Executive Vice President Annie Hill: ‘If Something is Going to Change in This Country, We Need the Right to Form Unions’

CWA’s decision to combine its annual convention with the legislative conference provides an opportunity for CWA to deal with the huge collective bargaining challenges such as those presented by the newspaper industry and the ongoing negotiations on behalf of some 125,000 workers at various AT&T companies while putting pressure on lawmakers to deal with EFCA and health care.

“If something is going to change in this country and we’re going to have a middle class, we need the right to form a union,” Hill said, noting that the U.S. alone among industrialized countries lacks genuine collective bargaining rights.

The fear tactics that the right wing used to defeat the Clinton health care initiatives 16 years ago are still around, she warned, reminding delegates that since the Clinton plan was defeated health care costs have more than doubled. The situation, Hill said, is “simply not sustainable.”

Recognizing that it is not practical or possible to negotiate COPE check off in many units such as those represented by the Sector, Hill said she and Secretary-Treasurer Jeff Rechenbach are collaborating on a plan to develop other ways for members in small units to make check off contributions—including credit card and electronic fund deductions.