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CenturyTel: Local Bargaining, Nationwide Solidarity
Buoyed by support from across the country, Local 6171 in Arkansas kicked off bargaining with CenturyTel in late July to improve wages, health care, pensions and job security for its 200 members at the rural telephone company.
"Our membership along with management played a vital role in the highlighted success of CenturyTel," said CWA Representative Jerrell Miller, co-chair of the bargaining team. "We fully expect to reach a fair and equitable agreement on time and one that can be ratified by our deserving membership."
Miller and Local 6171 Secretary-Treasurer Linda James, his co-chair, said the company's annual report touts its growth, including a boost in net cash by more than a third - to over $1 billion - an 18 percent increase in the number of long-distance customers, a nearly 30 percent hike in revenue from long-distance Internet and data transmission and the financial standing to buy back $400 million of its own stock.
Yet the company's proposals for workers are regressive in almost every area, including health care benefits. A strike authorization vote was underway as the CWA News went to press. The contract expires Aug. 15.
Mobilization began in earnest July 8 when Local 6171 technicians in red shirts paraded into the Jacksonville, Ark., service center, while members of 16 other locals took similar actions. When bargaining opened, more than 1,500 members wore red, white and blue stickers to work proclaiming, "Solidarity@CenturyTel - Better Together - I support bargaining at CenturyTel-Arkansas."
More than a year ago, CWA Telecommunications Vice President Jimmy Gurganus convened the first CenturyTel bargaining council, along with councils for ALLTEL and Citizens Communications. Despite the companies' rising profits, the union knew they were likely to attack health benefits as contracts expired. At some CenturyTel locations, benefits were already lacking. But at others that were formerly GTE/Verizon, workers enjoyed better coverage.
Members nationwide kicked off the solidarity campaign by wearing stickers when negotiations began last spring for 200 CenturyTel workers in Loraine, Ohio. Members of Local 4370, they landed a three-year contract with annual raises of 3 percent and held the line on health care premiums.
Job security is also a key issue for Local 6171 and others nationwide. "Because the industry is changing so much - CenturyTel is moving over to DSL and broadband - our members want to make sure that they get that work," Miller said.
"Our membership along with management played a vital role in the highlighted success of CenturyTel," said CWA Representative Jerrell Miller, co-chair of the bargaining team. "We fully expect to reach a fair and equitable agreement on time and one that can be ratified by our deserving membership."
Miller and Local 6171 Secretary-Treasurer Linda James, his co-chair, said the company's annual report touts its growth, including a boost in net cash by more than a third - to over $1 billion - an 18 percent increase in the number of long-distance customers, a nearly 30 percent hike in revenue from long-distance Internet and data transmission and the financial standing to buy back $400 million of its own stock.
Yet the company's proposals for workers are regressive in almost every area, including health care benefits. A strike authorization vote was underway as the CWA News went to press. The contract expires Aug. 15.
Mobilization began in earnest July 8 when Local 6171 technicians in red shirts paraded into the Jacksonville, Ark., service center, while members of 16 other locals took similar actions. When bargaining opened, more than 1,500 members wore red, white and blue stickers to work proclaiming, "Solidarity@CenturyTel - Better Together - I support bargaining at CenturyTel-Arkansas."
More than a year ago, CWA Telecommunications Vice President Jimmy Gurganus convened the first CenturyTel bargaining council, along with councils for ALLTEL and Citizens Communications. Despite the companies' rising profits, the union knew they were likely to attack health benefits as contracts expired. At some CenturyTel locations, benefits were already lacking. But at others that were formerly GTE/Verizon, workers enjoyed better coverage.
Members nationwide kicked off the solidarity campaign by wearing stickers when negotiations began last spring for 200 CenturyTel workers in Loraine, Ohio. Members of Local 4370, they landed a three-year contract with annual raises of 3 percent and held the line on health care premiums.
Job security is also a key issue for Local 6171 and others nationwide. "Because the industry is changing so much - CenturyTel is moving over to DSL and broadband - our members want to make sure that they get that work," Miller said.