost importance.  We appreciate all that you are doing to protect each other and your families and to work toward securing safe working environments during an extraordinary and unprecedented time dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The CWA Staff are still working remotely.  However, they continue to be available to address any of your needs and concerns.  They continue to work with companies to provide safe working environments for all of our members. 

 

As with many meetings and events across the country, the District 4 Meeting previously scheduled for August 2020 has been postponed.  The COVID-19 pandemic has forced this decision.  The safety of our members comes first.  It is now scheduled for May 11 – 13, 2021, in Cleveland, Ohio.  Further details will be provided at a later date. 

 

As we attempt to navigate our day-to-day lives as normally as possible during these abnormal times, I find myself thinking of others who are challenged with achieving a milestone in their lives without the typical recognition that would accompany it.  Specifically, I am thinking of our high school and college graduates of 2020.  We want to be able to provide an opportunity for our members in CWA District 4 to honor their graduates on their milestone, and be recognized by our CWA family.

 

We have created a link by which our members can click on and post a message to their 2020 graduate, along with a picture (optional).   The link is provided below.

https://district4.cwa-union.org/2020graduates

 

We will then place all of the 2020 high school and college graduates on our CWA District 4 Website. This can then be available with a link that will be shared to our members so that they are able to view all of these young people who have worked so hard to reach this milestone and ensure that they are honored and recognized by their CWA Family.

 

This is open to all CWA D4 members who would like to recognize a 2020 graduate.

 

We have newly organized units in D4:  Memnon of Bloomington, Indiana; Vermillion County Public Service Commission of Danville, Illinois; Professional Placement Workers of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and South Bend Tribune, TNG/CWA, of South Bend, Indiana. 

Welcome to the CWA District 4 family!

 

None of us have ever lived through a pandemic such as this.  Together, we will navigate the “new normal,” because we are CWA STRONG!  Stay healthy.  Stay safe.

 

In Solidarity,

Linda L. Hinton

Vice President

CWA District 4

 
 

May 5th - CWA Staff Rep. Celia Cody and CWA Local 4250 President Sylvia Chapman

picket to ask that GE be told to stop shipping jobs offshore and require GE plants in US to start making ventilators. CWA member and Chicago Federation of Labor Sec-Treas Don Villar also took part in the picket.

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Ohio Call Center Bill Introduced This past week, a bipartisan call center bill, titled "The Consumer Protection CallCenter Act" was introduced in the Ohio Senate. The bill number is SB 304 sponsored by Sen. Sean O'Brien  (D-32 Bazetta) and Mike Rulli (R-33 Salem). The bipartisan version in the Ohio House of Representatives earlier this year is HB 536, was introduced by Rep Michelle Lapore Hagan (D-58 Youngstown) and Rep. Haraz Ghanbari (R-03 Perrysburg). CWA District 4 staff, the Ohio LPAT team, local leaders and other activists will be working with legislators to push for committee hearings and, eventually, a vote in the coming weeks and months. We look forward to engaging CWA members, the public, legislators and other interested parties to move this important legislation forward as CWA continues our fight to protect Ohio jobs and workers. This follows the 2020 Introduction of a Call Center Bill in Indiana that, unfortunately with a short session, did not get a hearing. There is hope that all five D4 States will get a Call Center Bill Introduced in 2020. 
 
Local 4818 2020 Smithville Bargaining

The members of Smithville ratified their contract by 82% in mid-February.

 

Bargaining Team Members were Area Vice President Ben Kendall, D4 Staff Representative Jane Phillips, President Ric Spires and Secretary/Treasurer Bryan Andrick.

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Every Friday, CWA Local 4217 President Travis Young, along with his wife, and Vice President Gary Dengler, Dengler's wife and daughter, have been volunteering with the Southwestern Illinois Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO, picking up non-perishable goods from their local grocery store and sorting goods at the union hall to distribute to local hospitals and testing sites.

 

Young said, " This is all to help our healthcare heroes, the nurses, EMTs, doctors, orderlies, respiratory techs and other workers who put their health and lives at risk every time they report to the frontlines of this pandemic." 

 
Robert D. Johnson Memorial Scholarship Recipients for the 2020-2021 Academic YearWe are pleased to announce that a random drawing chose the winners of the Robert D. Johnson Memorial Scholarship, and the recipients for the 2020-2021 academic year are:
  • Tessa Keysor, daughter of Tamara Keysor of CWA Local 4108
  • Cassandra Mohr, daughter of Laura Mohr of CWA Local 4502
  • Dena Neville, daughter of James Neville of CWA Local 4340

Congratulations to all of our winners, and good luck to them as they pursue their studies with support from the Communications Workers of America – District 4.