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Job Security, Health Care Top Agenda at SBC
Meeting in southern California in early December to plan their 2004 bargaining and mobilization strategies, CWA leaders from SBC locals across the country pledged unity in their fight for job security and affordable health care.
About 200 local officers and retirees from Districts 1, 4, 6 and 9 attended the two-day SBC Bargaining Council meeting to gear up for talks that are expected to begin in mid-February. The current contracts with SBC expire in April.
High on members' list of concerns is ensuring that the union preserves its good, family-wage jobs and guarantees access for current members to jobs being created in the new and growing sectors of SBC.
"This round of bargaining is about creating union jobs for the future," CWA President Morton Bahr said. "We are living in a time when outsourcing, layoffs and union jobs shifting to management have become all too common. Bringing work back into the company for our members must be our highest priority."
The abundance of solidarity bodes well for bargaining, CWA Executive Vice President Larry Cohen said. "The unity and commitment of our local officers, staff and district vice presidents was evident throughout the meeting," he said. "We are all determined to improve employment security in the changing telecom world at SBC. Our members are determined to do the jobs of the future regardless of technology changes or how SBC structures the work."
In addition to Bahr and Cohen, three CWA vice presidents were on hand for the meetings: Jeff Rechenbach from District 4, Andy Milburn from District 6 and Tony Bixler from District 9, as well as Chris Shelton, assistant to District 1 Vice President Larry Mancino.
Health care is another major issue, with SBC expected to seek substantial increases in workers' share of health coverage.
"CWA members at SBC have fought hard over many years to build a package of comprehensive health care benefits," the council said in its bargaining resolution. "Preserving those hard-won gains is a key bargaining goal in a year when escalating health care costs have created a major battleground in labor-management negotiations nationwide."
On the issue of job security, the resolution said, in part, "We must strengthen force adjustment provisions, stop subcontracting of our work and substitution of temporary for permanent employment (and) eliminate the movement of our jobs to so-called management titles or outside the bargaining unit. We need access to the jobs of the future and improved voluntary transfer rights to work in all aspects of telecommunications."
Other issues raised in the resolution include:
*** Removing caps on Medicare Part B reimbursement for retirees and their spouses.
*** A pension increase to bring current retirees' income to a livable standard, with future increases to match raises for employees.
*** Improved working conditions to limit mandatory overtime, pressure to sell and harsh adherence policies.
The resolution also calls for a fair wage increase for workers, noting that each SBCemployee generated an average of $250,000 in revenue and $42,000 in profits for the company over the past year. Meanwhile, CEO Ed Whitacre was paid $19.2 million in compensation and stock options, 426 times the pay of the average SBCworker.
Recognizing that keeping members informed and active is critical to the bargaining process, the council resolved to make mobilization a top priority.
"The power we have at the negotiating table is a direct result of the information and education our members receive about the bargaining issues, as well as their solidarity and activity," they said in statement on mobilization.
Members talked of joint activities on the opening day of bargaining and at least two other common activities throughout the districts prior to the contracts' expiration. Locals will share responsibility for producing a regular electronic newsletter, Unity@SBC, and they are launching an effort to collect members' personal e-mail addresses for a mailing list.
E-mail communications will be the key source of disseminating bargaining and mobilization news. To register for e-mail reports, SBC members should go to the following website: ga.cwa-union.org/sbc.
The council met mainly in joint sessions, but had breakout groups for operators, customer service representatives and technicians.
In their bargaining resolution, members' noted CWA's long history of willingness to adapt to change in the telecom industry. They pledged to continue to work in partnership with SBC on creative solutions, as long as workers are respected and their jobs protected.
"In these challenging times, we want to work together to turn change into opportunity for secure, meaningful and well compensated careers for our members," the resolution said. "It is our knowledge, skills and experience that make SBC the company of choice for quality service."
About 200 local officers and retirees from Districts 1, 4, 6 and 9 attended the two-day SBC Bargaining Council meeting to gear up for talks that are expected to begin in mid-February. The current contracts with SBC expire in April.
High on members' list of concerns is ensuring that the union preserves its good, family-wage jobs and guarantees access for current members to jobs being created in the new and growing sectors of SBC.
"This round of bargaining is about creating union jobs for the future," CWA President Morton Bahr said. "We are living in a time when outsourcing, layoffs and union jobs shifting to management have become all too common. Bringing work back into the company for our members must be our highest priority."
The abundance of solidarity bodes well for bargaining, CWA Executive Vice President Larry Cohen said. "The unity and commitment of our local officers, staff and district vice presidents was evident throughout the meeting," he said. "We are all determined to improve employment security in the changing telecom world at SBC. Our members are determined to do the jobs of the future regardless of technology changes or how SBC structures the work."
In addition to Bahr and Cohen, three CWA vice presidents were on hand for the meetings: Jeff Rechenbach from District 4, Andy Milburn from District 6 and Tony Bixler from District 9, as well as Chris Shelton, assistant to District 1 Vice President Larry Mancino.
Health care is another major issue, with SBC expected to seek substantial increases in workers' share of health coverage.
"CWA members at SBC have fought hard over many years to build a package of comprehensive health care benefits," the council said in its bargaining resolution. "Preserving those hard-won gains is a key bargaining goal in a year when escalating health care costs have created a major battleground in labor-management negotiations nationwide."
On the issue of job security, the resolution said, in part, "We must strengthen force adjustment provisions, stop subcontracting of our work and substitution of temporary for permanent employment (and) eliminate the movement of our jobs to so-called management titles or outside the bargaining unit. We need access to the jobs of the future and improved voluntary transfer rights to work in all aspects of telecommunications."
Other issues raised in the resolution include:
*** Removing caps on Medicare Part B reimbursement for retirees and their spouses.
*** A pension increase to bring current retirees' income to a livable standard, with future increases to match raises for employees.
*** Improved working conditions to limit mandatory overtime, pressure to sell and harsh adherence policies.
The resolution also calls for a fair wage increase for workers, noting that each SBCemployee generated an average of $250,000 in revenue and $42,000 in profits for the company over the past year. Meanwhile, CEO Ed Whitacre was paid $19.2 million in compensation and stock options, 426 times the pay of the average SBCworker.
Recognizing that keeping members informed and active is critical to the bargaining process, the council resolved to make mobilization a top priority.
"The power we have at the negotiating table is a direct result of the information and education our members receive about the bargaining issues, as well as their solidarity and activity," they said in statement on mobilization.
Members talked of joint activities on the opening day of bargaining and at least two other common activities throughout the districts prior to the contracts' expiration. Locals will share responsibility for producing a regular electronic newsletter, Unity@SBC, and they are launching an effort to collect members' personal e-mail addresses for a mailing list.
E-mail communications will be the key source of disseminating bargaining and mobilization news. To register for e-mail reports, SBC members should go to the following website: ga.cwa-union.org/sbc.
The council met mainly in joint sessions, but had breakout groups for operators, customer service representatives and technicians.
In their bargaining resolution, members' noted CWA's long history of willingness to adapt to change in the telecom industry. They pledged to continue to work in partnership with SBC on creative solutions, as long as workers are respected and their jobs protected.
"In these challenging times, we want to work together to turn change into opportunity for secure, meaningful and well compensated careers for our members," the resolution said. "It is our knowledge, skills and experience that make SBC the company of choice for quality service."