Communications Workers of America, District One

Memorandum of Support                

CWA PSC filing on VOICE LINK 5-15-13

N.Y. State Attorney Generals filing on VOICE LINK 5-15-13

Protect NYS Telecommunications Consumers and Workers as Verizon Implements Plan to Abandon Network, Focus on High-End Customers

Prime Assembly Sponsor:     James Brennan (D-Brooklyn)           

Assemblyman Brennan's PSC VOICE LINK filing 5-15-13

Co-Sponsors:

none as of 5/20/13

Prime Senate Sponsor:         Not yet introduced in the Senate

Co-Sponsors:

none as of 5/20/13

Bill Status:                           

This bill will be introduced in the Assembly over the next few days.  The LBDC  number is 11002-01-3.  To become a co or multi-sponsor please deliver a gold or blue slip to Assemblymember Brennan's office and put "moratorium bill" to indicate your support for the bill.  We are seeking a Senate sponsor.

What the Bill would do:

• Place a moratorium on Verizon's plan to force customers in non FiOS areas who experience repeated service problems to switch to its WIRELESS VOICE LINK service.
• Requires the PSC to conduct a comprehensive study, including holding public and evidentiary hearings, of issues related to the impact on the public of Verizon's plan to abandon the copper network and replace it with WIRELESS service.

Issues to be studied include:

• Internet access
• Service quality
• Access to home alarm and health monitoring technology
• Public safety, especially during emergencies such as power outages and disaster situations

Background:                "Cut the Copper" and "Kill the Copper"

In June, 2012, Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam announced the Company's strategic plan to abandon its copper network.  In rurakl areas,he explained "We have got (a wireless 4G) LTE built that will handle all of those services and so we are going to cut the copper off there," McAdam said "we are going to do it over wireless". 

In areas where the company has built its FiOS network, he said “The vision that I have is we are going into the copper plant areas and every place we have FiOS, we are going to kill the copper,” McAdam said. “We are going to just take it out of service and we are going to move those services onto FiOS.”  http://stopthecap.com/2012/07/17/verizon-ceo-ponders-killing-off-rural-phonebroadband-service-rake-in-wireless-profits/

The meaning of this strategy is now clear.  On May 3, Verizon applied to the PSC for permission not to rebuild the copper network on Western Fire Island, and to switch all customers to a wireless service called VoiceLink.  In that application, it also asked for authorization to switch customers anywhere “the use of wireless to serve specified customers, or groups of customers, is otherwise reasonable in light of the geographic location….”

The Company asked for permission to begin doing this by May 18th.

On May 16^th, the PSC – instead of requiring Verizon to simply revuild its damaged network – granted the company authority to make such a transition only on Western Fire Island, on a temporary basis, and subject to a report that the company must file with the PSC by November 13, 2013.  The PSC denied authority to Verizon to make the switch in other areas pending further investigation by the PSC.

The Limits of WIRELESS service:

Voice Link is a totally inadequate substitute for traditional WIRELINE service.

1)      No DSL Brodband—customers on VoiceLink will not be able to obtain broadband DSL service, and will have to pay by the quantity for wireless downloads.  This is a particular problem for merchants who use broadband to verify credit card sales.

2)      No Auxiliary Power—The phone company provides auxiliary power in the event of a blackout over copper lines.  Wireless lines go out in a matter of hours after a blackout.

3)      Limits on Alarm, Fax and Medical Alert services—These do not work with wireless VoiceLink.

4)      Uneven Service Quality—wireless service is prone to disruption and is not as reliable as wireline service.

Verizon is clearly using the devastation inflicted by Superstorm Sandy as an excuse to get the proverbial “nose under the tent” for its plan to abandon the copper network.  Fire Island is one example.  In New York City, where FiOS is being very slowly rolled out, there are still customers today in lower Manhattan     whose phone service has not been restored since Superstorm Sandy.

