IBEW/CWA Verizon Contract 2011

Contract Campaign and Organizing Strategy Session

8:30 AM – 1:00 PM March 26, 2011
Teamsters Local 170, 330 Southwest Cutoff, Worcester, MA

Agenda
8:30 - 9:00 a.m. Registration / Coffee
9:00 a.m. Welcome and Introductions
9:15 -10:00 a.m. General Session
Report from March 24 joint IBEW – CWA Verizon East mobilization meeting in
Philadelphia and recent T6 meeting with Verizon management on "State of the
Company"
T-6 Council Chair/IBEW Local 2222 Business Manager Myles Calvey and
CWA Local 1400 President Don Trementozzi
Short reports from each participating Verizon local union on:
-- Mobilization: Five months before Verizon contract expiration, what is our current
level of organization and mobilization?
• Experience of each local with distribution of the "Job Security" flyer to members.
How was it distributed? Was the flyer useful in building mobilization structure?
If yes, why? If no, why not?
• T-Shirts and other ways to show union strength.
-- Communications: Status of personal cell phone and email data collection. How
many collected? Number of members on Facebook mobilization page.
-- Strike Preparation: Credit union / savings plans. Practice picketing

10:00 - 11:15 a.m. Fighting for Our Future at Verizon

Brainstorming and planning session for joint IBEW-CWA 2011 Verizon Contract
Mobilization. We will use this hour to develop plans for April, May and June!
• Short discussion on mobilization for Verizon's 2011 Annual Shareholders
Meeting (May 5, 2011 at 10:30 a.m., University Place Conference Center, 850
West Michigan St., Indianapolis, Indiana.)
• 30 minutes in small groups for brainstorming
• 30 minutes in large group for report-back and discussion.

11:15 – 12:15 p.m. Lessons from Wisconsin:

Paul Feeney, Matt Lyons, Pat Atwell, John Colleran, Jeff Oreander, Bill
Crowley and Steve Smith
Across the country, teachers and other public employees are being vilified for having
good wages and benefits. How could this trend affect our negotiations with Verizon
and our ability to win public support? What are the lessons from the fight-back in
Wisconsin that could help us win broad public support? What messages / slogans
should we use for our contract campaign?

12:15 -1:00 p.m. Lunch featuring presentation by former CWA Rep. Steve Early about lessons from
past bargaining (and strikes) at Verizon. Steve will also discuss his new book, "Civil Wars in U.S. Labor"