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District 3 & AFL-CIO Ramping Up Pressure on Sprint
With about 500 Sprint technicians and clerical employees working day-to-day under an expired contract in Florida, CWA District 3 is gearing up to put pressure on the company, even as the AFL-CIO exposes the exorbitant compensation received by the company's chief executive.
"It's scandalous that (CEO) Gary Forsee should receive nearly $20 million annually, while robbing Sprint workers of decent wages and benefits, " said Jimmy Gurganus, CWA vice president for Telecommunications.
Sprint workers represented by Local 3176 in Ocala, Altamonte Springs, Apopka and other areas of Florida have been working under terms of their last contract since March 31, and many have been working 12-hour days, seven days a week. CWA District 3 is planning to send a large contingent to conduct informational picketing at Sprint's Florida headquarters in Apopka, near Orlando, on April 26, in conjunction with the annual District 3 meeting.
"We'll show them that CWA District 3 is committed to supporting the Sprint workers in their quest for a fair contract," said District 3 Vice President Noah Savant.
The AFL-CIO launched a website on April 11, highlighting the unreasonable compensation of six corporate executives, including Sprint's Forsee.
Looking at his 2004 compensation, the site starts with his salary of $1,137,931 and adds in a bonus of over $2 million, restricted stock and stock options worth nearly $16 million, and "other" compensation of $231,276. The total comes to $19,480.225.
And, the federation points out, "Sometimes executives may also negotiate supplemental pension benefits as part of their employment agreement." Forsee stands to retire with an annual pension of $1,828,427.
"We've seen a tremendous amount of interest among workers in holding CEOs and their boards accountable," stated AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka. "They are rightfully outraged when they learn about jaw-dropping executive compensation packages."
Owning 600,000 shares of Sprint stock, the AFL-CIO pension fund has filed a shareholder proposal, which CWA will support, to require that any future "extraordinary retirement benefits" be voted on by the shareholders. It will be presented at the company's annual meeting next month.
CWA Representative Gary McCallister, who heads bargaining for the Florida workers, said the committee has only met twice with Sprint since contract expiration.
CWA has requested financial data relevant to bargaining, particularly concerning the company's marketing plans and short-term disability plan, which McCallister said discriminates against older workers.
Other issues unacceptable to the union include a shift from the existing vacation and holiday policy to a paid-time-off policy that would require workers to use vacation days for the first five days missed because of sickness. Also, he said, the company is trying to introduce an incentive pay plan and shift the total cost of a long-term disability plan to the workers.
Sprint has required excessive overtime from its workers since hurricanes ripped through Florida late last summer, and still has not brought service back up to standard.
"The company acts like they could care less about the workers or the customers," McCallister said.
"It's scandalous that (CEO) Gary Forsee should receive nearly $20 million annually, while robbing Sprint workers of decent wages and benefits, " said Jimmy Gurganus, CWA vice president for Telecommunications.
Sprint workers represented by Local 3176 in Ocala, Altamonte Springs, Apopka and other areas of Florida have been working under terms of their last contract since March 31, and many have been working 12-hour days, seven days a week. CWA District 3 is planning to send a large contingent to conduct informational picketing at Sprint's Florida headquarters in Apopka, near Orlando, on April 26, in conjunction with the annual District 3 meeting.
"We'll show them that CWA District 3 is committed to supporting the Sprint workers in their quest for a fair contract," said District 3 Vice President Noah Savant.
The AFL-CIO launched a website on April 11, highlighting the unreasonable compensation of six corporate executives, including Sprint's Forsee.
Looking at his 2004 compensation, the site starts with his salary of $1,137,931 and adds in a bonus of over $2 million, restricted stock and stock options worth nearly $16 million, and "other" compensation of $231,276. The total comes to $19,480.225.
And, the federation points out, "Sometimes executives may also negotiate supplemental pension benefits as part of their employment agreement." Forsee stands to retire with an annual pension of $1,828,427.
"We've seen a tremendous amount of interest among workers in holding CEOs and their boards accountable," stated AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka. "They are rightfully outraged when they learn about jaw-dropping executive compensation packages."
Owning 600,000 shares of Sprint stock, the AFL-CIO pension fund has filed a shareholder proposal, which CWA will support, to require that any future "extraordinary retirement benefits" be voted on by the shareholders. It will be presented at the company's annual meeting next month.
CWA Representative Gary McCallister, who heads bargaining for the Florida workers, said the committee has only met twice with Sprint since contract expiration.
CWA has requested financial data relevant to bargaining, particularly concerning the company's marketing plans and short-term disability plan, which McCallister said discriminates against older workers.
Other issues unacceptable to the union include a shift from the existing vacation and holiday policy to a paid-time-off policy that would require workers to use vacation days for the first five days missed because of sickness. Also, he said, the company is trying to introduce an incentive pay plan and shift the total cost of a long-term disability plan to the workers.
Sprint has required excessive overtime from its workers since hurricanes ripped through Florida late last summer, and still has not brought service back up to standard.
"The company acts like they could care less about the workers or the customers," McCallister said.