EZ Pass Call Center worker, and CWA shop steward, Daniel Quinones wants a living wage
(Photo: Thomas Altfather Good / NLN)

 
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — October 18, 2014. On Saturday, the newest members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 1102 - the EZ Pass Call Center workers - rallied on Staten Island in support of their union’s upcoming contract talks with Xerox.

 

EZ Pass Call Center workers - members of CWA Local 1102
(Photo: Thomas Altfather Good / NLN)

 
The newest members of CWA Local 1102 work at the EZ Pass call center for New York State, located on Staten Island. The call center provides customer support for EZ Pass subscribers.

 
Six years ago the workers voted for union representation, which improved their working conditions, but the situation at the call center rapidly deteriorated after Xerox implemented a piecework scheme called “achievement based compensation.” Customer Service Representatives are paid approximately 87 cents per call. This, combined with frequent computer breakdowns - resulting in slowdowns, means workers struggle to earn $15 an hour.

 

Gina Magarino, CWA Shop Steward for Call Center Workleaders
(Photo: Thomas Altfather Good / NLN)

 
The union enjoys significant political support. Politicians at the rally included New York State Senator Diane Savino, the Assemblyman representing Staten Island, Michael Cusick, representatives from New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer’s office, and representatives from the Working Families Party.

 

State Senator Diane Savino addressing the Call Center Workers
(Photo: Thomas Altfather Good / NLN)

 
Commenting on a recent decertification election, which failed to unseat the union, State Senator Diane Savino told the workers, “It’s never about your hourly pay, but the stripping of your rights. They want you to say, this union’s doing nothing for me. Never allow them to convince you that you can do better on your own.”

 
“Achievement based compensation benefits the company but not the workers,” said shop steward Daniel Quinones. “If you have one bad call 30 percent of your pay is docked…We need an hourly pay rate.”

 
View Photos From The Rally

TWU Local 101 member on the picket line
(Photo: Roy Murphy / NLN)

 
NEW YORK, October 9, 2014 - In a massive show of support, about a third of TWU Local 101 1,500 members rallied in front of National Grid’s headquarters in downtown Brooklyn to protest their giveback demands in current contract negotiations.

 
National Grid, a British-owned international company, is demanding a five-year wage freeze or else it will significantly increase the workers’ health care contributions.

 
TWU International President Harry Lombardo said National Grid (which the union now dubs “National Greed”) wants givebacks from the workers despite US profits of $1.7 billion last year and revenues of $24 billion world wide.

 
He had a fiery response.

(Photo: Roy Murphy / NLN)

 
Lombardo told the rally that last year National Grid’s CEO had a 56 percent pay rise to earn $7.8 million dollars, but it had “nothing for your 1,500 members.” He said its demand is the “worst, slimiest example of corporate greed.”

 
Setting a tough line, Lombardo said, “The time has come. We are with you if we have to shut this company down. We will be with you as long as it takes.”

 
Local 101 President Mike Conigliario declared there will be “no more givebacks. ” The workers had “nothing left to give.”

 
At the beginning of contract talks last month, Conigliario reminded National Grid that “during Hurricane Sandy and for months afterward - through at least January - Local 101 members worked 16-hour shifts, 7 days straight, for weeks” to bring New York’s electricity and gas back on line.

 
TWU Local 101 is asking for a reasonable pay increase, better on-the-job safety rules and the maintenance of current health benefits.

 

Sanford “Sandy” Rubenstein at a protest in New York’s One Police Plaza on May 7, 2008.
At the time Rubenstein was representing the family of Sean Bell, the Queens man shot and
killed by police on November 25, 2006. (Photo: Thomas Altfather Good / NLN)

 
NEW YORK — October 11, 2014. Earlier this week attorney Sanford Rubenstein’s law firm filed a “notice of claim,” indicating the firm’s intent to sue NYC for $75 million, on behalf of the family of Eric Garner. Garner died while being arrested by NYPD officers (the death was ruled a homicide by the NYC Medical Examiner) on July 17, 2014. Also this week - Rubenstein was accused of rape by a top official of Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network. Rubenstein denied the claim but is no longer representing the Garner family, having withdrawn from the case - Sharpton has yet to announce who will represent the family in the pending litigation. Police are investigating the rape claim.