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CWA Gets Set for Early Bargaining with SBC Communications
In preparation for early bargaining with SBC Communications, CWA local union officers and committee members from four districts discussed bargaining goals and strategies at the national SBC bargaining conference in San Diego Nov. 9-10.
Among the key bargaining goals are a significant increase in wages and pensions, access to the jobs of the future, and improvements in stressful working conditions that especially affect customer service representatives — under staffing, excessive monitoring, the electronic speedup and inadequate training.
Talks for this round of contract negotiations, which cover some 126,000 workers in four districts, will get underway in early December. There will be separate bargaining tables for Southern New England Telephone, District 1; Ameritech, District 4; Southwestern Bell, District 6; and Pacific Bell/Nevada Bell, District 9. The Southwestern Bell, Pacific Bell/Nevada Bell and SNET contracts expire Apr. 1; the Ameritech agreement expires March 31.
Individual caucuses and bargaining council meetings were held immediately following the national conference or back in the districts. Separately, SBC members in the four districts geared up to “fight for our future at SBC” in a Nov. 20 mobilization, with plans for a second action to be held on Dec. 6.
CWA President Morton Bahr, who was unable to attend, said that a key element in this round of negotiations “is to build on the progress we have made at SBC by further protecting our members’ access to the jobs of the future.”
SBC has positioned itself as an industry leader, growing over the past four years from its core local telephone operations into a nationwide provider of local, long-distance, data and Internet, and wireless communications services, Bahr said.
“CWA members have played a major role in transforming SBC into one of the world’s premiere telecommunications companies and our bargaining goals will reflect that role and our determination to secure a strong future for ourselves, our families and our union,” he said.
CWA vice presidents who will be heading negotiations for their districts — Larry Mancino, District 1; Jeff Rechenbach, District 4; Andy Milburn, District 6; and Tony Bixler, District 9 — outlined some of the key issues affecting their members and discussed how bargaining across the four districts will be coordinated.
Conference participants discussed CWA’s mutual goals at SBC, which include expanding the neutrality and card check recognition agreement CWA now has at SBC wireless companies to cover all SBC operations and joint ventures including Cingular; improving employment security by gaining real, enforceable limits on subcontracting and the movement of work; winning major improvements in wages, pensions and other compensation; addressing stressful working conditions for customer service representatives, and increasing opportunities for members to upgrade skills as technology evolves.
A CWA analysis shows that since 1996, SBC has expanded operations through direct investment, partnerships and mergers to become the second largest telecom employer, with more than 200,000 total employees, and the second most profitable, with estimated profits for 2000 of $7.8 billion. The company also ranks second among telecom companies in stock value and third in total sales.
In 1999, CWA members generated $36,371 per person in profits for SBC, after all operating costs, including wages and benefits, were paid — an increase of more than 10 percent over the previous year, the CWA report noted.
Local service remains the strong and growing core of the company, expected to grow to 42 percent of total SBC revenue in 2003. Wireless growth is strong, increasing by 28.9 percent last year to 11.2 million subscribers, and SBC is aggressively and successfully expanding in new areas, including broadband, data and Internet and expanded wireless communications.
“The opportunity could not be better to make real improvements in wages, benefits and other compensation and to expand employment security through wall-to-wall representation,” CWA’s research analysis noted.
Among the key bargaining goals are a significant increase in wages and pensions, access to the jobs of the future, and improvements in stressful working conditions that especially affect customer service representatives — under staffing, excessive monitoring, the electronic speedup and inadequate training.
Talks for this round of contract negotiations, which cover some 126,000 workers in four districts, will get underway in early December. There will be separate bargaining tables for Southern New England Telephone, District 1; Ameritech, District 4; Southwestern Bell, District 6; and Pacific Bell/Nevada Bell, District 9. The Southwestern Bell, Pacific Bell/Nevada Bell and SNET contracts expire Apr. 1; the Ameritech agreement expires March 31.
Individual caucuses and bargaining council meetings were held immediately following the national conference or back in the districts. Separately, SBC members in the four districts geared up to “fight for our future at SBC” in a Nov. 20 mobilization, with plans for a second action to be held on Dec. 6.
CWA President Morton Bahr, who was unable to attend, said that a key element in this round of negotiations “is to build on the progress we have made at SBC by further protecting our members’ access to the jobs of the future.”
SBC has positioned itself as an industry leader, growing over the past four years from its core local telephone operations into a nationwide provider of local, long-distance, data and Internet, and wireless communications services, Bahr said.
“CWA members have played a major role in transforming SBC into one of the world’s premiere telecommunications companies and our bargaining goals will reflect that role and our determination to secure a strong future for ourselves, our families and our union,” he said.
CWA vice presidents who will be heading negotiations for their districts — Larry Mancino, District 1; Jeff Rechenbach, District 4; Andy Milburn, District 6; and Tony Bixler, District 9 — outlined some of the key issues affecting their members and discussed how bargaining across the four districts will be coordinated.
Conference participants discussed CWA’s mutual goals at SBC, which include expanding the neutrality and card check recognition agreement CWA now has at SBC wireless companies to cover all SBC operations and joint ventures including Cingular; improving employment security by gaining real, enforceable limits on subcontracting and the movement of work; winning major improvements in wages, pensions and other compensation; addressing stressful working conditions for customer service representatives, and increasing opportunities for members to upgrade skills as technology evolves.
A CWA analysis shows that since 1996, SBC has expanded operations through direct investment, partnerships and mergers to become the second largest telecom employer, with more than 200,000 total employees, and the second most profitable, with estimated profits for 2000 of $7.8 billion. The company also ranks second among telecom companies in stock value and third in total sales.
In 1999, CWA members generated $36,371 per person in profits for SBC, after all operating costs, including wages and benefits, were paid — an increase of more than 10 percent over the previous year, the CWA report noted.
Local service remains the strong and growing core of the company, expected to grow to 42 percent of total SBC revenue in 2003. Wireless growth is strong, increasing by 28.9 percent last year to 11.2 million subscribers, and SBC is aggressively and successfully expanding in new areas, including broadband, data and Internet and expanded wireless communications.
“The opportunity could not be better to make real improvements in wages, benefits and other compensation and to expand employment security through wall-to-wall representation,” CWA’s research analysis noted.