by Belinda Boyce, Mar 8, 2010

Some 30,000 Communications Workers of America members ratify a contract with AT&T, and more news from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 1,200 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.

SETTLEMENTS
CWA, AT&T: Members of Communications Workers of America (CWA) District 3 last week ratified a three-year contract with AT&T. The contract covers 30,000 workers in the Southeast. CWA District 1 in Connecticut is now the only region still in negotiations with AT&T.

AFT, Detroit School District: The Detroit Federation of Teachers/AFT signed a letter of agreement with the school district that avoids the layoffs of 72 teachers and the transfer of another 50 teachers due to take effect March 7. The deal also preserves $46 million in federal funding of the early childhood program.

AFSCME, Columbus City Schools: 3,500 public school support staff in Columbus, Ohio, approved a new two-year contract on Tuesday. The contract provides a 3.55 percent wage increase over the term for the members of the Columbus School Employees Association (AFSCME-CSEA).  

UFCW, Stop & Shop: Members of five United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) local unions in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island on Sunday ratified new three-year contracts with Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. The contracts cover nearly 40,000 workers and provide wage increases while maintaining pension and health care benefits.

NEGOTIATIONS
AFTRA and SAG, AMPTP: The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) last week announced it will join the Screen Actors (SAG) in negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, after bargaining separately during the last contract talks. The current contract expires June 30, 2011, and talks are scheduled to begin Oct. 1.

Multiple, City of San Francisco: Some 15,000 San Francisco city workers received layoff notices Friday as part of Mayor Gavin Newsom’s plan to cut costs by rehiring the workers to a reduced workweek. The workers are represented by multiple unions, including the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) Local 21 and SEIU Local 1021, which have formed the Public Employees Committee to develop counterproposals. If no alternative to the layoffs can be agreed upon, the city unions plan to file a lawsuit.

NFLPA, NFL: The NFL Players Association (NFLPA) on Thursday shared with members details of team owners’ latest proposal, which could reduce players’ compensation by 18 percent. The union says this reduction in pay is “not justified given the NFL’s unprecedented growth and [the owners'] failure to provide meaningful financial data relating to their expenses.”

WORK STOPPAGES
UFCW, Shaw’s Supermarkets: Workers at a Shaw’s Supermarkets distribution center in Methuen, Mass., went on strike yesterday, after voting to reject the company’s latest contract proposal. The 309 workers are members of UFCW Local 791.

Disclaimer: This information is being provided for your information only.  As it is compiled from published news reports, not from individual unions, we cannot vouch for either its completeness or accuracy; readers who desire further information should directly contact the union involved.

(from the Sheet Metal Workers International www.smwia.org)

The A.F.L.-C.I.O. announced on Wednesday that it will sponsor two “Weeks of Action” including demonstrations in 200 cities against the nation’s major banks.

The demonstrations will be held from March 15 through March 30 with the slogan  “Good Jobs Now, Make Wall Street Pay.”

The demonstrations will have three goals: getting banks to pay their fair share, getting banks to stop fighting tougher new banking regulations and getting banks to lend more to “Main Street” and small businesses in order to boost jobs in the current difficult economy.

The rallies and protests will take place at branches and office of Bank of America, Citibank, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, and Wells Fargo, to name a few.   

According to Vincent Panvini, SMWIA Director of Political and Government Affairs, “the people who put us in this mess and killed millions of jobs ought to be funding the creation of millions of new jobs.” 

Organized labor will call for a “speculative” tax on short-term financial transactions, a tax that could raise $400 billion a year and would discourage a short-term investment mentality.

The labor movement is also calling for imposing  higher taxes on banker’ bonuses and on the large incomes of hedge fund executives.

Super Bowl XLIV was the most watched show in TV history. But before the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts took the field, a different kind of team was behind the scenes, making sure the game was seen around the world.

More than 500 broadcast technicians, all members of the Electrical Workers (IBEW), were in the stands, on the field, behind cameras and in the control room to make the Super Bowl work. In a new video (above), IBEW tells the story of this unseen but vital group that made watching the game possible.

There were 90 cameras alone. Neil McCaffrey, a member of IBEW Local 1212, has operated a camera at seven Super Bowls. He says:

Everyone wants to participate in it [Super Bowl] because it’s so big. So it’s a great sense of brotherhood.

Martin Febres, a freelance technician and member of IBEW Local 108 who was working his first Super Bowl, says:

[The other IBEW workers] are willing to share their knowledge. They’re willing to give you that experience. That’s one of the great things I like about IBEW.

By Andrew Taylor

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate has passed a bill aimed at boosting job growth by giving tax breaks to businesses that hire the unemployed.

The jobs legislation would also extend highway and mass transit programs through the end of the year and pump $20 billion into them in time for the construction season. Economists say the tax breaks could create perhaps 250,000 jobs.

It's the first of several job-creation measures promised by Democrats, who also want to give cash-strapped states further help with their budgets and give subsidies to people who make their homes more energy efficient.

The measure passed by a bipartisan 70-28 and now goes back to the House, which passed a far more ambitious version in December.