Speeches from Avaya Shareholder Meeting - February 10, 2006

AVAYA SHAREHOLDER MEETING
Ralph V. Maly, Jr. Vice President
CWA Communications & Technologies
February 10, 2006

Good Morning Don and Shareholders, my name is Ralph Maly and I am Vice President of the Communications Workers of America representing Avaya employees. CWA, as a whole represents over 750,000 workers in the communications, broadcasting, newspaper, airlines, and manufacturing industries.

CWA and IBEW have been involved with Avaya since its inception. The company and its unions have worked in a true labor- management partnership from the beginning, working together for the betterment of our members, customers and shareholders alike.

We worked on a number of initiatives to help establish Avaya as a worldwide communication leader. CWA and IBEW helped lead the way in meeting with customers, demonstrating the value a unionized workforce brings to the business and the success a partnership can be to the overall bottom-line of the corporation.

Today that relationship has all but disappeared as Avaya has changed its business strategy, focusing now more on business partners and less on the occupational workforce, a strategy we believe is doomed to failure as it puts business partners between Avaya and its customers. As history has taught us the continued increased reliance on business partners allows them to manipulate customers into using other vendors instead of Avaya, including services and maintenance (once the cashcow for Avaya). Most of these business partners have no real vested interest in Avaya other than a means to an end.

We continue to see problems where customers are requesting Avaya Technicians and are being told by the Avaya's sales force that they must use a business partner technician instead, even if the customer insists on Avaya. We see a rise in problems in getting parts to customers in a timely manner. CWA and IBEW continue to raise concerns over the loss of business to the leadership of services but it continues to fall on deaf ears.

The services leadership has continued to mismanage the business and has totally disregarded the collective bargaining agreement. While Services revenues continue to remain flat and sales opportunities slip away, the only growth area appears to be in the grievance arena, where we have seen an increase threefold. Where Avaya was once a true labor partner with CWA and IBEW, today it could not be worse. Labor Relations continues to have a laissez faire attitude as NLRB charges continue to rise and the Leadership of Services and Labor continue to ignore the contract and its obligation. All this as we head into 2006 bargaining. Instead of working on issues that will help make Avaya a successful business and maintain jobs for members and your employees, we find ourselves mired in an anti-union Services Leadership and no effective Labor Relations. There simply is no integrity with the individuals we deal with, none of which bodes well for bargaining.

CWA and IBEW had a good working relationship with Avaya over the years and desire to continue that relationship. We want Avaya to be a successful business. Our members have a vested interest in making Avaya a success, but they want to be part of that success, not eliminated by mismanagement and the misuse of business partners.

The Union brings added value to the business, which goes straight to the bottom line. A number of your customers are already partnering with CWA and IBEW legislatively and in the marketplace with great success. You need to do the same.

With all the competition facing us today, Avaya needs to change this anti-union philosophy. We need a relationship that builds on our combined strengths. I urge Avaya to reverse its strategy, engage with CWA and IBEW to get Avaya back on the right track of profitability, shareholder value, and jobs with a future. If we do not, I assure you, neither one of us will survive.

AVAYA SHAREHOLDER MEETING
Phil Pennington
CWA Local 4320
February 10, 2006

Good morning Mr. Peterson, fellow Shareholders,

My name is Phil Pennington and I am an Avaya shareholder, Avaya Sr. Technician and second time elected bargaining team member representing Communications Workers of America and its members.

The last time I addressed a meeting of this nature, we were still Lucent Technologies. I closed my message by stating the people were ready to play a major role in the business, was Lucent? I would like to open today by asking you Mr. Peterson; the people are ready to play a major role in the business, are you?

Speaking as part of Avaya services, the attempts to reduce operational costs have taken on a laughable approach. The cost reduction attempts have also resulted in customer reduction, due to the inadequacies of being able to service the customer. Our reliance upon technological methods in the process of communicating virtually every avenue of our business, the reliance upon no one within our company with the ability to provide daily successful field operations and the skewed data fed back to Avaya from both of these, only compound the gravity of the situation.

The incentives in the form of bonuses for senior executives via cost cutting of expenses, employees and jobs, that provide a shot in the arm of earnings for a short term, has long term consequences.

As a shareholder, I expect growth and stability where I am investing my money. Exporting of jobs either directly or indirectly does not reflect stability. It reflects reliance. In the end, Mr. Peterson, when there are no expenses, employees, who remain to be eliminated, where will the reductions come from then? As well as the bonuses?

My belief is we can have healthy returns and a growing business with satisfactory compensation for all. I do not think this can be accomplished in the direction services are headed.

It's about people.

It's about jobs.