350 Cingular Workers Win Recognition at Colorado Call Center

More than 350 workers at a new Cingular Wireless call center in Pueblo, Colo., gained CWA representation on Jan. 16 with AAA certification of their cardcheck organizing victory, District 7 Vice President Annie Hill reported. Their number will grow to 500-600 workers by May, when a new class of trainees goes on the job. CWA-negotiated health care benefits and contractual raises attracted workers to the union but, said District 7 Organizing Coordinator Al Kogler, "The town has a rich union history. The steel mill there, in its heyday employed about 20,000 workers. That's down to less than 1,000 now, but it left a labor heritage there for a lot of people."

Local 7702 took advantage of that to build community support for an organizing campaign by marching in the town's Labor Day parade. The marchers displayed a banner welcoming Cingular and passed out the "Tale of Two Companies" flier comparing Cingular to anti-union Verizon Wireless. Local President Ralph Mathews helped with handbilling and conducted several meetings with the workers' organizing committee. Secretary-Treasurer Carolyn Martinez and Executive Vice President Tim Higgins also assisted.

The call center opened in October when the first class of 120 trainees went online. Because the company negotiated certain incentives from the city, Kogler said, Cingular is committed to maintaining an employment level of at least 500 workers for the next several years.