Search News
For the Media
For media inquiries, call CWA Communications at 202-434-1168 or email comms@cwa-union.org. To read about CWA Members, Leadership or Industries, visit our About page.
CWA Takes Challenge to Lucent
Armed with authority to call for a strike vote, CWA Vice President Jim Irvine and local leaders at Lucent Technologies’ annual shareholders’ meeting called for an end to subcontracting and challenged CEO Rich McGinn to work with the union to rebuild the company’s damaged reputation on Wall Street.
Outside the meeting Feb. 16 in Oakland, Calif., more than 150 CWA members conducted informational picketing supporting the union’s position.
Lucent’s stock took a beating in the marketplace the fourth quarter of 1999. On the eve of the shareholders’ meeting, local presidents representing the company’s 28,000 CWA-represented employees nationwide voted to authorize a strike vote if alternative strategies fail to bring improvement in how the company is managed.
“Our members weren’t surprised by Lucent’s announced drop in quarterly earnings — or the accompanying decline in stock value. We’ve been talking with their management team for months about how the absence of a long-term employment strategy will harm the business,” stated Irvine, CWA’s vice president for Communications and Technologies.
Irvine said the estimated loss in the Lucent employee 401(k) savings plan is more than $1.5 billion, due to the stock plunge.
“Our members’ dreams for a comfortable retirement are being shattered by the mismanagement of this company,” Irvine stressed.
At a time when the telecommunications sector is exceptionally strong and demand for Lucent’s products and expertise should be at its peak, Irvine said, Lucent is weakening its own position by eliminating the very people who give the company its competitive edge.
“Lucent needs to maintain its quality workforce — not cut it — so that business customers can continue to receive the service they’ve come to expect,” Irvine stressed.
Lucent employees have been increasingly frustrated with the company’s plans to abandon certain portions of the business while not communicating a coherent overall business strategy. While several attempts by the company to sell its Business Communications Systems division have fallen through, CWA-represented technicians sit idle while their work is subcontracted to the lowest bidder and the most senior are offered incentives to retire.
When CWA members are sent out to re-do jobs botched by contractors, revenue for the company is lost, local leaders explained. Three had prepared remarks for the shareholders’ meeting: Local 4351 President Keith Adams, Local 9510 Vice President Greg Summerell and Local 4320 Vice President Phil Pennington.
“Mr. McGinn, do you think the shareholders realize you intend to entrust the Lucent brand name to the lowest bidder?” Adams asked.
He pointed out that workers in Customer Care and TSO have posted signs in their work areas, reflecting their low morale caused by uncertainty about their jobs.
“Among the messages are ‘Lucent today, Brand X tomorrow,’” said Adams, who represents about 200 Lucent workers in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Outside the meeting Feb. 16 in Oakland, Calif., more than 150 CWA members conducted informational picketing supporting the union’s position.
Lucent’s stock took a beating in the marketplace the fourth quarter of 1999. On the eve of the shareholders’ meeting, local presidents representing the company’s 28,000 CWA-represented employees nationwide voted to authorize a strike vote if alternative strategies fail to bring improvement in how the company is managed.
“Our members weren’t surprised by Lucent’s announced drop in quarterly earnings — or the accompanying decline in stock value. We’ve been talking with their management team for months about how the absence of a long-term employment strategy will harm the business,” stated Irvine, CWA’s vice president for Communications and Technologies.
Irvine said the estimated loss in the Lucent employee 401(k) savings plan is more than $1.5 billion, due to the stock plunge.
“Our members’ dreams for a comfortable retirement are being shattered by the mismanagement of this company,” Irvine stressed.
At a time when the telecommunications sector is exceptionally strong and demand for Lucent’s products and expertise should be at its peak, Irvine said, Lucent is weakening its own position by eliminating the very people who give the company its competitive edge.
“Lucent needs to maintain its quality workforce — not cut it — so that business customers can continue to receive the service they’ve come to expect,” Irvine stressed.
Lucent employees have been increasingly frustrated with the company’s plans to abandon certain portions of the business while not communicating a coherent overall business strategy. While several attempts by the company to sell its Business Communications Systems division have fallen through, CWA-represented technicians sit idle while their work is subcontracted to the lowest bidder and the most senior are offered incentives to retire.
When CWA members are sent out to re-do jobs botched by contractors, revenue for the company is lost, local leaders explained. Three had prepared remarks for the shareholders’ meeting: Local 4351 President Keith Adams, Local 9510 Vice President Greg Summerell and Local 4320 Vice President Phil Pennington.
“Mr. McGinn, do you think the shareholders realize you intend to entrust the Lucent brand name to the lowest bidder?” Adams asked.
He pointed out that workers in Customer Care and TSO have posted signs in their work areas, reflecting their low morale caused by uncertainty about their jobs.
“Among the messages are ‘Lucent today, Brand X tomorrow,’” said Adams, who represents about 200 Lucent workers in Cincinnati, Ohio.