Whirlpool is closing a refrigerator manufacturing plant
in Evansville, Indiana, putting more than 1,100 IUE-CWA Local 84808 members out of work. Whirlpool will continue to produce these refrigerators, but not in Evansville and not anywhere else in America. They are planning to manufacture them in Mexico where weaker labor and environmental laws make them "cheaper" for Whirlpool to produce.

This is outrageous and unacceptable, especially in light of Whirlpool's profitability and the $19 million in stimulus money Whirlpool recently received from the federal government.

7/15/2009-

We are pleased to announce that we have reached a tentative agreement on a new three year contract between CWA and AT&T Midwest. In these tough economic times, in the most economically depressed part of the country, we have reached an agreement that achieves our key goals:

1) Maintained and improved our Standard of Living
2) Protected Retirees

7/14/2009-

Our committee continues to work hard to assure that all of the details of the written proposals are correct.

7/13/2009-

Our committee spent the weekend reviewing a large quantity of documents and formal proposals. While there are always some mistakes and typographical errors, so far, the documents are consistent with the agreements and intent that characterized the final informal discussions that we had reported as significant progress.

7/10/2009-

Talks continued in the Midwest as management began the process of putting conceptual proposals in writing. The Committee plans to spend most of the weekend reviewing proposals as they get them.

Mobilization News: Members across the Midwest wore red yesterday to demonstrate their support for our bargaining committee to win a fair contract with AT&T.

7/09/2009-

Following marathon bargaining sessions throughout this week, our committee has made significant progress towards resolving the key issues in these negotiations. All of the progress that has been made in the last two months has been in informal or "conceptual" discussions.

7/08/2009-

Tuesday was another long day for our committee, as we continue to make progress a little at a time. We appreciate the support and patience of our members as we fight for the best possible contract.

Bargaining will continue throughout the day on Wednesday.

7/07/2009-

Monday was a long day of bargaining with only a little progress. Our bargaining committee is focused on achieving a contract that maintains our standard of living, protects our jobs, and assures that both active employees and retirees are treated fairly. AT&T, so far, has not been willing to do all of those things but wants us to choose between them. We continue to explain to AT&T that we have helped them achieve some of their goals; they need to help us meet ours in return. That is the path to a fair contract that works for both sides. Bargaining will continue today.

7/06/2009-

Our committee returns to the table today after taking a few days off for the holiday. We hope to pick up where we left off and continue to make progress towards a fair contract.

7/03/2009-

Bargaining continued yesterday with a meeting of the full committee, as well as some informal discussions. Over the past week, we have made meaningful progress at narrowing the gap between the two sides. However, we advised AT&T that we believed it would be in the best interest of the bargaining process to give the committees a short break over the holiday weekend to spend a few days with their families. Negotiations will resume on Monday and it is our hope that we will pick up where we left off.