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Cincinnati Bell Pact Boosts Pay 12.6 Percent
Two final days of marathon bargaining resulted in a tentative agreement with Cincinnati Bell that retains quality health care benefits without cost shifting — a key issue in the talks -— and provides for improvements in wages, pensions and working conditions for nearly 2,500 CWA represented workers.
CWA District 4 Vice President Jeff Rechenbach said the negotiations were difficult but in the end, “we were able to arrive at a contract that is good for our members and Cincinnati Bell customers.”
The settlement provides a 12.6 percent wage increase over the three-year contract term and includes a 10 percent increase in pension bands for the defined benefit plan and a 10 percent increase in credits to the cash balance account plan.
Significant improvements were made in health care coverage, with new benefits and choices made available to employees, including three health care plan options. Workers can choose a plan with no premium costs or other coverage that may carry a premium charge. A $500 guaranteed, annual bonus was negotiated that can be placed in a tax-free health care account and used to pay health care costs if a worker elects an option that carries a new premium, Rechenbach said.
CWA and Cincinnati Bell also established a joint committee on health care issues, including retiree health care. The agreement continues company-paid retiree health care coverage.
Employment security gains include new agreement on part-time employees, a joint committee to work on returning subcontracted work to the bargaining unit and, for the first time, a successorship clause covering the possible sale of the company.
Union members were mobilizing well before the March 19 bargaining kick-off and organized a “solidarity pledge” campaign, encouraging workers and supporters to authorize a switch in long distance service from Cincinnati Bell. Worksite and community actions, a media campaign and a demonstration outside the Broadwing Inc. annual meeting — Broadwing is the company created by the merger of Cincinnati Bell and IXC Communications — took the workers’ message to a broad audience, Rechenbach said.
Contract explanation meetings are ongoing with the ratification vote to be held in June.
The CWA bargaining team is chaired by CWA Representative Henley Johns and includes Local Presidents Tim Donoghue, 4400, and Edwina Davis, 4401; and vice presidents Mel Smith, 4400, and Cindy Cunningham, 4401.
Donoghue noted that the agreement addresses all the issues members identified in bargaining surveys conducted earlier in the year. Davis credited member mobilization in moving negotiations forward.
CWA District 4 Vice President Jeff Rechenbach said the negotiations were difficult but in the end, “we were able to arrive at a contract that is good for our members and Cincinnati Bell customers.”
The settlement provides a 12.6 percent wage increase over the three-year contract term and includes a 10 percent increase in pension bands for the defined benefit plan and a 10 percent increase in credits to the cash balance account plan.
Significant improvements were made in health care coverage, with new benefits and choices made available to employees, including three health care plan options. Workers can choose a plan with no premium costs or other coverage that may carry a premium charge. A $500 guaranteed, annual bonus was negotiated that can be placed in a tax-free health care account and used to pay health care costs if a worker elects an option that carries a new premium, Rechenbach said.
CWA and Cincinnati Bell also established a joint committee on health care issues, including retiree health care. The agreement continues company-paid retiree health care coverage.
Employment security gains include new agreement on part-time employees, a joint committee to work on returning subcontracted work to the bargaining unit and, for the first time, a successorship clause covering the possible sale of the company.
Union members were mobilizing well before the March 19 bargaining kick-off and organized a “solidarity pledge” campaign, encouraging workers and supporters to authorize a switch in long distance service from Cincinnati Bell. Worksite and community actions, a media campaign and a demonstration outside the Broadwing Inc. annual meeting — Broadwing is the company created by the merger of Cincinnati Bell and IXC Communications — took the workers’ message to a broad audience, Rechenbach said.
Contract explanation meetings are ongoing with the ratification vote to be held in June.
The CWA bargaining team is chaired by CWA Representative Henley Johns and includes Local Presidents Tim Donoghue, 4400, and Edwina Davis, 4401; and vice presidents Mel Smith, 4400, and Cindy Cunningham, 4401.
Donoghue noted that the agreement addresses all the issues members identified in bargaining surveys conducted earlier in the year. Davis credited member mobilization in moving negotiations forward.