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CWA, Sprint Back at Bargaining Table
Bargaining was underway or scheduled to resume this week at all the striking Sprint units - Locals 3176, Ocala, Fla.; 3672, Hickory, N.C.; 3871, Bluff City, Tenn., and 4700, Evansville, Ind. Union members continued their picket lines and mobilization activities as CWA bargainers pressed for a fair contract and called on Sprint to pull its unreasonable demands, reported Jimmy Gurganus, CWA vice president for telecommunications.
Meanwhile, members from four North Carolina locals - 3680, 3681, 3682 and 3685 - voted overwhelmingly to authorize strike action if a fair contract can't be reached. That agreement, covering about 1,200 workers at Fayetteville, New Bern, Henderson and other locations, expires Nov. 30.
CWA Local 13000, representing about 40 Sprint workers in Butler County, Pa., reached a tentative agreement with the company that provides for a 7.5 percent wage increase over the three-year contract term and turns back some of Sprint's extreme demands, including the company's demand to end premium pay for Sunday work. The tentative settlement also retains some job protections under short-term disability coverage, keeps DSL work in the bargaining unit, and increases standby pay, among other improvements. Members will vote on the agreement in a mail ratification vote.
CWA continues to raise concerns with regulators and the public about the spin-off of the Sprint local telephone company. This new local telephone provider must be approved by regulators in 14 states and by the Federal Communications Commission, and CWA has pointed to the inequitable amount of debt the new company is being assigned by Sprint Nextel, along with other provisions of the deal that make it bad news for customers.
So far, CWA has been granted the right to intervene in five states - Pennsylvania, Missouri, Kansas, New Jersey and Tennessee - with decisions still pending in Ohio, Florida and others.
Meanwhile, members from four North Carolina locals - 3680, 3681, 3682 and 3685 - voted overwhelmingly to authorize strike action if a fair contract can't be reached. That agreement, covering about 1,200 workers at Fayetteville, New Bern, Henderson and other locations, expires Nov. 30.
CWA Local 13000, representing about 40 Sprint workers in Butler County, Pa., reached a tentative agreement with the company that provides for a 7.5 percent wage increase over the three-year contract term and turns back some of Sprint's extreme demands, including the company's demand to end premium pay for Sunday work. The tentative settlement also retains some job protections under short-term disability coverage, keeps DSL work in the bargaining unit, and increases standby pay, among other improvements. Members will vote on the agreement in a mail ratification vote.
CWA continues to raise concerns with regulators and the public about the spin-off of the Sprint local telephone company. This new local telephone provider must be approved by regulators in 14 states and by the Federal Communications Commission, and CWA has pointed to the inequitable amount of debt the new company is being assigned by Sprint Nextel, along with other provisions of the deal that make it bad news for customers.
So far, CWA has been granted the right to intervene in five states - Pennsylvania, Missouri, Kansas, New Jersey and Tennessee - with decisions still pending in Ohio, Florida and others.