CWA District 4 Newsletter #2

Volume II, June 2016

A Message from our Vice President

Our first D4 Newsletter received many positive comments. Please don’t forget to share each issue with your members. It is important that if you have activities or photos you would like to be considered for future issues, please send them to: district4news@cwa-union.org

We find that newsletters are much more interesting to our membership if they include stories and photos from various Locals. So, please make a point of participating and being included. Summer is upon us and calendars are filling-up with activities. I know Locals are having their membership picnics and gatherings … always a welcomed family activity for our members. Also, a perfect opportunity to take some pictures and get them in for inclusion in our next issue!      

In the District, we are preparing for the upcoming District 4 Meeting to take place September 27 – 29, 2016, in Detroit, Michigan. You will receive information for this meeting very soon.

Other upcoming meetings to note:

July 19 – 21, 2016 – CWA Next Generation Summit in Detroit, Michigan

August 21 – 24, 2016 – CWA Human Rights Biennial Conference in Atlanta, Georgia

The District 4 Staff and Locals have been extremely busy. We have had a number of contracts bargained and ratified:

CWA Rep. Hetty Scofield chaired CenturyLink, Local 4370 in Lorain, Ohio, ratified; Rhinelander/Frontier, Local 4671, Wisconsin, ratified; and CenturyLink, Local 4217, Galesburg, Illinois, ratified.

CWA Rep. Bill Bain chaired bargaining for two contracts for the University of Akron, Local 4302, Akron, Ohio, each ratified.

Mobility – CWA reached a tentative agreement on the National Bargaining Benefit Plan.   President Holly Sorey of Local 4202 represented the “Orange” Contract.

Bargaining continues with YP Holdings. Admin. Director Teri Pluta is Chairing. Bargaining team members are from Locals 4034, 4322, and 4900.

Thank you and congratulations to all of our bargaining teams.

Congratulations are also in order for Local 4320 and Local 4217 for organizing DirecTV technicians.   Local 4320’s President, Jay Walther, organizer Phil Pennington, Gary Vogel, and Rob Ordorsic, as well as, Local 4217’s President, Travis Young, VP Gary Dengler, and Keith Asher worked to gain majority support of the workers. Welcome to CWA District 4, DirecTV employees!

We have had a lot of positive feedback on the Prem Tech training being conducted in the District.

Congratulations to the winners of the 2016-2017 Robert D. Johnson Memorial Scholarship:

Cameron James Green, sponsored by Patrick Green of CWA Local 4302

Brady M. Higginbotham, sponsored by Matthew Higginbotham of CWA Local 4300

Preciosa Rios, sponsored by Lucy Perales of CWA Local 34043 (Toledo Blade)

It is wonderful that we have this scholarship available in our District. Again, congratulations to our winners, and good luck to them in their academic pursuits.

I look forward to seeing you in Detroit at the District 4 Meeting.

In Solidarity,

Linda L. Hinton
Vice President
CWA District 4

Runaway Inequality Training…Mike Schulte

Runaway Inequality Training was recently conducted in Michigan for more than 65 rank and file activists and 24 local officers. The trainers for these classes, which were held in Southfield and Lansing, were Marty Szeliga, Local 4108, Sue Mure, Local 4123, and Mike Schulte, District 4 Michigan.

The training was based on the book of the same name by Labor Economist, Les Leopold.

The content of the training was put together using a Small Group method, which places participants into groups of 4-6. The training content  explains how the economy is not working for the average American worker and that the vast divide between the “haves” and the “have nots” has gotten out of hand and how the financialization of Wall Street has encouraged the massive shift of wealth from the average person to the top 1%.  Although the economy has improved over the last 8 years, that hasn't been the case for the vast majority of Americans. The training uses content and language that is easy to comprehend and explain to others. It uses engaging exercises that both encourages and requires folks to participate.

The overwhelming response from the activists who attended was amazing. Along with CWA members, we invited labor and coalition partners to attend the sessions. As a result of this, our trainers have been invited to conduct training for an additional 22 coalition partners who believe this message is so important to spread to others.

You will have the opportunity to hear from Les Leopold himself at our District Meeting in September.

Southfield, Michigan Training

Lansing, Michigan Training

Public Workers’ Meeting...Bill Bain

A District-wide Public Workers' Meeting was held on May 5, 2016, in Columbus, Ohio. The Local representatives heard about and discussed such issues as the Friedrich’s case, privatization, and tax revenue generation. District 4 Vice President, Linda Hinton, and Public Healthcare and Higher Education Vice President, Brooks Sunkett, attended this meeting and addressed the group.

Besides open discussion regarding the challenges facing Public Workers, two of CWA’s coalition partners put on presentations on, “In the Public Interest,” an anti-privatization organization, and “One Ohio Now,” a tax and revenue coalition.

