CWA 9003

All CWA 9003 retirees are invited to a free luncheon and workshop on Saturday, August 9. The luncheon starts at noon and will be held at the CWA 9003 hall located at 825 So. Victory Blvd. in Burbank.

The workshop will cover issues including the recent changes to retiree medical plans, dental care, and information regarding investments, social security, taxes, and more.

Guest speakers include Addie Brinkley, President of the CWA District 9 Retired Members Council (RMC); Ellen West, Area Director for CWA District 9; Anna Toro from Aesthetic Dentistry; and Chris Nettuno from Nettworth Financial Group.

There will be door prizes and an opportunity to catch up with former colleagues and current CWA 9003 officers. Space is limited, so please MAKE YOUR RESERVATION NOW!  Call 818-845-9003 or send an email to info@cwa9003.org.

On July 2, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the landmark Civil Rights Act.  Fifty years later, we still have much work to do as a nation with regard to race relations, but we also have much to celebrate.

The Act did not resolve all problems of discrimination. As we’ve seen over the last 50 years, Congress, the courts and state legislatures have both enhanced and undermined aspects of the Act in a wide variety of ways.  However, it opened the door to further progress by lessening racial restrictions on the use of public facilities, providing more job opportunities, strengthening voting laws, and limiting federal funding of discriminatory aid programs.

For a summary of the major features of the Act, visit the web page for our Committee on Civil Rights & Equity.

In what is shaping up to be a landmark ruling from the National Labor Relations Board, the Administrative Law Judge who heard the charges filed by CWA against AT&T for what has come to be known as “The Sticker Wars”, issued a sweeping ruling on April 23, 2014 in favor of the union and it’s members, primarily Premises Technicians, who refused to remove “WTF”, “Cut The Crap”, and other union buttons during contract negotiations.

In his 52 page decision, Judge John J. McCarrick orders AT&T to cease and desist from threatening employees with discipline, attendance occurrences, or loss of pay for wearing union buttons or stickers. In addition, he orders AT&T to “make its employees whole for lost pay as a result of wearing union insignia”.

The Judge goes on to order employees who were refused work for wearing union buttons and stickers to be made whole for any loss of earnings and benefits, including interest. He also orders AT&T to rescind Sect. 13.3 of the Premises Technician Guidelines which prohibit the wearing of union buttons or other union insignia.

This is a huge win for workers’ rights to demonstrate union solidarity and engage in protected concerted activities. Although only those who the Company refused to dispatch will receive back pay under the order, the thousands of members who stood with them in protest and refused to cross picket lines were vindicated as well.

AT&T has decided to appeal the order to the full National Labor Relations Board.  However, from the beginning, we knew we were on solid ground.  The order painstakingly lays out the law and the violations AT&T committed.  We hope the Company will “rethink possible” and do the right thing to implement the order without further delay.