IBEW Local 2321 has an opening on the Executive Board for the Officer's position of
Recording Secretary.
Any member in Good Standing interested in being considered for the position, please send a letter stating your intentions to:
IBEW Local 2321
1049 Turnpike Street, Route 114
North Andover, Massachusetts 01845
ATTENTION: Executive Board
All applications will be accepted up until the time of the next meeting of the Executive Board on Thursday October 7, 2010 beginning at 1pm, at which time the position will be filled.
Members interested in particpating in the 10th Annual 2321 Cares Softball Tournament must have rosters in by August 27th. See the link on the left under 2321 Cares/Softball Tournament for forms and details.
3.75% General Wage Increase will be in August 12th Paychecks
During our 2008 contract bargaining, the Union negotiated annual raises for the duration of the three-year collective bargaining agreement of 3% in 2008, 3.5% in 2009, and 3.75% in 2010 with an opportunity for an additional Cost of Living Allowance (COLA).
Verizon notified the System Council T-6 that because the difference in the National Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) between May 2009 and May 2010 did not exceed the already negotiated General Wage Increase (GWI) of 3.75%, there would be no additional COLA, per our 2008 Memorandum of Commitment on the issue.
The GWI became effective August 1, 2010, and will be reflected in the August 12th paychecks for eligible members. See the job aid below for details on how Short Term Disability or other situations may impact your eligibility.
About 75 telecom workers and community supporters rallied in support of a Verizon technician in Lynn, MA who was recently threatened by a supervisor while acting in his capacity as an IBEW Local 2321 steward during a "captive audience" safety meeting.
In response to the steward's statement that management often retaliates against workers who ask questions during meetings, the foreman forcefully pointed his finger in the steward's face and said, "you're dead!!" For emphasis, he said it twice.
It is an unfair labor practice to threaten stewards for acting on behalf of the membership and it is just plain wrong to use violent threats to threaten anyone in the workplace. Verizon management is creating a "hostile work environment" for its employees in the Lynn garage and elsewhere.
IBEW union members are not going to tolerate violent threats in the workplace. They are demanding that Verizon apologize to the steward and take immediate steps to end the "hostile work environment" that it is responsible for in Lynn.
IBEW Local 2321's Business Manager Ed Starr is the Business Manager of the workers at the Lynn garage and was the Master of Ceremonies and principal organizer for the rally.
Speakers at the rally included IBEW T-6 Chair and Local 2222 Business Manager Myles Calvey, North Shore Labor Council President Jeff Crosby, CWA Local 1400 President Don Trementozzi, Jobs with Justice director Russ Davis, AFL-CIO Legislative Director Tim Sullivan, State Rep. Mark Falzone; Rep. Steven M. Walsh, and Lynn City Councilor Daniel F. Cahill.
One of the high points of the rally was a moving speech by Mike Upton, a strike captain and member of UFCW Local 791 who is on strike at the Shaw's warehouse in Methuen.
Earlier this week we discussed how Verizon executives are completely reshaping their company, shifting the focus from DSL and copper phone service, to more profitable wireless and selective fiber deployments. While the plan is obvious from a business perspective, the shift has some serious downsides, including hanging up on huge numbers of rural Americans, who are still on taxpayer-subsidized copper networks. It also involves laying off a significant number of workers -- which conveniently for Verizon can be blamed on a sour economy...
US telecommunications giant Verizon plans more layoffs
US telecommunications giant Verizon plans thousands more layoffs in 2010 even as it records another year of massive profits. The layoffs will primarily hit workers in the wireline side of the business as Verizon moves away from traditional telephone service to concentrate on wireless and fiber-optic technologies.
The explosion and fire on an offshore petroleum platform in the Gulf of Mexico today shows “we need to make sure all these rigs in the Gulf are safe to operate before we put personnel back to work on them,” United Steelworkers (USW) Vice President Gary Beevers said.
One person was injured in the explosion on a platform owned by Houston-based Mariner Energy Inc.
Beevers, who heads the union’s National Oil Bargaining division, said in a statement:
I would hate to see a worker killed in our haste to reopen the Gulf to drilling. We need to give the government adequate time to do its inspections and ensure adequate health and safety provisions are in place.
It’s ironic, Beevers said, the explosion happened one day after the American Petroleum Institute (API), the oil industry’s trade association, held rallies to lift the moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf.
Instead of holding political protests, the API and the industry should be helping the government ensure all the rigs are safe to operate so the moratorium can be removed sooner.
We want drilling to return to the Gulf just like everyone else in the industry, but we have to make sure these rigs are safe first. We don’t need another oil explosion and oil spill.
Meanwhile, Beevers adds, offshore workers and the businesses affected by the moratorium that came as a result of the BP explosion and oil spill, should be given “adequate assistance.”
Advocates for voter participation and for low-income families are joining forces in an effort to defeat initiative petitions that would chop the state sales tax to 3 percent from 6.25 percent and repeal the new state sales tax on alcohol purchases.
Whether to build casinos in Massachusetts is an issue that merits spirited debate. But casinos alone aren’t nearly enough to make up for the Commonwealth’s failure to grow jobs. Regardless of how the casino debate turns out, state policymakers should spend far more time and effort on reforms that will spur substantial long-term job growth.
"The economic impact of casinos in Massachusetts would be enormous. The casinos themselves, would pump millions of dollars into the economy from revenue sharing with the state. In addition, the people who gain jobs within the casinos would have more funds to spread throughout their communities."
