At the Deutsche Telekom annual meeting in Cologne, Germany next week, members of ver.di, the union representing T-Mobile and DT workers in Germany, will be leafleting participants as they enter the meeting.

Some 50 ver.di members will be covering every entrance at the meeting site, handing out a leaflet that calls out T-Mobile USA for its "Wild West" behavior and its poor treatment of workers who want a union voice in the United States. As one T-Mobile USA worker said, "This is very impressive! 50 people devoted to handing out flyers so that we can have rights in America? Ver.di really is with us."

CWA's District 9 bargaining team reached a tentative three-year contract with Verizon West that boosts wages by 8.25 percent, holds the line against health care cost shifting and ensures that a new sales incentive compensation plan for customer service representatives remains voluntary. </p>

The agreement also requires Verizon to discuss ways to reduce subcontracting and the offshoring of jobs.

The tentative contract covers more than 5,500 workers in California.

A new online discussion board is now available to voice your comments and ideas about the most recent Ready for the Future proposals.

More information about the plan is here. This effort is carrying out the 2005 CWA convention mandate to look at the "right sizing" of the CWA Executive Board by 2011 and to review the use of union resources to make sure our approach is effective and efficient. Any recommendations must be acted on by delegates at the 2010 convention to be implemented in 2011.

CWA's First Annual CWA Photography Contest is looking for quality photos and photographers, so turn your creative eye to CWA members on the job, on the picket line and in action, and submit what could be a winning photo.

Winning photographs will be displayed at the CWA convention and may be published in the CWA News as well as in local newsletters.