Plummeting Service Quality:

Until the mid-2000s, when the PSC discontinued financial penalties for service quality violations, Verizon was required to restore 80% of Out-of-Service phones within 24 hours.  In the absence of fines, Verizon customers can wait weeks for a repair appointment to be scheduled.  And since Verizon refuses to replace deteriorated cable, problems tend to recur over and over again. CWA is extremely familiar with these problems as our technicians are hamstrung for performing the kinds of repairs we know are necessary.

Redlining Upstate Cities and Rural Areas:

Verizon has made clear that it will not expand its build-out of its state of the art fiber network, FiOS.  This means all Upstate cities and virtually all of New York’s rural areas, including all of Eastern Suffolk County, will be denied access to such service.  The result is that in these areas not only is telecommunications service quality declining, but there is no competition for triple play customers.  A voice/broadband/cable TV package that is competitively priced at $90 per month in areas where FiOS is going head to head with TimeWarner or Cablevision will cost a cable customer $200 a month due to the absence of competition.  Wherever FiOS is not built, the cable monopoly will remain in force, gouging consumers.

A Unilateral Decision with NO PUBLIC INPUT:

The 1996 Telecommunications Act was supposed to unleash competition that would deliver the highest quality services at the most competitive prices to all telecommunications customers.  We can see now that for millions of New Yorkers, this goal is a mirage.  For many, the reality is worse service at higher prices as Verizon, dedicated only to increasing the price of its stock and delivering tens of millions in compensation to its top executives, abandons the least profitable customers.  There has been no public input into this decision, no review of the public safety impact of the shift from copper to wireless and fiber, no review of the abandonment of copper DSL on customers and business.

But telecommunications is a necessity not simply a commodity.  These decisions have broad public impact and must be reviewed by the PSC, the Legislature and the Governor.

That is the GOAL of this Legislation

         Protect NYS Telecommunications Consumers and Workers as Verizon Implements Plan to Abandon Network, Focus on High-End Customers

Assemblyman Brennan's PSC VOICE LINK filing 5-15-13

CWA PSC filing on VOICE LINK 5-15-13

N.Y. State Attorney Generals filing on VOICE LINK 5-15-13

          Memorandum of Support – A.6003

         Support Good Jobs and close the DIGITAL DIVIDE

            Require a study of Verizon's Deployment of its "FiOS" Fiber Optic Network

FiOS, a Fiber-to-the-Premises Network, Creates Jobs.  Is Verizon Red-Lining the Upstate Cities and also Rural Areas?

Prime Assembly Sponsor: Jim Brennan (D-Brooklyn)

Co-Sponsors:  

Abinanti (D-Westchester), Colton (D-Brooklyn), Lupardo (D-Binghamton), Scarborough (D-Queens), Cahill (D-Kingston),  Englebright (D-Suffolk), Maisel (D-Brooklyn), Markey (D-Queens), Russell (D-Watertown), Paulin (D-Westchester),Castro (D-Bronx), Miller M. (D-Queens),  Thiele (R-Suffolk), Clark (D-Queens), Ramos(D-Suffolk), Aubry(D-Queens), Roberts (D-Syracuse) Rosenthal (D-New York), as of 3/22/13.

Multi-Sponsors:

Bronson (D-Rochester), Camara(D-Brooklyn), Ceretto (R-Niagara Falls), Cook (D-Queens), Cymbrowitz (D-Brooklyn), DenDekker (D-Queens), Gabryszak (D-Cheektowaga), Galef(D-Westchester), McDonough (R-Nassau), McKevitt (R-Nassau), Millman (D-Brooklyn), Montesano (R-Nassau), Peoples-Stokes (D-Buffalo), Pretlow (D-Westchester), Ra(R-Nassau), Raia (R-Suffolk), Saladino (R-Nassau), Simotas (D-Queens),
Sweeney (D-Suffolk), Titone (D-Staten Island) as of 3/22/13.

