By catching up, I mean both that the piece below was in the recent Daily Labor Report (by its always-on-the-case reporter Michelle Amber) and that, whew, CWA is definitely racking up the numbers. And it shows what we’ve known all along: when companies agree to be neutral in organizing campaigns and pledge not to beat the brains out of people who try to choose a union, workers will vote for a union. In another word, you could call that “democracy.”

BUT, as I say kudos to CWA and its relentless focus on organizing, my cautionary note here is the same as it was for the janitors victory in Houston: celebrating any organizing victory is important but we have to keep in mind that the numbers being organized does not approach the levels needed to push up the percentage of the workforce that has the luck to have a union.

Which raises the question: how does organizing get ramped up to capture the 100,000s we need?

The article:

Since a card-check and neutrality agreement went into effect earlier this year, the Communications Workers of America has gained representation rights for more than 11,000 Cingular Wireless employees at former AT&T Wireless facilities around the country.

Following the merger of AT&T Wireless and Cingular Wireless, Cingular and CWA agreed to a national card-check and neutrality agreement. Under the agreement, which went into effect July 1 for all former wireless units, Cingular said it would not oppose union organizing efforts and would recognize the union in a particular area if a majority of workers sign authorization cards.

To date, CWA has organized more than half of the 20,000 union-eligible employees of the former AT&T Wireless, according to the union.

“This organizing campaign has really taken off,” CWA spokeswoman Candice Johnson told BNA Nov. 23. “Who else has organized more than 11,000 workers in four months?” she queried.

A spokesman for Cingular Wireless could not be reached for comment.

As of Nov. 4, CWA had organized more than 560 Cingular Wireless locations in 13 cities and 25 states, more than 3,200 retail sales associates in 549 stores, 7,200 business and customer care representative at 15 call centers, and more than 200 network technicians, according to the union.

The number of former AT&T Wireless employees organized by CWA topped the 10,000 member mark Nov. 4 when CWA Local 37083, Washington Alliance of Technology Workers, known as WashTech, gained representation for 934 business representatives at a Cingular Wireless customer care center in Brothell, Wash., according to Johnson.

According to WashTech, workers at this call center cited the pace and volume of call processing as one of the key issues in the organizing drive. Employees also wanted the same access to the higher quality health care plan that other CWA-represented employees at Cingular have, the union said.

In addition to the WashTech campaign, so far this month the American Arbitration Association has certified CWA as the representative for 534 workers at a Cingular call center in Bloomington, Minn., for 67 call center employees in Cingular’s fraud and national employee account services departments in Paramus, N.J., and for 130 retail sales consultants at 30 Cingular retail stores across Ohio, according to the union.

In the month of August, the union organized more than 1,800 employees at former AT&T Wireless facilities (165 DLR A-4, 8/26/05 ). In the months of September and October, some of the other units organized through the card-check authorization process included:

• Nearly 1,600 retail sales associates throughout California gained representation Oct. 21.
• Some 1,600 customer care representatives throughout California gained representation Oct. 13.
• Some 452 customer service representatives at the Cingular Wireless call center in Harrisburg, Pa., gained representation Sept. 29.
• Some 150 retail sales associates throughout Arizona gained representation Sept. 29.
• Some 185 Cingular Wireless retail sales associates in New Jersey gained representation Sept. 23.
• Some 140 retail sales associates in Maryland gained representation Sept. 20.
• Some 222 customer service representatives at one call center in Greensboro, N.C., and another 583 business representatives at a second call center in Greensboro gained representation Sept. 9.
• Some 418 customer service representatives and analysts at a call center in Lebanon, Va. , and 37 network technicians statewide gained representation Sept. 6.

According to CWA’s Johnson, this organizing campaign shows “clear evidence” that when management tactics are removed and “employees are free to make their own choice, they choose union representation.” She charged that former AT&T managers had clear instructions to harass and intimidate employees and block any efforts to organize. “Once threats were removed from the picture, the employees voted for union representation,” she added.
According to Johnson, all the newly organized workers will be covered by one of four existing contracts the union has negotiated with Cingular, based on their geographic locale. One contract covers employees in Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Arkansas; another covers workers in the Midwest, California, and the mid-Atlantic states; a third covers workers in the Southeast; and the fourth covers workers in Puerto Rico, she said.