CWA Local 1170

A reminder – Unit 1 meetings are scheduled for today at 8:30 and 10am at the Union Hall, and 5:30pm at Rick’s Prime Rib, 898 Buffalo Road.  This is a Union Activity Day for all Unit Members.

This week on Thursday from 8:30 to 10am, the first Personal Safety Awareness Class will take place for our members.  This has come about as a result of input from your Safety Committee and Union Officers brining issues to the forefront with the Company.  Violent acts against members and violence in the neighborhoods have been an ongoing concern for some time.

The Company has hired a retired sergeant of the Rochester Police Department to administer the training.  The Company has also provided an action plan to the Union to improve communications to you, for your awareness, to alert you to dangerous activities in the neighborhoods you work in.  These are positive steps to improve your safety.

As a sign of progress for the labor movement, President Barack Obama has utilized the recess appointment process to appoint Mark Pearce, Labor Attorney from Buffalo, NY and Craig Becker, General Counsel to both the SEJU and AFL-CIO to serve on the National Labor Relations Board.

With these appointees, we can only hope the last 9 years of attacks on the labor laws of this land will be turned around.  I want to thank the efforts of those members who made calls and sent letters to make this happen.  Over two hundred of you did so.

This is your President John Pusloskie thanking you for calling your Union tape, the place where we tell the awful truth.  Up the Rebel!

This week two unit meetings were held on behalf of the Desk Techs and Clerical Members.  At the Desk Tech meeting Osbourne Boxx and Mike Chomik were reelected as Chairman and Vice Chairman of Unit 2.  At the clerical meeting we discussed outstanding issues and contract talk.  Both meetings were well attended.

A Unit 1 meeting is scheduled for next Tuesday, March 30^th for all Carrier, Switch, Sr. Frame, PBX, and CO Installers, who make up the Network Tech classification.

Times and Locations are as follows:  8:30am and 10am at the Union Hall, and 5:30pm at Rick’s Prime Rib, 898 Buffalo Rd.

The agenda has been mailed to all members of the unit.  This is a Union Activity Day for all Network Techs.

Other Updates:

An unfair labor charge has been filed in regards to a unilateral change in the Take the Lead program that was discovered late last year as the Company changed the payout on business services.  The Company has also advised some Sales and Service Techs that they will be dispatched out of Sherbourne, NY effective April 1^st.

I want to thank all of you for your Membership to our Union.  Don’t forget Thursdays are Union Apparel Days.

This is your President John Pusloskie wishing you a safe and relaxing weekend.

I’m saddened to announce the passing of Linda Guasp, Wife of Network Carrier Tech Jules Guasp.

Calling hours are Wednesday 5-8pm at the Vay-Schleich & Meeson Funeral Home at 1075 Long Pond Rd.  Contributions may be made to the Ronald McDonald House or Hildebrandt Hospice in her memory.

On behalf of the Union, I want to extend our sincerest sympathies to Jules and his Family.

A reminder – this Saturday is the Annual Rochester Genesee Valley Area Labor Federation Mtg.  Registration begins at 8am and Program begins at 9am.  There will be a guest speaker on the reshaping of the American Labor Movement.  Please call in to the Hall if you would like to attend.  Exact location at MCC will be put on the tape on Friday.

This is your President John Pusloskie thanking you for calling your Union tape.

A reminder – There is a Unit Meeting for the Desk Techs on Tuesday and all Clerical on Thursday.  These are Union Activity Days for these units.  Thursday is a Union Apparel Day for all Members.

Right now we are mobilizing for Attorney Mark Pearce, who has been nominated for the National Labor Relations Board in Washington, D.C.  This is very important to working people across the Nation.  Currently only two of the five Board positions are filled, so no business or violations filed against employers can be resolved due to three vacancies on the Board.  We are asking you to sign letters to Senator Schumer and Gillibrand urging the President to fill these positions, as the Republicans have blocked all nominations.

This Saturday is the Annual Genesee Valley Area Labor Federation meeting at MCC.  The meeting runs from 9am to 2pm and any union member is invited to attend at no cost.  On the agenda will be Amy Dean on the future role of labor and how labor must change to be effective moving forward.  Anyone who is interested please call the Union Hall.

This is your President John Pusloskie thanking you for calling your Union tape.

Rally Alert!

Make Wall Street Pay to Restore Jobs!

Where is our bailout?  Where are the bailouts for America’s workers losing jobs, homes, and healthcare?  We demand good jobs now!  It’s time Wall Street paid their fair share to restore the jobs they destroyed, and to stop using our tax dollars to fight financial reform, healthcare reform, and labor rights reform.

What:  Rally in conjunction with 200 national actions demanding Wall Street Pay to Restore jobs!

When:  Tuesday, March 23, 2010  4-5pm

Where:  On the sidewalk in front of Bank of America, 1 East Avenue, Rochester, NY 14604

For more information, please contact (585) 263-2650

Good Jobs Now: Make Wall Street Pay events call on the big Wall Street banks to pay for a major jobs plan to rebuild crumbling infrastructure and invest in green technology; increase aid to state and local governments to save critical services and jobs; increase funding for neglected communities to match people who need jobs with work that needs to be done; and use TARP money to get credit flowing to small businesses for job creation.

Information on the activities is available at www.aflcio.org/createjobs – the AFL-CIO’s online organizing hub for the jobs campaign.  From the site, people can find events to attend, write letters to banks and read and submit job stories and photos.

In addition to these efforts, Working America, the 3 million-member community affiliate of the AFL-CIO, has kicked off a campaign called “I am not your ATM.”   People across the country are submitting photos of themselves in front of ATM’s, asking “where’s my bailout?” and delivering the message to Wall Street:  “I am not your ATM.”  To see some of the photos collected so far, go to www.notyouratm.com.  Working America speaks to 25,000 people across the country every week about the creation of good jobs and holding Wall Street accountable.