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CWA Announces Pace-Setting Settlements at Pacific Telesis and Southwestern Bell
In the first settlement of this year's major round of labor talks in the telecommunications industry, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) announced tentative new contracts at Pacific Telesis and Southwestern Bell that provide strengthened employment security, significant improvements in wages and pensions and other gains for the 76,000 CWA-represented workers at the two SBC Communications companies.
This year, CWA is bargaining on behalf of some 400,000 workers overall at AT&T, Lucent Technologies, GTE and the five regional Bell telecommunications companies. While current agreements with all the Bell companies expire in early August, CWA and SBC went into early bargaining on March 9 and reached settlement early this morning.
CWA President Morton Bahr said the key to the early and quick resolution of talks was SBC's assurances that it was not seeking any concessions from employees. "The company made it clear that it was interested in reaching fair settlements, in line with the financial success SBC has enjoyed and the gains in productivity that our members have brought about," Bahr said.
Bahr also reported that CWA and top SBC management will work to extend card check recognition to SBC operations nationwide, calling for automatic union recognition when more than 50 percent of the workers in a bargaining unit say they want representation. Card check procedures already had been negotiated last year covering entities in the geographic regions of Southwestern Bell and Pacific Telesis, and since then, more than 1,000 workers at SBC cellular phone units have won CWA representation.
Settlement Highlights
The new pacts call for base wage increases of more than 11 percent compounded over the 32-month contract term at the two companies, and will actually deliver about 12 percent in wage hikes because of compression from 36 to 32-month terms. Both settlements provide substantial job upgrades for hundreds of workers in various job titles.
Meeting a key union objective this year, SBC agreed to substantial pension improvements. At Pacific Telesis, pension increases average 11.4 percent; at Southwestern, workers won a 9.2 percent increase plus a new lump sum pay out option. The settlements also include an increase in the companies' contribution/match to the 401 (k) plan to 80 percent (was 66 2/3), improved medical and dental care and other benefit gains.
The two settlements also call for new limits on forced overtime, increased hiring, additional restrictions on subcontracting of work, improved worker training opportunities, increased flexibility in scheduling of vacations and days off, and joint programs to tackle problems of unreasonable performance quotas and pressures on service representatives.
The new settlements take effect August 8, 1998 when the current agreements expire, and terminate April 1, 2001.
Both contracts are subject to final approval by members in a mail ballot ratification to be completed next month.
CWA represents 35,000 employees of Pacific Telesis in California and Nevada, and 41,000 at Southwestern Bell, which covers Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, and Arkansas.
In other talks, CWA began negotiations with AT&T this week, and will begin bargaining with Lucent Technologies on April 20. Early talks also are underway with Bell Atlantic, and negotiations with the other Bell companies will open this summer. Talks with GTE are slated later in the year.
This year, CWA is bargaining on behalf of some 400,000 workers overall at AT&T, Lucent Technologies, GTE and the five regional Bell telecommunications companies. While current agreements with all the Bell companies expire in early August, CWA and SBC went into early bargaining on March 9 and reached settlement early this morning.
CWA President Morton Bahr said the key to the early and quick resolution of talks was SBC's assurances that it was not seeking any concessions from employees. "The company made it clear that it was interested in reaching fair settlements, in line with the financial success SBC has enjoyed and the gains in productivity that our members have brought about," Bahr said.
Bahr also reported that CWA and top SBC management will work to extend card check recognition to SBC operations nationwide, calling for automatic union recognition when more than 50 percent of the workers in a bargaining unit say they want representation. Card check procedures already had been negotiated last year covering entities in the geographic regions of Southwestern Bell and Pacific Telesis, and since then, more than 1,000 workers at SBC cellular phone units have won CWA representation.
Settlement Highlights
The new pacts call for base wage increases of more than 11 percent compounded over the 32-month contract term at the two companies, and will actually deliver about 12 percent in wage hikes because of compression from 36 to 32-month terms. Both settlements provide substantial job upgrades for hundreds of workers in various job titles.
Meeting a key union objective this year, SBC agreed to substantial pension improvements. At Pacific Telesis, pension increases average 11.4 percent; at Southwestern, workers won a 9.2 percent increase plus a new lump sum pay out option. The settlements also include an increase in the companies' contribution/match to the 401 (k) plan to 80 percent (was 66 2/3), improved medical and dental care and other benefit gains.
The two settlements also call for new limits on forced overtime, increased hiring, additional restrictions on subcontracting of work, improved worker training opportunities, increased flexibility in scheduling of vacations and days off, and joint programs to tackle problems of unreasonable performance quotas and pressures on service representatives.
The new settlements take effect August 8, 1998 when the current agreements expire, and terminate April 1, 2001.
Both contracts are subject to final approval by members in a mail ballot ratification to be completed next month.
CWA represents 35,000 employees of Pacific Telesis in California and Nevada, and 41,000 at Southwestern Bell, which covers Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, and Arkansas.
In other talks, CWA began negotiations with AT&T this week, and will begin bargaining with Lucent Technologies on April 20. Early talks also are underway with Bell Atlantic, and negotiations with the other Bell companies will open this summer. Talks with GTE are slated later in the year.