To: CWA Local 1168 Executive Board
Keep CWA 1168 Strong
We, the undersigned, are against the firing of Patrick Weisansal, Mary Nowocien, and the cutting off of the CWA Strong Program which includes the CWA 1168 New Hire Committee.
Why is this important?
On August 20th, Members of the executive board of CWA 1168 conducted a series of concerning votes.
In addition to always pushing the local for more member participation and decision-making, Patrick Weisansal has fought for open bargaining for the last 2 contracts. Open bargaining means inviting members to bargaining sessions so that any member can sit in the bargaining room and see and hear what is happening live. During this bargaining, Patrick was always pushing for more updates and more member participation. He felt that members should know day to day what was happening at the bargaining table. Unfortunately, much of the executive board did not support this. Patrick has been fired from his position as Organizing Director at the local.
Mary Nowocien has also been fighting for open bargaining and more transparency and participation of members during bargaining. She runs a program to reach out to all new members to welcome them to CWA, see how they are, and serve as a mentor for our new members. She also was a vocal supporter of open bargaining, brought in new stewards, and involved/educated rank and file members as mobilizers/organizers. Mary also vocalized her opinion on the contract especially on the lump sum bonus and changes in language. Mary has been fired from her position as New Hire Committee Chair.
Mary and Patrick are leaders in a national initiative through our national union called CWA Strong. This is a program that encourages member participation and wins with members leading the fight. Some of the executive board suspended funding for this project that our membership voted on and fired the facilitator from the trainings. This project has been in place and moving forward for over a year.
A couple of examples of CWA Strong initiatives:
- Staffing letter. A group of CWA members communicated with members throughout Buffalo General to gather their staffing issues and bring them to management in a meeting in the spring. This was leading up to bargaining and was to prepare us for the fight to take Kaleida Health on for better staffing.
- When members came out strong against uniform color rules, CWA Strong and Patrick led a fight to and deliver a pile of petitions and won. This was a big win and made news.
- Mary Nowocien led a fight against the closing and cutting of the cafeteria hours at DeGraff and won from working closely with the workers affected and including them in the fight.
- The New Hire Committee that worked with new CWA members to welcome them to their new position, support, and mentor them through their probationary period.
- Pennies for Evelyn: when Kaleida wanted to take away a pay differential for a longtime lower wage union member, CWA Strong made sure she didn’t lose her differential.
We, the undersigned, are against the firing of Patrick Weisansal, Mary Nowocien, and the cutting off of the CWA Strong Program. Instead, we believe in the following principles:
- Fighting for issues that are deeply and widely felt by members.
- Putting the issues that are widely and deeply felt above the relationships of union leaders and management
- “Nothing about us, without us”. Members affected by a particular working condition get the biggest say in how and when it is fixed or changed - including total transparency around bargaining and the inner workings of our union.
- No more two-tiered systems. We won’t sell younger or newer workers out for the benefit of any other members.
It is unacceptable for union leaders to fire their fellow members for being outspoken and wanting to do things differently. We wouldn’t allow the employer to do it and we can’t let our own local.
Initiated by the following executive board, special directors and bargaining committee members,
Cori Gambini - President - CWA Local 1168
Sarah Buckley - Legislative & Political Action Director, CWA 1168, Millard Fillmore Registered Nurse
Michele Murray - Area Vice-President, Buffalo General Hospital, Technical, Clinical, Clerical Bargaining Unit
Nadine LaFalce - Area Vice-President, Millard Fillmore Hospital Technical, Clinical, Clerical Bargaining Unit
Myriah Kin - Chief Steward, Bargaining Committee Member, BGH, Technical, Clinical, Clerical
Elaine Morley - Chief Steward, Bargaining Committee Member, Buffalo General Hospital Registered Nurses
Frank Jurgens - Chief Steward, Bargaining Committee Member, MFS, Technical, Clinical, Clerical
Denise Abbott - Healthy & Safety Director, CWA 1168, DeGraff Memorial Hospital Registered Nurse
Kim Kornowski - Steward, Bargaining Committee Member, Millard Fillmore Hospital Registered Nurses
Mary Nowocien - Chief Steward, Bargaining Committee Member, DeGraff, Technical, Clinical, Clerical, Service Former Chairperson for the New Hire Committee
Patrick Weisansal II - Former Mobilizing and Organizing Director, CWA Local 1168
In addition to always pushing the local for more member participation and decision-making, Patrick Weisansal has fought for open bargaining for the last 2 contracts. Open bargaining means inviting members to bargaining sessions so that any member can sit in the bargaining room and see and hear what is happening live. During this bargaining, Patrick was always pushing for more updates and more member participation. He felt that members should know day to day what was happening at the bargaining table. Unfortunately, much of the executive board did not support this. Patrick has been fired from his position as Organizing Director at the local.
