---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <20190329032854.GA19042@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2019 03:28:54 +0000 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Workers At Altice/Cablevision Vote Union Yes! (This is from the CWA newsletter) Following a tough-anti union campaign, on March 5th 130 Altice Technical Service/Optimum workers in Westchester, NY persevered and voted 77 to 45 with one challenged ballot to be represented by CWA Local 1103. A lack of job security and contracting were the main issues for the techs. The employer's nasty anti-union campaign was overwhelmed by a very well trained and strong internal organizing committee. A majority of workers wore CWA bands every day to work, and took over every single captive audience meeting. The committee stressed the importance of being public in every meeting. "I've been working for the company for 14 years. I've never seen it this bad," said Mark Gayle, who works in Field Service at Altice in Westchester. "I'm so thankful that we're all sticking together and joining a union right now because it's the best thing that could ever happen for all of us." Altice workers in Wappingers Falls, NY also voted last week on whether or not to join CWA; results are forthcoming. -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20190329034527.GA19252@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2019 03:45:27 +0000 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Connecticut Cwaers Fight For Call Center Workers, Protest Closures (This is from the CWA newsletter) CWA Local 1298 members took to the State Capitol in Hartford on March 7th to support AT&T call center workers in Meriden, CT who were recently told that their jobs were being moved to Tennessee and Georgia. The members were joined for a press conference by longtime former Director of UAW Region 9-A and newly-elected State Senator Julie Kushner. They spoke out about the need for legislation to protect call center workers before even more of our members lose their jobs. "There's a very big impact that's going on with these employees, and we pretty much have to figure out what we want to do by April 5th," said Dawn Wright, a Meriden call center worker who is making the difficult decision to move to Tennessee in order to keep her job. "Families don't want to have to leave Connecticut. We like Connecticut." Local 1298 President Dave Weidlich also testified on March 7th at the Connecticut Joint Committee on Labor and Public Employees about the deep impact that losing these jobs will have on the community, and why we need the Act Concerning Call Centers and Notice of Closure in Connecticut. "AT&T raked in $20 billion with the 2017 tax cut," he testified. "They have cut 12,000 jobs across the country. Call center jobs are good, solid, middle class jobs. One call center closing can devastate an entire community." -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20190329034836.GA19314@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Fri, 29 Mar 2019 03:48:36 +0000 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Cwa Supports Carried Interest Fairness Act To Level Financial Playing Field (This is from the CWA newsletter) One of the most outrageous loopholes in our tax code is the "carried interest" loophole, which allows hedge fund and private equity fund managers to claim part of what is really salary income as capital gains instead. As a result, they pay about 20% in taxes - a lower rate than that paid by millions of middle-class workers like teachers, firefighters, nurses, and customer service workers. To close this loophole, Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) and Representative Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) this week reintroduced the Carried Interest Fairness Act, which would close the carried interest tax loophole. CWA strongly supports this bill, which would help level the financial playing field for working people. "For years, the carried interest tax loophole has allowed some of the wealthiest people in this country to pay a lower tax rate than millions of middle-income workers," said CWA President Chris Shelton. "Meanwhile, our country's infrastructure is crumbling, our young people struggle to pay college tuition, and critical programs like Social Security and Medicare are constantly under threat. It's time to close the carried interest loophole and make Wall Street pay its fair share." -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <f2c90585-2c63-444e-bd46-1d1ac5a875d9@googlegroups.com> Date: 29 Mar 2019 14:12:49 -0700 From: HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org> Subject: Re: New FCC Enforcement Powers Follow Passage Of Anti- Spoofing Law On Thursday, March 28, 2019 at 10:36:04 PM UTC-4, Bill Horne wrote: > Article by Alan L. Friel, Linda Goldstein, Amy Ralph Mudge and Randal M. Shaheen > > The RAY BAUMS Act extends an important provision of the Truth in > Caller ID Act of 2009. That act forbade the transmission of misleading > or inaccurate caller ID information "with the intent to defraud, cause > harm or wrongly obtain anything of value" - the practice known as > "spoofing." The RAY BAUMS Act extends the same prohibition to text > messages and international calls, a new initiative that the FCC has > taken on in the hope of reducing instances of illegal spoofing. > > http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=789584&email_access=on Not a bad idea, but the question is whether the FCC will actually do anything substantive about this problem. In many telecom fraud cases, the government goes after one or two high profile abusers and makes a big deal about it. However, there are many other abusers who go on unaffected and the problem continues. The abusers know the odds of their getting caught and punished are low. ------------------------------ ********************************************* End of telecom Digest Sun, 31 Mar 2019