Sticking with My Union

Dear CWA 4502 Members,
Many of you have received deceptive “Opt Out” email from the so-called Freedom Foundation — a shadowy, extremist organization funded by billionaires and anti-union fanatics.

Make no mistake, the Freedom Foundation has one goal: to weaken CWA Local 4502 right before we start contract negotiations with the City of Columbus.

Don’t be distracted by their patronizing breakup-themed email. The only thing the Freedom Foundation wants to break up is yours and your co-workers’ collective bargaining strength so we can’t improve your pay, benefits and working conditions. Apparently, the very idea of employees having a strong union as their advocate at work threatens the extremists behind the misleading email you received.

The Freedom Foundation knows how powerful a union voice can be — that’s why they’re spending so much money and time to mine your personal data and contact you at work. Let’s show them that we understand what a strong union is worth by remaining loyal Union members and negotiating a good contract with the City of Columbus.

The email they sent you should have an “unsubscribe” link at the bottom. Click to unsubscribe. If you are emailed again after you unsubscribe, please let us know.

Let’s stick together going into negotiations with the City and show everyone what the power of a union really brings. If you have not yet responded to your Union’s survey, please do so by February 26th. If you have not yet received a link to the survey, please contact Joyce at [email protected].

If you have not yet received a link to the survey, please contact Joyce at [email protected].

United We Bargain. Divided We Beg.

United We Bargain. Divided We Beg.

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Become a Member

Membership has it’s privileges. Join today.
Only members can: provide input for contract negotiations, vote on the contract (negotiations begin 2/27/23), vote this fall for officers and board members, participate in the ASH gift card program, participate in scholarship opportunities (two more with April 2023 deadlines), attend membership meetings (2/28, 5/10 coming up), join committees to further advance the local and support the community.

Please fill out both sides of the Membership Application and return to:

CWA Local 4502
399 East Main Street, S 200
Columbus, OH 43215

Membership gives you a voice. Don’t miss out on the current member survey (provide input for contract negotiations), upcoming membership meetings, contract ratification vote, officer/board elections. We are stronger together.

 

2023 Membership App and Payroll Ded Auth Agmt.pdf

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I Love My Negotiations Team!

I Love my CWA Negotiations Team, seen here hard at work again today! Left to right: Hugh Williams, Brent Writesel, Jim Weber, Susan Wilson, (Eric Cunningham – absent) and Sarah Ingles (attorney).

The team along with our attorney have been meeting twice per week since January, (now three times per week) in preparation to begin negotiations February 27.

Members wishing to receive negotiations updates should provide their home/personal email address and home/cell phone to: [email protected].

CWA Local 4502 Negotiations Team photo while working.

I Love my CWA Negotiations Team, seen here hard at work again today! Left to right: Hugh Williams, Brent Writesel, Jim Weber, Susan Wilson, (Eric Cunningham – absent) and Sarah Ingles (attorney).

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36 Reasons to Thank A Union

36 Reasons to Join CWA 4502

Did you know that labor unions made the following 36 things possible?

  1. Weekends without work
  2. All breaks at work, including your lunch breaks
  3. Paid vacation
  4. Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
  5. Sick leave
  6. Social Security
  7. Minimum wage
  8. Civil Rights Act/Title VII – prohibits employer discrimination
  9. 8-hour workday
  10. Overtime pay
  11. Child labor laws
  12. Occupational Safety & Health Act (OSHA)
  13. 40-hour work week
  14. Workers’ compensation (workers’ comp)
  15. Unemployment insurance
  16. Pensions
  17. Workplace safety standards and regulations
  18. Employer health care insurance
  19. Collective bargaining rights for employees
  20. Wrongful termination laws
  21. Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA)
  22. Whistleblower protection laws
  23. Veteran’s Employment and Training Services (VETS)
  24. Compensation increases and evaluations (i.e. raises)
  25. Sexual harassment laws
  26. American Disabilities Act (ADA)
  27. Holiday pay
  28. Employer dental, life, and vision insurance
  29. Privacy rights
  30. Pregnancy and parental leave
  31. Military leave
  32. The right to strike
  33. Public education for children
  34. Equal Pay Acts of 1963 & 2011 – requires employers pay men and women equally for the same amount of work
  35. Laws ending sweatshops in the United States

 

Thank Your Union! 

