CWA NextGen Denver
I went to the CWA NextGen conference in Denver Colorado last week. CWA (Communications Workers of America) is the union I am a member of it. NextGen is the young adult group for the union for members under the age of 35 years old.
*** 10. attend two conventions that I have not attended before****
I would say that this is half done as this was a union convention so I just need to go to one more event!
I was able to meet a diverse variety of people at this event. Almost everyone worked at either Centurylink or AT&T Mobility. Ages ranged from 21 years old to almost 35.
We came from states west of the Mississippi River, It was interesting to see what people did for a living. A majority were one of these 2 careers, some were outside plant techs or in customer service. But also to see what the cost of living in some of these area cost people.
We had one person from the flight attendants union (Association of Flight Attendants-CWA). Then a few people that were professional union activist and organizers. I was the only person from a rural member-owner cooperative, who is a union member. Iowa has only 3 independent telephone companies and cooperatives that are unionized. The majority of CWA union members in Iowa are Centurylink employees since they were part of MA Bell/Northwest Bell back before the breakup of that system in the 1980's
We watched some documentaries and had varies topics and training's. My favorite was on the topic of building people power movements. Most people are used to top down structure where the boss yells at you and you do as you are told. The example I gave and one that will stick with me for the rest of my life. Was when I got written up at my non-union CLEC telcom job that I worked at for almost 4 years, before I worked at the co-op. Anyhow at the CLEC job they did retroactive rules on bathroom breaks that our 15 minute we were to use as our ONLY bathroom break time during the work day. That the boss said that rule went back retro actively a few months so that the boss could write up the whole department and tell us what a piece of shit we all are. People power movements is about working together with co-workers to get our fair share and be treated right.
This event was in my top 3 events for 2019 cool things I have done. I hadn't flown on my own before. It had either been with family or friends so I thought that was cool that I made it thru that.
It was the opposite of how my work would be. Everyone was like half the age of my co-workers and came from a variety of areas and backgrounds. Second we could talk openly and passionately about the union and workers rights, which is something I had never experienced before.
I was able to experience a lot of local Denver culture and foods. I really got to know the Denver airport well too on the way back my flight was the only one that was delayed for hours. But that did give me enough time to write this post.
A few key takeaways for me were
1) My passion and my calling has always been literacy either in the printed form such as books or technology literacy that helps lift people up and provide them with the tools to be successful. I just recently become one of the administrators for the Lifeline program at the co-op I work at. That program helps people with disabilities or a low income qualify to get a discount on internet service. I do deeply believe in bridging the digital divide and that technology and education can lead to a safer better world. That giving people the opportunity to access this technology and understand its potential will create more options for people and their children moving forward.
2) My passion for unions, I grew up in a very pro-union environment with a lot of family in the IBEW. After I completed my employment at the non-union CLEC. I knew I would like to work in a union environment. The state of Iowa gutted the rights of public sector union employees so that limited those options. Plus a lot of people want to work for government agencies so that makes that market a lot more competitive to get hired. I knew of a small co-op that my grandfather and a lot of my mom's family have their service. I was lucky enough to find that they had an opening applied and interviewed and got hired. The mandatory pay bumps every 6 months till you scale up in pay to a solid middle class wage is very good. My 1st 6 month pay bump was more than all my pay increases in the 4 years at the CLEC.
3) CWA Union Service Providers
AT&T mobility or cellphone service. I am thinking of switching to them since they have a fully unionized operation and the prepaid prices are not that bad.
Centurylink for home DSL service. When I 1st moved in to my duplex I checked with Centurylink and was told I could get up to 10mb. Will now they are bonding modems and able to offer speeds up to 40mb with a super high data cap so that should not be a problem. Centurylink is fully union and has a price for life plan that cost $45 a month for the above package.
