In The News

Call Center Bill Would Save Jobs, Help Customers

Consumers have a right to know which country a call center representative is in, and that knowledge can save American jobs, improve customer service and protect against identify theft, CWA Secretary- Treasurer Jeff Rechenbach told a House subcommittee in September.

Testifying in support of the bipartisan Call Center Consumer's Right to Know Act (H.R. 1776), Rechenbach noted the millions of American manufacturing jobs lost to offshoring and the dire economic forecasts that up to 14 million service sector jobs could ultimately go to other countries.

He said U.S. consumers, frustrated by distant call center representatives who may be poorly trained or simply have little experience, frequently complain to CWA's 150,000 customer service representatives at telecom companies, airlines and other businesses.

Americans are also "quite naturally worried about security issues and giving up personal financial and medical information to call center workers located in other parts of the world.," Rechenbach said. "These customers also care about creating and keeping good middle-class jobs in America. And they have a right to know who they are dealing with when they pick up the phone for assistance."

Rechenbach offered ways to improve on the bill, introduced by Rep. Jason Altmire (D-Penn.), suggesting that it be amended to allow consumers to request that they be transferred to a U.S.-based call center, and requiring that the government do a better job tracking the offshoring of jobs.

Recently, through collective bargaining, he noted: "CWA and AT&T reached an agreement to bring back from offshore 5,000 call center jobs. This was a win-win. However, with the low coverage of collective bargaining, we should not expect that returning work from offshore and eliminating subcontracting foreshadows a new trend for American workers. Too much of U.S. management is caught on the tread mill of lowering wage rates and consequently lowering quality, through outsourcing."

Mediation Board Drops Anti-Union Proposal After AFA-CWA Protests

After pressure from AFA-CWA, other transportation unions and members of Congress, the National Mediation Board announced in September that it would drop — for now — a proposal that would make it more difficult for airline workers to maintain their union representation following a merger with non-union carriers.

At the urging of AFA and CWA, Congress opened hearings before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee as this issue went to press about the NMB proposal and the agency's increasingly anti-worker policies.

In July, the NMB proposed a revision of the law that would have radically changed the basis on which a newly-merged carrier is required to recognize its workers' union. Under the proposal, an airline would only be required to grant recognition when the union represented a "more than substantial majority" of the combined workforce. Currently, recognition is granted if union employees make up 60 percent of the combined pertinent workforce.

The change would have left the definition of substantial majority up to the interpretation of the NMB. This would be disastrous considering the current board's poor track record in safeguarding workers' right to organize and its failure to address the growing anti-union tactics by airline management.

CWA Families Caught In Hurricane's Path

Some CWA members lost their homes and others have serious repairs ahead after Hurricane Ike battered Galveston, Houston and nearby Gulf Coast communities but reports from locals in the field indicate that CWA members and their families escaped without serious injury.

"We are very fortunate that there's been no loss of life, but we do have members who lost everything they owned," said Claude Cummings, CWA at-large Executive Board member and president of Local 6222. Some of the local's members commute 50 miles to Houston from Galveston, where winds and water devastated the community. In Houston, wind ripped off roofs and toppled large oak and pine trees.

CWA District 6 leaders are continuing gather information about the storm's impact on members from Local 6228 in Galveston and Local 6139 in Beaumont, where residents were ordered to evacuate.

In Houston, the local hall — which wasn't damaged — was converted into a distribution center, where members and the general public could get water and ice. The hall was also made available as lodgings for out-of-town CWA technicians who traveled to the area to help repair telecom lines.

Alcatel Lucent Workers Tell Executives: No Bonuses

Thousands of Alcatel Lucent workers around the world have told Chief Executive Officer Patricia Russo and Chairman Serge Tchuruk to forego their huge bonuses — a golden parachute for Russo and a merger bonus for Tchuruk. During the protest, coordinated by CWA and 16 other unions, more than 6,000 petitions were collected from Alcatel Lucent workers worldwide who have been hit hard by management's failures. They were all sent to Russo and Tchuruk.

CEO Russo is taking a severance package of more than $9.4 million, despite the company's extremely poor performance under her tenure. The company has reported losses for the past six quarters and has wiped out jobs in the U.S. "The last of the Alcatel

Lucent manufacturing jobs have been eliminated and shifted offshore with the shutdown of the Merrimack Valley facility," said Ralph Maly, CWA vice president for communications and technologies.

AT&T Mobility Workers Organize in Oklahoma City

Concerned over pay, health care and other benefits, a majority of the workers at an AT&T Mobility call center in Oklahoma City gained representation in September through card check. The 106 workers, formerly employed by Dobson Communications, will be represented by Local 6016.

The workers are the second group of Dobson employees who have gained representation with CWA following AT&T's purchase of the company earlier this year. In August, 250 customer service representatives at a former Dobson call center in Boardman, Ohio, gained representation through card check.

CWA Customer Service Conference Is On!

The CWA Customer Service Professionals Conference has been rescheduled for Dec. 7-9 in New Orleans. The conference was postponed from September due to the threat of Hurricane Ike.

Over the three-day conference, participants will discuss the critical on-the-job issues facing customer service reps and operators in a changing industry. Hotel and registration information are available at ga.cwa-union.org, see What's Hot. Conference and hotel registration must be made by Nov. 10. 

Among the speakers: CWA Executive Vice President Annie Hill, Rose Batt, a Cornell University professor who has done extensive research on the customer service profession, and CWA District 3 Vice President Noah Savant.

Bargaining break-out sessions will provide a status report on negotiations at employers including AT&T and Mobility, Verizon, Qwest, Idearc and others; several workshops also will be offered.