If you are not yet a full-dues paying member, join CWA Local 4502 today. Contact a CWA Rep or reach out to Wayne Trakas-Lawyor at 614-485-1265.

Strong union membership is key to raising income levels, providing benefits such as retirement security, health insurance, and giving workers a voice when it comes to negotiating and enforcing our contracts. By being united with other CWA Local 4502 members our voices will be stronger, and we will be able to negotiate contracts with better pay, benefits, and working conditions.

 

Join together for a stronger voice for better wages and working conditions!

  1. The higher our membership, the more power we have at the bargaining table, and the better our chances of winning a good contract. The power of our union is in its numbers.
  2. Only members have a vote — in choosing who runs the union, whether we go on strike, and whether or not to ratify a contract or increase dues.
  3. Members are eligible for many benefits, including scholarship awards, services, discounts, and coupons.
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Median earnings for union and non-union workers

Busting the Union-busters

What is union-busting? Union-busting is when an external organization encourages union members to stop paying union dues. Their aim is to destroy unions and deprive workers of workplace benefits, such as pay raises, health-care, vacation time, personal business holidays, our birthday holidays, and so much more.

What they say: That union members can save money by stop being a dues-paying member of CWA Local 4502, and still get the benefits of membership with no adverse consequences or effects on contracts and collective bargaining.

What it means: Weaken the Union’s ability to bargain for improved pay, benefits and working conditions – our contract – and eventually leads to the Union disappearing. Don’t forget that the employer is not legally obliged to give us any benefits. Who will negotiate for us then? The Union-buster? NO! They have not put a dime into our pockets but they want to take money from our paychecks to fund billionaires.

They do not care about our pay or how we will feed our family and fill the car with gas. Dues-paying union members get more from the union than the union takes from us through exclusive union benefits and collective bargaining power.

Median earnings for union and non-union workers

The choice is easy.

 

What they say: That you have a choice to pay your union dues and that you should choose not to. 

What it means: It means that the Union will lose strenth and may eventually disappear. Regardless of how you might feel about Unions, you enjoy the benefits that come with it. Consider this: If you were at the store and a coworker’s cart was full of groceries and they have just paid for it.  Would you take some of, or all, of your coworkers’ groceries, just because you could?

What they say:  Unions only want your money to give to politicians who do not represent your values.

What it means: How do these people know what your values are? CWA has a Political Action Fund (PAF), which is separate to paying union-dues.  Members choose if they wish to contribute to that fund, which goes to candidates at a state or national level.

CWA Local 4502 gives small amounts of money to a few local labor friendly political candidates from both parties. We do this to advance members’ interests at work. If you know of any candidates who are labor friendly and will help our members, please let us know.

We are political because we have to be to get the best contracts for our members, but we are not party political as union-busters claim  Many people do not care for the political aspect, which is understandable; however, just about every company out there has lobbyists who work for, or are affiliated to politicians or their parties because it gives them influence. Unions have a duty to get the best for workers and are the only voice working people and families have – Unions serve as our lobbyists. “If you’re not at the table, you’re probably on the menu” (Pat Rusk, a teacher’s union president).

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Social Security Fairness Act of 2021

Introduced in House (01/04/2021)

Social Security Fairness Act of 2021

This bill repeals provisions that reduce Social Security benefits for individuals who receive other benefits, such as a pension from a state or local government.

The bill eliminates the government pension offset, which in various instances reduces Social Security survivors’ benefits for spouses, widows, and widowers who also receive government pensions of their own.

The bill also eliminates the windfall elimination provision, which in some instances reduces Social Security benefits for individuals who also receive a pension or disability benefit from an employer that did not withhold Social Security taxes.