Mary Nowocien has also been fighting for open bargaining and more transparency and participation of members during bargaining. She runs a program to reach out to all new members to welcome them to CWA, see how they are, and serve as a mentor for our new members. She also was a vocal supporter of open bargaining, brought in new stewards, and involved/educated rank and file members as mobilizers/organizers. Mary also vocalized her opinion on the contract especially on the lump sum bonus and changes in language. Mary has been fired from her position as New Hire Committee Chair.
Mary and Patrick are leaders in a national initiative through our national union called CWA Strong. This is a program that encourages member participation and wins with members leading the fight. Some of the executive board suspended funding for this project that our membership voted on and fired the facilitator from the trainings. This project has been in place and moving forward for over a year.
A couple of examples of CWA Strong initiatives:
- Staffing letter. A group of CWA members communicated with members throughout Buffalo General to gather their staffing issues and bring them to management in a meeting in the spring. This was leading up to bargaining and was to prepare us for the fight to take Kaleida Health on for better staffing.
- When members came out strong against uniform color rules, CWA Strong and Patrick led a fight to and deliver a pile of petitions and won. This was a big win and made news.
- Mary Nowocien led a fight against the closing and cutting of the cafeteria hours at DeGraff and won from working closely with the workers affected and including them in the fight.
- The New Hire Committee that worked with new CWA members to welcome them to their new position, support, and mentor them through their probationary period.
- Pennies for Evelyn: when Kaleida wanted to take away a pay differential for a longtime lower wage union member, CWA Strong made sure she didn’t lose her differential.
We, the undersigned, are against the firing of Patrick Weisansal, Mary Nowocien, and the cutting off of the CWA Strong Program. Instead, we believe in the following principles:
- Fighting for issues that are deeply and widely felt by members.
- Putting the issues that are widely and deeply felt above the relationships of union leaders and management
- “Nothing about us, without us”. Members affected by a particular working condition get the biggest say in how and when it is fixed or changed - including total transparency around bargaining and the inner workings of our union.
- No more two-tiered systems. We won’t sell younger or newer workers out for the benefit of any other members.
It is unacceptable for union leaders to fire their fellow members for being outspoken and wanting to do things differently. We wouldn’t allow the employer to do it and we can’t let our own local.
Initiated by the following executive board, special directors and bargaining committee members,
Cori Gambini - President - CWA Local 1168
Sarah Buckley - Legislative & Political Action Director, CWA 1168, Millard Fillmore Registered Nurse
Michele Murray - Area Vice-President, Buffalo General Hospital, Technical, Clinical, Clerical Bargaining Unit
Nadine LaFalce - Area Vice-President, Millard Fillmore Hospital Technical, Clinical, Clerical Bargaining Unit
Myriah Kin - Chief Steward, Bargaining Committee Member, BGH, Technical, Clinical, Clerical
Elaine Morley - Chief Steward, Bargaining Committee Member, Buffalo General Hospital Registered Nurses
Frank Jurgens - Chief Steward, Bargaining Committee Member, MFS, Technical, Clinical, Clerical
Denise Abbott - Healthy & Safety Director, CWA 1168, DeGraff Memorial Hospital Registered Nurse
Kim Kornowski - Steward, Bargaining Committee Member, Millard Fillmore Hospital Registered Nurses
Mary Nowocien - Chief Steward, Bargaining Committee Member, DeGraff, Technical, Clinical, Clerical, Service Former Chairperson for the New Hire Committee
Patrick Weisansal II - Former Mobilizing and Organizing Director, CWA Local 1168