15 September 2004
Erosion of health-care benefits
top bargaining issue in U.S.
TNG Canada West
Vice-President's
Report |
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Eastern VP Percy Hatfield has given his usual superb report that touches on all the highlights of our recent meetings in Anaheim, so I will focus on some of the details as well as developments since the conference.
While the Canadian delegation may have been small, the Canadian presence was felt.
In his address to delegates, retiring CWA President Morton Bahr lauded CWA’s Canadian members for our stronger position in terms of percentage of unionized workers north of the border and for our system of universal medicare.
The erosion of health-care benefits in the United States continues to be a top bargaining issue. Coverage can cost a staggering $20,000 per employee and employers are transferring more and more of that burden to the shrinking pool of workers who still have coverage.
Brother Hatfield outlined the adoption of the freelance resolution at the TNG/CWA Sector conference and the desire to craft a benefits package that would help organize freelance workers. But, as the numbers show, the cost of benefits in the United States makes this a difficult task without considerable health-care reform.
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| Collective bargaining recommendations going to Sector Executive Council |
| The TNG/CWA Sector Conference also received, as noted by Brother Hatfield, the reports produced by working groups out of the Convergence II weekend in Baltimore.
I worked with the Collective Bargaining Working Group, which arrived at the following recommendations we are making to the Sector Executive Council for implementation:
The workgroup recommends an informal mentoring program be developed to build experience for participating Local leaders and members, pairing a Local leader who has completed training, and will be a key person in collective bargaining, with an experienced negotiator such as a Sector rep or a staff member of a nearby Local. Mentoring could include having the person participate in another Local’s bargaining. TNG should organize mentoring along chain lines where appropriate.
The workgroup recommends that TNG develop a collective bargaining toolbox to serve as a resource in preparing for and engaging in collective bargaining. It could contain, but not be limited to, such things as sample contract surveys, reference books and manuals, research tips and resources, tips on how to select a bargaining team, examples of other bargaining campaigns plus tactics that worked and those that didn’t.
The workgroup recommends Locals encourage members to receive the training needed to create and maintain an effective, ongoing mobilizing structure. TNG staff is available to help Locals prepare and present this training, based on the CWA manual "Mobilizing to Build Power."
The workgroup recommends that Locals thoroughly explore and evaluate all of the economic pressure points available for use in bargaining, including strikes, circulation and advertising boycotts and shareholder and investor actions. Further, the workgroup recommends that Locals consult with TNG before implementing these tactics.
Further, the workgroup recommends that Locals employ strategic thinking in their preparations, to ensure that the tactics employed are focused on achieving the desired goals. |
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Delegates reject 'meetings lite'
CWA delegates rejected a proposal to switch to triennial conventions, with a trimmed-down meeting held annually in Washington to take care of business. Despite support from the CWA executive, delegates expressed their concern the change would erode the democratic nature of the union and voted it down.
At the TNG/CWA Sector Conference, delegates had already endorsed a resolution that would have called for our sector to continue with its annual conferences, even if the CWA decided to hold full conventions every three years.
Call for contracts
Carrie Biggs-Adams, the new secretary of the contracts committee, issued a plea for electronic copies of all contracts so they can form part of a new contracts database. While only a staff resource at present, she said she saw no problem making it available to Local presidents as well. Pointing her to a website where a contract may be posted is not good enough. This could be a very useful tool but many more Canadian contracts must be added.
New Human Rights director Debbie Thomas is also seeking to activate the Human Rights Co-ordinators that Guild Locals are supposed to have in place.
Financial issues cause concern
While TNG/CWA’s financial position is secure, there were issues raised during the meetings that were cause for concern. Continued restraint imposed by the CWA — which is under pressure itself due to declining telecom membership as well as problems at IUE — is making budgeting a difficult exercise for international Treasurer Bernie Lunzer. He warned delegates that it may be difficult to stay within budget during the new fiscal year and was still working to convince the CWA treasurer’s office that some areas will need bumping up.
Of more immediate concern was the poor performance of our Sector Mobilization and Defence Fund. While we had been looking at replacing our investment manager, we decided to act quickly because of a very negative report on the fund’s performance. While exact numbers were still being compiled at the time of the writing of this report, the loss, on what was once approximately a US$3-million fund, could be in the $400,000-$500,000 range.
We engaged a consultant to help us select a new fund manager and draft clearer investment guidelines. The consultant will also help us monitor the performance of the fund for at least the first year under the new manager and reporting on the fund will be improved, to the Finance Committee as well as to the Sector Executive Council.
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