CWA Local 9510's News Blog

CWA members' solidarity during 18 long months of bargaining paid off Wednesday night in Connecticut when Local 1298 reached a tentative agreement with AT&T that includes job protection language the company had refused to include earlier.

"We hung tough, the membership hung tough, we had the support of national, and AT&T knew it and finally realized that 'we're not going to get these guys to move,'" Local 1298 President Bill Henderson said.

The two tentative contracts, one for nearly 3,400 core employees and the other for 176 yellow page workers, are the last in the round of bargaining that CWA and AT&T began at tables nationwide in 2009. Ratification ballots will be sent to members on Monday and must be returned by Sept. 7.

Both of the 1298 agreements require AT&T to keep at least 84 percent of the represented jobs in Connecticut. "It's not everything we wanted, but it's big for us and we can build on it in the future," Henderson said.

CWA District 1 Vice President Chris Shelton praised the negotiating team. "The bargaining committee stayed focused and devoted themselves to getting a just contract for the members and I thank them, my assistant Dennis Trainor and Staff Representative Pat Telesco for their work and dedication," he said.

Always remember,

You have the right to Union representation.

You have the right to consultation with representation prior to meeting with management.

You have the right to remain silent until your Union representative is present.

You have the right to know the topic of the meeting/investigation.

Make sure you let them know and make sure you express these rights whenever something is brought or asked of you that could result in discipline.

You are not being insubordinate in practicing these rights.

Union united we will stand strong.

JJ Hewitt VP Verizon Unit CWA9510

911 ETC's E911 Solution Rated Compliant With Avaya Aura™


911 ETC's CrisisConnect™ is DevConnect certified Compliant for Avaya Aura™ Communication Manager.

EVERETT, Wash., Aug. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- 911 ETC, a national leader in providing E911 solutions to businesses, schools, and government, announced today that CrisisConnect™ is certified Compliant with the Avaya Aura™ Communication Manager from Avaya, a global leader in enterprise communication systems, software and services.

911 ETC's Crisis Connect™ helps businesses implement and maintain E911 for both VoIP and multi-line telephone systems, which ensures accurate location information for outgoing 911 calls. "As a DevConnect member since 2005, the ability to develop and test our hosted platform in a cost-effective and efficient manner using Avaya Aura Communication Manager has been beneficial for our business model," said Larry Scott, president of 911 ETC, in a statement. "In doing so, we've been able to develop our product with the ability to integrate with the latest in telecommunications technology. It has given our customers peace of mind knowing that we work closely with Avaya engineers to ensure a perfect fit."

"The interoperability between 911 ETC's SaaS solution and Avaya Aura solutions continues to provide our customers with a cost effective, yet comprehensive E911 solution. As our customers consolidate, flatten, and extend their networks the E-911 application needs to evolve as well and 911 ETC provides the needed solution," said Eric Rossman, vice president, developer relations, Avaya.

The DevConnect program is an initiative to develop, market and sell innovative third-party products that interoperate with Avaya technology and extend the value of a company's investment in its new network. 911 ETC has been a gold member of the program since 2005.

AT&T recently said it supports the Google-Verizon net neutrality plan that would prevent wireless networks from being subject to neutrality regulations.

Ralph de la Vega, CEO of AT&T Mobility, recently called the plan a "reasonable framework." Later, Joan Marsh, AT&T's Vice President of Federal Regulatory, wrote about the proposal and the need for unregulated wireless networks on the company's public policy blog. "Wireless carriers must to [sic] be able to dynamically manage traffic and operate their networks in an environment free from burdensome, arbitrary and unnecessary regulations," Marsh said.

The Google-Verizon plan, which has drawn critics as well, calls for making the Internet we know today completely neutral for lawful content. This means carriers could not discriminate against or restrict different types of (lawful) data from running through its broadband network. However, the plan would leave wireless networks out of the debate, and allow broadband providers to offer non-neutral specialized broadband services such as medical health monitoring and entertainment content.

AT&T has long been an opponent of net neutrality, arguing there is little evidence that broadband providers needs to be regulated. The company has considered using filtering tools to detect pirated material on its network. AT&T has also urged employees to send personal letters to the Federal Communications Commission arguing against net neutrality.

Despite previous actions, it isn't that surprising the company would approve of the Google-Verizon framework. That's because by the end of 2009, AT&T changed its position on net neutrality. In fact, it had adopted at least one view similar to those found in the Google-Verizon proposal.

In a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, AT&T said, "preserving the open character of the Internet is critically important." However, unlike Google and Verizon, AT&T wanted the FCC to address complaints of anticompetitive or discriminatory behavior on a case-by-case basis instead of applying a "strict nondiscrimination standard." Broad net neutrality rules, AT&T argued, could "ban voluntary commercial agreements for...certain value-added broadband services." You can read the entire letter here (PDF)

AT&T's reference to "value-added broadband services" is similar to Google and Verizon's call to have a non-neutral broadband network for "additional, differentiated online services." As mentioned earlier, such services could include health care monitoring, educational tools, gaming, and other forms of entertainment content.That means they could charge you more for accessing the net for those functions.

Considering AT&T's previous calls against regulating private broadband services (not to mention it's clear interest in having an unregulated wireless network) it's no surprise that AT&T likes what the Google-Verizon plan offers. But the company hasn't signed on entirely; its support is preliminary, not a Verizon-Google-AT&T net neutrality proposal.

Ian Paul, PC World

Aug 16, 2010 9:09 am

*Important Message from Jim Weitkamp, Vice President CWA*

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