CWA 4818 Solidarity Now! 1st Edition

January 2020, Volume 1 Number 1

Welcome, everyone to the first edition of the Solidarity Now! since the historic merge of CWA Local 4730 with CWA Local 4818 in the summer of 2019! As many might remember, it was from the hard-working efforts of many members and organizers from Local 4818 that Local 4730, representing support and technical staff from Indiana University, was voted to come to the Bloomington and Northwest campuses in 1994.

There are many differences between the locals, the most obvious being that Local 4818 historically represented workers in the private sector in the telecommunications industries. Local 4730 has represented what used to be known as clerical and support staff at Indiana University, which is in the public sector. Both operate under the regulations of the National Labor Relations Board but from a different point of view. Local 4818 has negotiates binding contracts where they have members. Local 4730 has Conditions of Cooperation from the IU Board of Trustees and IUHR policies which are discussed every three years. But as differently as they operate, both are governed by the Constitution of the Communications Workers of America, with international headquarters in Washington, DC. Both are also under the leadership of District 4, which represents Locals in Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. Local 4818 has been in the private sector and Local 4730 in the Public, Healthcare and Education Workers Sector.

The decision to merge was not taken lightly and it
is important to note that it was a choice that was carefully
considered before a vote was taken. The benefits
for the support staff at IU far outweigh any losses. The
IU Unit understands that it will keep its identity with
its connection to IU. Elections will be done differently
but, at the same time, any member can run for Local
offices.

Since the vote by the members to merge, Local 4730
has become the IU Unit of Local 4818. Although the
stewards are the same, the bylaws, officers, executive
board have been dissolved. There is now the Executive
Vice-President of the IU Unit (Linda Gales), who is on
the executive board of Local 4818, a Vice-President
of the Bloomington Campus (Toni Arcuri) and a
Vice-President of the Northwest Campus (Tameka
White). All business transactions and records are
through Local 4818 presided over by the President,
Vice-President and Secretary-Treasurer.

Another "1st" this summer is that long-time
President of Local 4818 Justin Hawkins, who had
been sent to the IU campus by District 4 to assist
with growth in membership, has moved to a different
position. He is now the District 4 Chief Organizer
and is putting his years of experience to good
use by helping other Locals to grow, as well as supporting
new groups who want to unionize throughout
the District to become self-sufficient locals.

This change also brought more changes to Local
4818, as former Vice President Ric Spires became
President, and member Jamie Ginter was appointed
as interim and then elected Vice President. Bryan
Andrick remains the Secretary-Treasurer.

Merging the two locals is definitely an ongoing
process and good progress is being made. The IU email address has been changed to
cwa4818@indiana.edu. The logo for Local 4730 has
been changed to 4818. The members meetings are
now held in the Union Hall at 3880 E 3rd St, but the
IU unit office is being maintained at 400 E 7th St,
Rm 832. This is the first edition of the new Solidarity
Now!, which will hopefully be published once a quarter
with good news and views from both the private
and public sector. The websites will also be combined,
as well as the Facebook pages.