Right now I have Mediacom and they charge me $69.95 a month for 60mb down and 5mb up. I have a 400Gig data cap that I have not exceed . The good news is that it works where I am at the bad news is the price and the fact that they are not union. Here is a link to their full rate pricing based on zip codes. https://mediacomcable.com/rate-card/
*** 10. attend two conventions that I have not attended before****
I would say that this is half done as this was a union convention so I just need to go to one more event!
I was able to meet a diverse variety of people at this event. Almost everyone worked at either Centurylink or AT&T Mobility. Ages ranged from 21 years old to almost 35.
We came from states west of the Mississippi River, It was interesting to see what people did for a living. A majority were one of these 2 careers, some were outside plant techs or in customer service. But also to see what the cost of living in some of these area cost people.
We had one person from the flight attendants union (Association of Flight Attendants-CWA). Then a few people that were professional union activist and organizers. I was the only person from a rural member-owner cooperative, who is a union member. Iowa has only 3 independent telephone companies and cooperatives that are unionized. The majority of CWA union members in Iowa are Centurylink employees since they were part of MA Bell/Northwest Bell back before the breakup of that system in the 1980's
We watched some documentaries and had varies topics and training's. My favorite was on the topic of building people power movements. Most people are used to top down structure where the boss yells at you and you do as you are told. The example I gave and one that will stick with me for the rest of my life. Was when I got written up at my non-union CLEC telcom job that I worked at for almost 4 years, before I worked at the co-op. Anyhow at the CLEC job they did retroactive rules on bathroom breaks that our 15 minute we were to use as our ONLY bathroom break time during the work day. That the boss said that rule went back retro actively a few months so that the boss could write up the whole department and tell us what a piece of shit we all are. People power movements is about working together with co-workers to get our fair share and be treated right.
This event was in my top 3 events for 2019 cool things I have done. I hadn't flown on my own before. It had either been with family or friends so I thought that was cool that I made it thru that.
It was the opposite of how my work would be. Everyone was like half the age of my co-workers and came from a variety of areas and backgrounds. Second we could talk openly and passionately about the union and workers rights, which is something I had never experienced before.
I was able to experience a lot of local Denver culture and foods. I really got to know the Denver airport well too on the way back my flight was the only one that was delayed for hours. But that did give me enough time to write this post.
A few key takeaways for me were
1) My passion and my calling has always been literacy either in the printed form such as books or technology literacy that helps lift people up and provide them with the tools to be successful. I just recently become one of the administrators for the Lifeline program at the co-op I work at. That program helps people with disabilities or a low income qualify to get a discount on internet service. I do deeply believe in bridging the digital divide and that technology and education can lead to a safer better world. That giving people the opportunity to access this technology and understand its potential will create more options for people and their children moving forward.
2) My passion for unions, I grew up in a very pro-union environment with a lot of family in the IBEW. After I completed my employment at the non-union CLEC. I knew I would like to work in a union environment. The state of Iowa gutted the rights of public sector union employees so that limited those options. Plus a lot of people want to work for government agencies so that makes that market a lot more competitive to get hired. I knew of a small co-op that my grandfather and a lot of my mom's family have their service. I was lucky enough to find that they had an opening applied and interviewed and got hired. The mandatory pay bumps every 6 months till you scale up in pay to a solid middle class wage is very good. My 1st 6 month pay bump was more than all my pay increases in the 4 years at the CLEC.
3) CWA Union Service Providers
AT&T mobility or cellphone service. I am thinking of switching to them since they have a fully unionized operation and the prepaid prices are not that bad.
Centurylink for home DSL service. When I 1st moved in to my duplex I checked with Centurylink and was told I could get up to 10mb. Will now they are bonding modems and able to offer speeds up to 40mb with a super high data cap so that should not be a problem. Centurylink is fully union and has a price for life plan that cost $45 a month for the above package.
Right now I have Mediacom and they charge me $69.95 a month for 60mb down and 5mb up. I have a 400Gig data cap that I have not exceed . The good news is that it works where I am at the bad news is the price and the fact that they are not union. Here is a link to their full rate pricing based on zip codes. https://mediacomcable.com/rate-card/
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