Date Posted
President’s Report   3/26/2018 We are at a crossroads in the labor movement. Organized labor is under attack in this country. Local 1298 has always been able to put up the good fight to secure fair and just contracts. However, we need to step it up a notch. We have our Frontier contract negotiations coming up in 2019. There are also federal and statewide elections coming up this fall. We need rank-and-file members to step up, get involved and join the fight to protect our interests. Our local is in the process of securing funding from the National Union for mobilization and political action training. We will have mobilization training to prepare for our contract negotiations as well as political action training which is equally as important. In Connecticut there is a possibility of the House, Senate and Governorship swinging to the Republican Party which will have no hesitation to propose and pass legislation to make Connecticut a “right to work” state. Just take a look at Wisconsin and see how right to work legislation has damaged the labor movement in that state. The political action training will require our members to be fully involved in the elections in Connecticut this fall. We have to go door-to-door to get the vote out; we have to have a voter registration drive and a COPE drive (which is now called political action fund nationally).  We must be part of the process to ensure our elected officials represent our needs. Stay tuned, information will soon be available on our website.   We are finally in a position to start the process of using our voicemail system again. Instructions on how to sign up and use the new system will be posted on our website in the next week or so.  This will be critical in our communication efforts related to all the happenings and activities we will be engaged in going forward for our local. We are also nearly finished with re-vamping our website and app. We will be adding departmental pages so we can share informational that is specific to each workgroup.   The AT&T core group continues to experience surpluses. It’s become kind of a regular thing just like at Legacy T where every quarter they’re looking to trim from their head counts across the country. We will make sure our contract is enforced during these events.   At AT&T Mobility the momentum from the recent successful contract needs to continue. We also have secured funding from the national union to keep the mobility members engaged through Unity at Mobility. It is critically important that we engage our members with all our employers and most importantly tap into the resources of the National Union which are there and available to help achieve our goals.  We don’t want to leave any money from the National Union on the table as we take on these important fights.     I am extremely pleased to share that your Executive Board is working together on behalf of our entire membership. Everyone is looking forward and doing what we need to do; to better the lives of our members and their families. We can agree to disagree without being disrespectful and at the end of the day; everyone on this team is committed to delivering the best possible results for our members.   In Solidarity, Dave Weidlich President CWA 1298