These changes are effective for benefits payable after December 2021.

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Contact your Congress Representive or Senator and ask them to support this bill.

 

 

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Your Rights Are Under Attack

Fellow CWA Local 4502 Member,

Your rights at work are under attack by an extremist organization. The so-called Freedom Foundation is using your personal information to further their agenda of undermining good pay, health insurance, pensions and job security in the public sector.  Don’t take the bait.

That these third party extremists would launch their attack on you and your union now – during a pandemic and while we are in contract negotiations with the City – tells you what they really stand for. Don’t help them hurt you and your family.  Don’t opt out of supporting your Union and your co-workers.

CWA Local 4502 is your Union. Together we are stronger.

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United We Bargain. Divided We Beg.

It’s Senate Bill 5 All Over Again, and Again

In June 2020 we heard from members who received text messages on their personal cell phones from the Freedom Foundation. Now (December 2020) they are pursuing members through their work email.

The Freedom Foundation wants to take away our ability to negotiate for better wages and benefits and have a secure retirement.  This is our next Senate Bill 5. But just like Senate Bill 5, Ohioans aren’t buying what they’re selling. Ohio voters overwhelming repealed that damaging, anti-worker law. Ohio’s unions, including CWA, have continued to fight and win better compensation, benefits and working conditions for the employees we represent. That is why the Freedom Foundation is targeting union members like you.

The Freedom Foundation is telling members they can drop out of the union and still get all of the benefits without paying dues. But we know that’s not a winning strategy. Our members understand that strength at the bargaining table requires the membership to stand in solidarity with one another and their union. That is especially important as we get ready to start negotiations over your pay, benefits and working conditions with the City of Columbus.  Each one of us needs to stick together in support of our union and to protect our bargaining rights.

If you are contacted by an anti-union pusher from the Freedom Foundation, don’t sign anything and ask them to remove you from their list.  If you receive an email from this deceptive organization, forward it to [email protected]  You can also visit https://weareohio.com/ for more information. In order to fight back, tell your co-workers about how the Freedom Foundation is threatening everyone’s wages, benefit and working conditions. Most importantly, stay involved in CWA Local 4502. It’s your Union and we need to keep it strong for all of us.

Review the Letter from President Susan Wilson for more background information, who this organization is and how they got your personal information. NOTE: This letter was mailed to all CWA Local 4502 members in February 2020.

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United We Bargain. Divided We Beg.

It’s Senate Bill 5 All Over Again

Recently (June 2020) we have heard from members who have received text messages on their personal cell phones from the Freedom Foundation.

The Freedom Foundation wants to take away our ability to negotiate for better wages and benefits and have a secure retirement.  This is our next Senate Bill 5. But just like Senate Bill 5, Ohioans aren’t buying what they’re selling. Ohio voters overwhelming repealed that damaging, anti-worker law. Ohio’s unions, including CWA, have continued to fight and win better compensation, benefits and working conditions for the employees we represent. That is why the Freedom Foundation is targeting union members like you.

The Freedom Foundation is telling members they can drop out of the union and still get all of the benefits without paying dues. But we know that’s not a winning strategy. Our members understand that strength at the bargaining table requires the membership to stand in solidarity with one another and their union. That is especially important as we get ready to start negotiations over your pay, benefits and working conditions with the City of Columbus.  Each one of us needs to stick together in support of our union and to protect our bargaining rights.

If you are contacted by an anti-union pusher from the Freedom Foundation, don’t sign anything and ask them to remove you from their list.  If you receive an email from this deceptive organization, forward it to [email protected]  You can also visit https://weareohio.com/ for more information. In order to fight back, tell your co-workers about how the Freedom Foundation is threatening everyone’s wages, benefit and working conditions. Most importantly, stay involved in CWA Local 4502. It’s your Union and we need to keep it strong for all of us.

Review the Letter from President Susan Wilson for more background information, who this organization is and how they got your personal information. NOTE: This letter was mailed to all CWA Local 4502 members in February 2020.

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