Bill Status:            

In the Assembly, this bill is referred to the Corporations, Authorities and Commissions Committee.  The Assembly passed this bill in 2011. No “same-as” has been introduced in the Senate.  (as of 3/22/13)

What the Bill Would Do:  

This bill requires the PSC to conduct a demographic and regional study of the locations of deployment of fiber-to-the-premises networks by any company.  It also creates a preceeding by the PSC to inquire whether FTTP networks are being unreasonably delayed or unreasonably withheld despite economic viability and whether PSC should order a remedial action.
 

Where Is Verizon Building and Deploying FiOS?

Most of Downstate New York – with some exceptions, including the Town of Brookhaven and the Eastern half of Suffolk County, FiOS is either already available or will be available.

Many of the Suburbs of Buffalo, Syracuse and Albany – FiOS is either already available or will be available in many of the Buffalo and Syracuse suburbs, and some of the Albany suburbs.

Where Isn’t Verizon Building and Deploying FiOS?

Upstate Cities: Buffalo, Binghamton, Syracuse, Utica and Albany – only small parts of Buffalo and Syracuse are wired and their build is now finished (Rochester was never served by Verizon telephone service). 

Rural Areas - No rural areas are getting FiOS

Without FiOS, Bypassed Areas Will Lose Jobs:

High-speed broadband networks are crucial to the jobs and industries of the future.  Research shows that for every one percentage point increase in broadband nationally, employment increases by 300,000 as the overall economy develops.  The jobs directly generated through building, installing and servicing FiOS are all good, union jobs (unlike cable companies).  Verizon is currently abandoning its copper “legacy” network, which is a major problem for workers and consumers.  FiOS is the future.  Where it is not built, Verizon jobs will eventually be lost. 

Without FiOS, Bypassed Areas Will Face a Growing “Digital Divide”

The fiber optic network is the future.  Any areas where FiOS is not built will eventually face an increased digital divide.  FiOS is a FTTP (“Fiber To The Premise”) network-it is a fiber optic line all the way to the premise.  Fiber optic cable offers unlimited speed, which cannot be matched by wireless or co-axial cable.  Areas without FiOS will be on the wrong side of a digital divide. 

Without FiOS, Bypassed Areas Will Lose Educational Opportunities & Health Care Services:

Students on the losing side of the digital divide will be denied the powerful educational advantages of searches and conferencing that are possible with high speed Internet.  The use of advanced communications technology to transmit medical data and imaging in real-time, while linking patients to providers for direct consultation, removes geographical barriers and allows people to receive the medical care they need when and where it is needed.

Without FiOS, Bypassed Areas Will Continue to Suffer Under the Cable Monopoly:

FiOS delivers cable television service at higher speeds and better resolution than the current Time Warner and Cablevision products.  FiOS creates competition with cable.  The FCC found that adding a wireline competitor led to cable TV price drops of up to 28%.  FiOS “triple-play” costs less, the same, or slightly more in New York than cable products. 

What is FiOS? 

FiOS is Verizon’s ultra-fast fiber optic network for internet, TV and phone.  FiOS delivers unparalled speed through a fiber-optic cable that runs directly to homes or businesses.  It is a “fiber-to-the-premise” (“FTTP”) network, unlike Time Warner and Cablevision networks. 

            FiOS is Much Faster than Time Warner or Cablevision Networks:

FiOS can run at 150 megabits per second downloads and 35 megabits upload (or even faster).  At that speed, a two-hour high definition movie downloads in 1.5 minutes; 10 songs download in 3 seconds.  Since FiOS runs on a fiber optic line all the way to the home or business, its speeds are much faster than any products available from cable.  FiOS is a next-generation network.

         Conclusion:

New York State Should Conduct a Study to evaluate whether there are Income, Race, Ethnic and Regional Disparities in Verizon’s FiOS Deployment

Verizon has sought franchises, which are licenses to deliver cable television services, in a wide range of localities throughout the state (a franchise is necessary to deliver the “triple-play” of internet, TV and phone).  In the Upstate regions, Verizon has not sought franchises for the cities; Verizon is also avoiding rural areas statewide.  New York State should conduct a study to determine if there is a pattern in FiOS deployment and any future FTTP networks by any other companies.  If so, the State should consider remedial action.

