The telephone operators division of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) is one of the original sectors of the CWA, a union that grew over the years to protect the interests of a large variety of professions. In 1918 phone operators gained union representation under the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), but a 1923 strike led to the breakup of that union. By the end of the 1940s, however, the CWA blossomed from the National Federation of Telephone Workers, which formed in the late 1930s when operators decided it was time to try unionization again. Under the leadership of Joseph Beirne, the CWA became national, and in subsequent decades the union grew to include private and public workers in the education and healthcare sectors in addition to the original telecommunications members. [1, 1a]

The operators of the Telephone Traffic Union Upstate (TTUU), today part of the CWA, also have roots stretching back to the 1940s; the TTUU began in 1945 in Albany, New York as the Traffic Employees Association Upstate Area. Led by Marie McGoughan, who started as general secretary of the group before becoming chair of the general committee in 1949, the group members established themselves as proponents of better working conditions and wages for telephone operators. December 1949 brought about the first issue of the union's newsletter, Traffic Calls, and in 1950 the group voted to change its name to Telephone Traffic Union Upstate, New York. Headquarters were situated in three different locations around Albany before moving to Liverpool, New York in May 1976. [2] Although the union gained membership and support from men over the decades, the group was traditionally led by women and has featured many female officers.

Before they were members of the CWA, the American Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T) operators of the TTUU were affiliated with the Telecommunications International Union (TIU). [3] The TIU had an executive committee that oversaw the activities of its locals, but holes in the TIU constitution led to difficulties in 1984 when the TIU--an independent union up until that point--decided that it wanted to consider joining forces with the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO (AFSCME) or the CWA. TTUU members thought they might be interested in joining the CWA, but it seemed as though the TIU was leaning toward joining AFSCME. That difference in wishes, combined with discrepancies over which TIU locals would be able to send delegates to a special conference regarding the affiliation question, ultimately led the TTUU to disaffiliate from the TIU and join the ranks of CWA phone operators instead. Additional ill-will stemmed from failure of the TIU and TTUU to reveal to their members that affiliation with AFSCME would mean a 'substantial increase' in dues and loss of previously recognized organizational privileges. [4]

The legendary breakup of AT&T also provided impetus for phone operators to make an affiliation change. Beginning in 1974, the American government brought anti-trust suits against AT&T. Arbitration continued until 1982 when AT&T agreed to dismantle the Bell operating system as it had existed for nearly a century. AT&T subdivided in 1984 into seven regional affiliates -- the "Baby Bells", so called because the old corporation was known as "Ma Bell." [5] The breakup coincided with the TIU's efforts to join AFSCME, and worries over employment conditions under the Baby Bells gave TTUU members more to consider as they made the decision to break away from the TIU and turn to the CWA instead.

The transition from TIU to CWA was gradual; the process began in 1984 but was not resolved until the early 1990s. Correspondence between TTUU President Donna Conroy and CWA headquarters in Washington, D.C. shows a slow integration of the TTUU into the CWA and some dissension over the number of people to be allowed at the bargaining table. [6] Despite the tentative transition, union members were seeing changes in the way they would do their jobs--as well as anticipating the need to fight for the right to do those jobs at all--and believed that the bargaining power of the CWA would provide them with the best employment protection. Ultimately the group retained its name "Telephone Traffic Union Upstate," but also added "CWA Local 1112" to that title once it became affiliated with the larger union.

Telephone operators cover several distinct areas of phone service. Central office operators handle local and long-distance call connections for customers. Directory assistance operators specifically provide phone numbers and area codes to callers while switchboard operators are typically employed within private offices to handle interoffice communications as well as directing outside callers. [7] As employees of AT&T and its subsidiaries, the operators of the TTUU Local 1112 would therefore be responsible mainly for central office and directory assistance work.

Union membership for phone operators became more crucial through the late 1980s and into the 1990s as automated systems began taking over the roles that humans used to perform. While central office, directory assistance, and switchboard operators continued to do their jobs, it was often in a background role as they monitored automated systems and stepped in if the system was malfunctioning or a caller experienced difficulty navigating it. They also intervened if a caller needed to interrupt a busy line in an emergency. [8] But the continued downsizing of phone companies and further introduction of machines that replaced working people prompted more reliance on unions like the CWA to support employment of real people and fair working conditions for them. The TTUU operators relied heavily on the ability of the CWA to grieve cases for them as they brought up issues against New York Telephone, Bell Atlantic, NYNEX, and other AT&T divisions over the years; 1984 and 1989 were especially notable for months-long strikes that involved public relations battles, fights with scabs, and long hours picketing as unionists fought for workers' rights.

In 2001 the TTUU Local 1112 underwent one more name change when the telephone operators merged with two other CWA groups: the Graduate Student Employees Union of the State University of New York (Local 1188) and telecommunications workers (Local 1104). By retaining their individual group infrastructures (committees, officers, etc.), each local was able to continue operating efficiently but with much better bargaining power following the merger. At this time the phone operators (Local 1112) and graduate student employees (Local 1188) dropped their old local numbers and joined the telecommunications workers under the "Local 1104" designation instead. [9]

As of 2010, the CWA boasted 1,200 chartered local unions in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It is also affiliated with the AFL-CIO, the International Transport Workers Federation (ITWF), and the Canadian Labour Congress. The phone operators remain very active within the union and are known for wearing red every Thursday as a sign of solidarity. [10]

The information provided above was gleaned from the following sources:

1. 1. "Communications Workers of America." Wikipedia. Retrieved 3 June 2010 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_Workers_of_America
2. 1a. "About CWA." Communications Workers of America. Retrieved 3 June 2010 from http://www.cwa-union.org/pages/about_cwa/
3. 2. "Handwritten History of Telephone Traffic Union Upstate, New York." (undated). Series #4 Subject Files.
4. 3. "TIU Directory" file. (March 1984). Series #1 Administrative Papers.
5. 4. "Disaffiliation--Specifically Alessi & Sebulski vs. Telephone Traffic Union." Membership Series, NLRB Subseries, 1984.
6. 5. AT&T. "A Brief History: The Bell System." Retrieved 14 June 2010 from http://www.corp.att.com/history/history3.html
7. 6. Letter from Morton Bahr to Donna Conroy, February 27, 1991. Correspondence series.
8. 7. "Communications Equipment Operators." JobBank USA. Retrieved 2 June 2010 from http://www.jobbankusa.com/ohb/ohb154.html
9. 8. Ibid
10. 9. "GSEU: Merger." Retrieved and printed January 9, 2007 from www.gseurankandfile.org/fusion.html.
11. 10. "About CWA." Communications Workers of America. Retrieved 3 June 2010 from http://www.cwa-union.org/pages/about_cwa/