Bargaining Updates

A new Collective Bargaining Agreement was reached and overwhelmingly ratified between CWA Local 4217 and Century Link in Galesburg, Illinois.

A tentative agreement was also recently reached between CWA and AT&T Mobility National Benefit Bargain Plan. Ratification voting is currently taking place.

Holly Sorey, President, CWA Local 4202 (second from right)

CWA Local 4671 ratified a new contract with Frontier Rhinelander.

CWA Local 4671 President Steve Kotel with bargaining committee members Joan Ehmann, Brad Winesburg and Eric Bolte

CWA Local 4730 recently began bargaining with Indiana University.

(left to right) – Top row: Tameka White, Toni Arcuri, Audrea Gant-Davis, Peter Kaczmarczyk. Bottom row:  Terry Stigall, Linda Gales

AT&T SD&A…Ron Gay, Jr.

In May 2016, 8 activists from District 4, along with a group from District 3, participated in a "train the trainer' event in Atlanta, Georgia, led by CWA's Research Department. The goal of the training is to educate AT&T members about bargaining history, our economic and political environment, building power in the workplace and getting members involved. The trainers will be reaching out to Local Presidents in June and July to set up sessions across the Midwest.  

Thanks go out to the participants, Dustin Robinett (Local 4302), Jeremy Padilla (Local 4319), Tim Strong (Local 4900), Nick Fullmer (Local 4900), Josh Furlough (Local 4611), John Anderson (Local 4630), Marty Szeliga (Local 4108) and Jason Jimenez (Local 4108) for agreeing to facilitate the trainings.

1st & 2nd Year Leadership School...Jane Phillips

District 4 Leadership School was a great success!  This year, we ran both sessions during the same week. There were a total of 64 participants - 26 in the first year classes and 34 in the second year classes. Thank you to all of the Locals that participated. It was a great week with a great group of Union leaders!

Support for Verizon Bargaining

Locals across the District held informational pickets in front of Verizon Wireless stores in support of the 39,000 CWA and IBEW members from Districts 1 and 2-13 who went out on strike against Verizon. An agreement has been reached and ratified.

Members of CWA Local 4400

CWA Legislative and Political Conference

The CWA Legislative/Political Conference was held on June 13 and 14. District 4 had 74 delegates join in with over 540 others from across the country to make for the largest Legislative/Political conference in the past several years.

District 4 delegates met with over 30 Members of Congress and 10 U.S. Senators to discuss TPP and making Wall Street accountable.

Delegates were encouraged to hear that our friends, and even some elected officials, who previously voted for fast-track are against this bad trade deal that would cost jobs while giving corporations more control over the world’s economy.

Illinois Delegates at LP Conference

Indiana Delegates Plan Capitol Hill Visits

Michigan Delegates at LP Conference

        Ohio Delegates Plan Visits on Capitol Hill

        Sherrod Brown Escourt

        Wisconsin Delegates at LP Conference

        Mark Pocan Escourt

Teach your Children Well…Curt Hess

For many of us, it is easy to recollect a veteran union member giving us the customary shot in the arm followed by “we’ve fought our fight, now it’s up to you to keep this movement going!” And for the most part, it’s safe to say; those of us who’ve grown up in the labor movement have done our best to do just that.

But, it goes without saying, that the past four decades have presented more than its fair share of challenges. A changing workforce, various social issues, wealth-inequality, political disarray, and declining union density, are all issues that have, and continue to, polarize us as a Nation. With the advent of social media, it has become even more difficult to navigate through the turbulent waters of this unbearable discourse. For our kids…I fear it will only become more difficult.

Educating our children has to start at a much earlier age than ever before. I use the word educating with reluctance, because its definition suggests giving instruction or training, rather than providing an opportunity to learn through their personal experience. Though, a good history lesson can be useful, it’s the lessons learned through their own participation that will last a lifetime. Although many of us would struggle to remember the first math test we took, we all remember the time spent learning life’s lessons from the ones who influenced us the most.

So, we should all make sure our kids have plenty of “life experiences” with their union family growing up. Whether it’s a rally at the Statehouse, an opportunity to meet a State Representative, a march for social justice, or even an hour on a picket line, it will have a lasting effect on them. Participating in solidarity and collective actions, in the name of justice, can be more than just time spent together on a Saturday; they can be transformative to some young people’s lives. Never pass up an opportunity to share these times with the “Next Generation”.

We never know what the future holds for our children…what direction their education or career may take them. But, I am confident, that raising them to be socially aware, sympathetic to the struggles of others, and willing to stand up for what they believe in, will take them a long way down the road of life. Hopefully, they will then be able to someday share these “lessons” with their own children.