Support A.6003 to Protect Good Jobs and Close the Digital Divide: Require a Study of Verizon’s Deployment of its “FiOS” Fiber-Optic Network

For more information, contact CWA District 1 at 212.344.2515 or CWA Local 1122 at 716.633.2211

What the Bill would do:

This bill establishes a statewide safe patient handling policy for health care facilities and creates a task force for implementation.

Background:  The traditional method of moving and handling patients is manual lifting which is difficult and heavy manual work.  Manual patient lifting causes fear anxiety and discomfort for the patients – and increases slips, falls and drops.  In New York State  health care workers experience far more strain and sprain injuries than even construction workers or truck drivers. The top source of these injuries is moving and handling patients.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (U.S.) in 2007 29% of all workplace injuries requiring time away from work were Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). The rate of MSD injury for nursing aides orderlies and nursing attendants was seven times higher than the average of all occupations.  In 2010 according to OSHA the health care sector reported more injury and illness cases than any other sector.  New YorkStatehas a severe shortage of trained experienced nurses.  Nurses most often cite the physically demanding nature of the work as their reason for leaving the job (too few nurses taking care of too many patients is a major problem). 

Safe Patient Handling Policies Reduce Worker Injuries:

Health care workers frequently experience strain and sprain injuries.  Even more serious fractures and career-ending injuries also occur.  In Western New York CWA and Kaleida Health collaborated on a model program for safe patient handling.  The program uses better training automation and technology to reduce manual lifting.  The Kaleida program delivered a 77% drop in lost work days.  In Batavia the NYS Veterans’ Home also implemented a safe patient handling program and reduced lost workdays 93%.

Safe Patient Handling Policies Reduce Patient Injuries:

Unfortunately health care workers can and do drop or improperly move patients when they are using their own bodies to do all the lifting and moving.  Patient skin tears friction burns, bruises and fractures are all too often the result of manual patient lifts and moves.  Manual lifting is not a modern “best-practice”.  Safe patient handling programs reduce patient injuries dramatically.  For example Niagara County’s Long Term Care Facility experienced a 64% reduction in bone fractures a 37% reduction in skin tears and bruising and the elimination of lower body spiral fractures just one year into implementation of its Safe Patient Handling program.

Safe Patient Handling Policies Save Money:

Returns in lower workers’ compensation claims and higher productivity have far surpassed the cost of Kaleida Health and CWA’s collaborative patient safe program.  Safe patient handling programs reduce turnover among nurses and prolong their careers. Evidence shows that Safe Patient Handling programs decrease: Patient-handling related workers’ compensation injury rates (30-95%)

• Lost workday injury rates (66-100%)
• Restricted workdays (up to 38%)
• Workers compensation costs (30-75%), and
• Insurance premiums (50%).
• Workers compensation costs (30-75%), and
• Insurance premiums (50%).

Co-Sponsor and Pass A.2180A/S.1123A to Protect Patients &

 Workers & Save Money

For More Information Contact CWA District One at 212-344-2515 or 716-824-2042

CWA Local 1122 Meeting Dates for 2013

MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS

• Tuesday, February 5th

• Wednesday, April 3rd

• Thursday June 6th    ***

• Tuesday, October 1st

• Wednesday, December 4th

Dinner 5pm

Meeting 6pm

Membership Meetings are held at the Hearthstone Manor 333 Dick Rd. Depew

***   Our June membership Meeting will be a picnic style meeting beginning at 5pm at Fontana's Grove 2299 Clinton St. in West Seneca. 

STEWARD MEETINGS

• Thursday, January 10th

• Thursday, March 7th

• Thursday, May 9th

• Thursday, September 5th

• Thursday, November 7th

Food 5pm

Meeting 6pm

Steward Meetings are held at our Local Union Hall 3775 Genesee St

No Meetings are scheduled during the months of July and August

click to download

CWA Local 1122 Meeting Dates for 2013 pdf.