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CWA Board Authorizes Union President to Set Strike Date at Bell Atlantic
With less than a week left to resolve outstanding issues in contract talks between the Communications Workers of America and Bell Atlantic, CWA's Executive Board today voted to give union President Morton Bahr authority to call a strike if settlement isn't reached by midnight, August 8.
CWA has a 3-step procedure for calling strikes: approval by members, approval by the 17- member Executive Board, and finally setting of a strike date by the president. Earlier this month, members voted strike authorization by more than a 9 to 1 margin. CWA represents about 73,000 Bell Atlantic workers.
The parties are still far apart, CWA said, on crucial job security issues such as the contracting out of employees' jobs, and access by union members to the new growth jobs being created at non-union Bell Atlantic subsidiaries. CWA also spotlighted excessive forced overtime and inflexible scheduling, along with other sources of job stress that threaten customer service and disrupt employees' family lives.
Improvements in wages, pensions and other benefits also are unresolved. "We have serious problems, much negotiating to do, and very little time to go," said President Bahr.
According to CWA, two-thirds of the jobs created over the past three years have gone to non-union subsidiaries where they are outside of the transfer program and out of reach to the regular Bell Atlantic employees. "We insist that the workers who have built Bell Atlantic's extraordinary success have an opportunity to share in its growth, and have access to the jobs of the future," Bahr stated.
CWA also charged that Bell Atlantic is destroying good jobs throughout the region, and jeopardizing customer service, by shifting work to low-wage contractors and temporary agencies. In one example, CWA cited a newly created call center in Norfolk, Va. for "Bell Atlantic Plus" customers, which now has 700 agency temps and is advertising for 1,400 more. Meanwhile, this work is being moved out of offices in Pennsylvania and New Jersey that are staffed with experienced Bell Atlantic service representatives.
"Bell Atlantic and other highly profitable companies in the booming communications field should be setting the standard for good American jobs, not adding to the growth of a contingent workforce earning low pay and no benefits," said Bahr. "And Bell Atlantic should be putting its customers first with an emphasis on quality service provided by the well-trained, experienced and dedicated workers we represent."
CWA says Bell Atlantic downsized too drastically a few years ago to boost its stock price, and now is squeezing up to 25 hours per week of forced overtime from many employees instead of hiring the additional technicians, service reps and operators it needs to keep up with its steady business growth.
In one abusive situation, management told a technician who had consistently tallied one of the highest overtime rates in the region that he couldn't have time off to take his mother home from the hospital. Another technician in Richmond was threatened with discipline for not working a Saturday after voluntarily working 20 days straight. His reason, "being tired," wasn't good enough.
Bolstering the case for substantial contract improvements and secure jobs, CWA cited Bell Atlantic's continued record profits, now running at more than $4 billion a year, with a second- quarter earnings increase of 11 percent over 1997. The company's stock value has risen some 90 percent over the three years since the last union contract negotiations, according to CWA. Productivity of CWA members in the telecom industry has increased more than 15 percent over that period.
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CWA has a 3-step procedure for calling strikes: approval by members, approval by the 17- member Executive Board, and finally setting of a strike date by the president. Earlier this month, members voted strike authorization by more than a 9 to 1 margin. CWA represents about 73,000 Bell Atlantic workers.
The parties are still far apart, CWA said, on crucial job security issues such as the contracting out of employees' jobs, and access by union members to the new growth jobs being created at non-union Bell Atlantic subsidiaries. CWA also spotlighted excessive forced overtime and inflexible scheduling, along with other sources of job stress that threaten customer service and disrupt employees' family lives.
Improvements in wages, pensions and other benefits also are unresolved. "We have serious problems, much negotiating to do, and very little time to go," said President Bahr.
According to CWA, two-thirds of the jobs created over the past three years have gone to non-union subsidiaries where they are outside of the transfer program and out of reach to the regular Bell Atlantic employees. "We insist that the workers who have built Bell Atlantic's extraordinary success have an opportunity to share in its growth, and have access to the jobs of the future," Bahr stated.
CWA also charged that Bell Atlantic is destroying good jobs throughout the region, and jeopardizing customer service, by shifting work to low-wage contractors and temporary agencies. In one example, CWA cited a newly created call center in Norfolk, Va. for "Bell Atlantic Plus" customers, which now has 700 agency temps and is advertising for 1,400 more. Meanwhile, this work is being moved out of offices in Pennsylvania and New Jersey that are staffed with experienced Bell Atlantic service representatives.
"Bell Atlantic and other highly profitable companies in the booming communications field should be setting the standard for good American jobs, not adding to the growth of a contingent workforce earning low pay and no benefits," said Bahr. "And Bell Atlantic should be putting its customers first with an emphasis on quality service provided by the well-trained, experienced and dedicated workers we represent."
CWA says Bell Atlantic downsized too drastically a few years ago to boost its stock price, and now is squeezing up to 25 hours per week of forced overtime from many employees instead of hiring the additional technicians, service reps and operators it needs to keep up with its steady business growth.
In one abusive situation, management told a technician who had consistently tallied one of the highest overtime rates in the region that he couldn't have time off to take his mother home from the hospital. Another technician in Richmond was threatened with discipline for not working a Saturday after voluntarily working 20 days straight. His reason, "being tired," wasn't good enough.
Bolstering the case for substantial contract improvements and secure jobs, CWA cited Bell Atlantic's continued record profits, now running at more than $4 billion a year, with a second- quarter earnings increase of 11 percent over 1997. The company's stock value has risen some 90 percent over the three years since the last union contract negotiations, according to CWA. Productivity of CWA members in the telecom industry has increased more than 15 percent over that period.
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