There's still time to register for CWA's Districts 4, 7 and 9 Occupational Safety and Health Retreat being held in two weeks in Phoenix, where sessions will focus on hazardous materials training and general hazards awareness.

The OSHA sessions will begin at midday Wednesday, May 5, following the District 7 conference, and will end at midday May 6.

Kevin James, an AT&T splicing technician and member of CWA Local 4100, was fatally electrocuted April 15 while working on a telephone pole in Detroit. The accident is under investigation by Michigan OSHA.

James' death comes as CWA and other unions are preparing for Workers Memorial Day, April 28. Local 4100 President Greg Wynn, noting the deep affection members had for James, said the tragedy will be the focus on his local's activities next week.

Read CWA President Larry Cohen's statement on the life and accomplishments of a true human rights pioneer, Dr. Dorothy Height:

The passing of civil and human rights pioneer Dorothy Height at age 98 calls on all of us to remember and honor a life lived with passion, purpose and achievement.

As a civil rights advocate in the early 1930s, Dr. Height took on the segregated institutions of that time and worked to make her vision of a just society a reality.

Advocating for media diversity, good jobs and the survival of quality journalism, TNG-CWA President Bernie Lunzer cautioned the FCC this week against lifting what's left of the ban on cross-ownership of a community's newspapers and broadcast media.

Merging newsrooms and sharing content among once-independent papers, radio and TV stations and now Internet sites does not serve the public, Lunzer said, testifying at an FCC hearing in Tampa, Fla. Similar to what's happening in many markets, one company already controls a third of Tampa's media and collectively four companies control 73 percent of it.