Bell Atlantic Contract 2000: Workers Send a Message to Management

The mobilization and action campaign for Bell Atlantic bargaining is in full gear, with CWA officers and members delivering a message to shareholders at the company’s annual meeting on May 24 and joining in demonstrations and actions that spotlight their fight for fairness and respect.

Facing the prospect of an unfair labor practice strike by 35,000 workers in New York and New England, Bell Atlantic agreed to settle a series of unfair labor practice charges and to reimburse workers for improper increases in doctor and prescription drug co-payments.

The agreement, which followed three days of intense negotiations, resolves several outstanding health care issues for CWA members, said CWA District One Vice President Larry Mancino.

“A strike is a weapon of last resort, so we are very pleased that these problems have been settled prior to the deadline of the unfair labor practice strike,” Mancino said. “Our strategy succeeded in protecting our members from Bell Atlantic’s illegal increases in co-pays and the settlement ensures that thousands of members will receive the proper reimbursement,” he said. Negotiations to maintain high-quality health care for Bell Atlantic employees are continuing, Mancino added.

Determined to win workplace respect and fairness, hundreds of CWA members throughout Bell Atlantic territory joined rallies and informational picket lines on May 24, while a contingent of CWAers took that message to Bell Atlantic shareholders.

District 2 members were out in force, with some 300 union members from Locals 2222, 2336, 2300, 2106, 2107, 2252 and 2108 rallying in Silver Spring, Md., and focusing on their push to win access to jobs throughout Bell Atlantic subsidiaries. In Richmond, Va., CWA members from locals across the state joined Local 2201 in picketing outside Bell Atlantic’s Hungary Springs Road facility. About 350 people participated.

In Charleston, W.Va., members from across the state joined solidarity rallies at both Bell Atlantic and AT&T locations. Some 700 people enjoyed food, speeches and labor solidarity outside Bell Atlantic’s McCorkle Avenue facility; earlier that day, CWAers rallied outside the AT&T customer sales and service center. Locals 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011 all participated.

Meanwhile, more than 100 CWAers — from Bell Atlantic territory and CWA District 7 — along with Jobs with Justice activists rallied outside the Bell Atlantic annual meeting in Denver and distributed CWA’s own “report to the shareholders” to those attending the meeting.

That report outlines the negative effects of the company’s “command-and-control” style of labor relations, contrasting it with the positive partnership CWA has with Bell Atlantic’s merger partner GTE.

They were joined outside by Vice Presidents Pete Catucci, District 2, Vince Maisano, District 13, and John Thompson, District 7, who helped organize the event. Inside, Catucci and Maisano told shareholders that this adversarial approach to labor relations is harming workers, shareholders and the company.

Catucci and Maisano called on the company to stop violating the union contract and restore the cooperative partnership that is necessary for Bell Atlantic to succeed in the highly competitive telecommunications industry.

Bargaining with Bell Atlantic for a new contract covering more than 71,000 employees officially gets underway June 26, but CWA members want to be certain that the company is fully aware of members’ goals. CWAers got the attention of top Bell Atlantic management at the shareholder meeting, with chief executive officer Ivan Seidenberg remarking on the number of CWA red shirts in the room and mentioning this year’s contract negotiations.