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.
Marketing Conference Prepares Service Reps for Action
Service representatives and sales employees from across the nation sized up recent contract gains and redefined the union standard of quality customer service at CWA's National Marketing Conference, as they prepared to fight for the jobs of the future.
More than 170 convened Oct. 21-31 in Cleveland, Ohio, where they heard an academic analysis of where their industry is headed, particularly telemarketing, inventoried their potential for mobilization, examined how they can benefit from participating in or building community coalitions and took to the street to protest job cuts and job pressures at Ameritech.
CWA Vice President Jeff Rechenbach, of host District 4, pointed out that, "In today's economy, the work that customer service workers do is more important than ever. Your enthusiasm for this conference demonstrates to me that CWA is the leading union of customer service employees."
In the recent round of telecommunications bargaining, noted Kris Raab, of CWA's research department, the union regained customer account work that had been performed at low-wage, non-union Bell Atlantic Plus. All existing accounts will be transferred back to CWA-represented service locations by March 30, 1999. U S West agreed to extend recognition to CWA for all full-time, part-time and student service reps at the Pocatello Customer Relations Center. Bell South will seek volunteers to work up to 15 hours per week overtime, where needed, and if that is inadequate, will discuss alternatives with local presidents.
Raab's report, prepared with CWA Research Economist Debbie Goldman, also noted there have been improvements in scheduling and transfer rights at several companies. BellSouth, for instance, has established core hours between 6 a.m. and 7:30 pm. Southern New England Telephone will conduct a one-year trial allowing two excused work days to be taken in one-hour intervals.
Also as a result of CWA bargaining, BellSouth adopted language placing limits on call sampling by managers. SBC extended and clarified its memorandum of agreement on monitoring.
U S West will provide a $10 per day differential to employees required to speak more than one language.
Rosemary Batt, assistant professor from Cornell University's industrial and labor relations school, stressed that while companies have in recent years cut thousands of jobs, telemarketing throughout the industry is here to stay. CWA service reps, she said, can enhance their job security and leverage their value in bargaining by giving customers an extra measure of quality service.
Dina Beaumont, executive assistant to CWA President Morton Bahr, called upon service reps to continue to combat high stress, excessive monitoring, adherence quotas and a lack of closed-key time.
"This union has never relied exclusively on collective bargaining and must concentrate on methods of resolving problems between contracts," she stressed, praising the quality of exercises prepared by District 4 staff to gear service reps to think through problems and consider options for mobilization.
Larry Velequette, vice president of the Toledo, Ohio Newspaper Guild, and David Barnett, a journalist with Cleveland and National Public Radio, gave a workshop to enable conferees to make better use of the media to support mobilization action.
After hearing from John Ryan, executive secretary of the Cleveland AFL-CIO, on the success of Greater Cleveland Jobs with Justice and workers' rights board, conferees joined members of CWA Locals to protest the closing of Ameritech's Lansing, Mich. and Milwaukee customer service centers.
Bill Bain, president of host CWA Local 4108, acknowledged the work of steering committee members Melissa Morin, president, Local 1400, Portsmouth, N.H.; Cathy Ciner, president, Local 1105, Bronx, N.Y.; Sandy Kmetyk, president, Local 13500, Pittsburgh; Alma Diemer, president, Local 6507, Little Rock, Ark.; Kathy Kinchius, president, Local 9415, Oakland, Calif.; and Kenny Rucker, president Local 2222, Annandale, Va.
More than 170 convened Oct. 21-31 in Cleveland, Ohio, where they heard an academic analysis of where their industry is headed, particularly telemarketing, inventoried their potential for mobilization, examined how they can benefit from participating in or building community coalitions and took to the street to protest job cuts and job pressures at Ameritech.
CWA Vice President Jeff Rechenbach, of host District 4, pointed out that, "In today's economy, the work that customer service workers do is more important than ever. Your enthusiasm for this conference demonstrates to me that CWA is the leading union of customer service employees."
In the recent round of telecommunications bargaining, noted Kris Raab, of CWA's research department, the union regained customer account work that had been performed at low-wage, non-union Bell Atlantic Plus. All existing accounts will be transferred back to CWA-represented service locations by March 30, 1999. U S West agreed to extend recognition to CWA for all full-time, part-time and student service reps at the Pocatello Customer Relations Center. Bell South will seek volunteers to work up to 15 hours per week overtime, where needed, and if that is inadequate, will discuss alternatives with local presidents.
Raab's report, prepared with CWA Research Economist Debbie Goldman, also noted there have been improvements in scheduling and transfer rights at several companies. BellSouth, for instance, has established core hours between 6 a.m. and 7:30 pm. Southern New England Telephone will conduct a one-year trial allowing two excused work days to be taken in one-hour intervals.
Also as a result of CWA bargaining, BellSouth adopted language placing limits on call sampling by managers. SBC extended and clarified its memorandum of agreement on monitoring.
U S West will provide a $10 per day differential to employees required to speak more than one language.
Rosemary Batt, assistant professor from Cornell University's industrial and labor relations school, stressed that while companies have in recent years cut thousands of jobs, telemarketing throughout the industry is here to stay. CWA service reps, she said, can enhance their job security and leverage their value in bargaining by giving customers an extra measure of quality service.
Dina Beaumont, executive assistant to CWA President Morton Bahr, called upon service reps to continue to combat high stress, excessive monitoring, adherence quotas and a lack of closed-key time.
"This union has never relied exclusively on collective bargaining and must concentrate on methods of resolving problems between contracts," she stressed, praising the quality of exercises prepared by District 4 staff to gear service reps to think through problems and consider options for mobilization.
Larry Velequette, vice president of the Toledo, Ohio Newspaper Guild, and David Barnett, a journalist with Cleveland and National Public Radio, gave a workshop to enable conferees to make better use of the media to support mobilization action.
After hearing from John Ryan, executive secretary of the Cleveland AFL-CIO, on the success of Greater Cleveland Jobs with Justice and workers' rights board, conferees joined members of CWA Locals to protest the closing of Ameritech's Lansing, Mich. and Milwaukee customer service centers.
Bill Bain, president of host CWA Local 4108, acknowledged the work of steering committee members Melissa Morin, president, Local 1400, Portsmouth, N.H.; Cathy Ciner, president, Local 1105, Bronx, N.Y.; Sandy Kmetyk, president, Local 13500, Pittsburgh; Alma Diemer, president, Local 6507, Little Rock, Ark.; Kathy Kinchius, president, Local 9415, Oakland, Calif.; and Kenny Rucker, president Local 2222, Annandale, Va.