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Sprint Members Mobilize for Fair Contracts
CWA local unions representing workers at local Sprint Commu-nications Co. operations launched a mobilization campaign on Mar. 22, aimed at winning fair contracts and respect from Sprint.
From Ohio to Texas to Oregon, CWAers were joined by members of the Electrical Workers in informational picketing and leafleting, in-house actions and getting the message to Sprint Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bill Esrey.
T.O. Moses, CWA's vice president for telecommunications, said the March 22 activities were just the beginning of workers' determination to tell Sprint "that employees deserve more respect from Sprint management." Moses added that the mobilization campaign will continue throughout the year as locals begin bargaining for new contracts. More than a dozen CWA units covering some 5,000 employees will bargain with Sprint this year.
In Hickory, N.C., customer service reps wore t-shirts that proclaimed Sprint's campaign to put "sales before service" and protested the company's new requirements that customer agents meet high-pressure sales quotas. At other Sprint facilities - in Rocky Mount, Fayetteville and New Bern - union members participated in mobilization actions, wearing "CWA Yes" t-shirts and calling on Sprint to treat its employees with respect.
Members of Sprint locals everywhere used the mobilization day to contact the company's benefits hotline and verify coverage for medical insurance and other benefits.
Sprint complained that employees were "interfering with company facilities," said CWA Representative Jimmy Gurganus, but "we pointed out that Sprint has done a pretty poor job in administering benefits." Sprint's record keeping system leaves a lot to be desired, he said, noting that North Carolina employees often are told they don't have coverage and are turned away from local hospitals because of Sprint's errors and poor record keeping. Sprint's blunders even resulted in one member being unable to get hospital care for his comatose son.
The action got Sprint's attention, Gurganus said, since the company brought its top officers in the southeastern region to meet with CWA and IBEW union leaders two days after the mobilization with a request that we "work together and solve our problems internally."
The next action will be at the Sprint shareholders meeting, scheduled for Apr. 22 in Kansas City. CWA locals are supporting a resolution to require a shareholder vote on certain executive compensation awards.
From Ohio to Texas to Oregon, CWAers were joined by members of the Electrical Workers in informational picketing and leafleting, in-house actions and getting the message to Sprint Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bill Esrey.
T.O. Moses, CWA's vice president for telecommunications, said the March 22 activities were just the beginning of workers' determination to tell Sprint "that employees deserve more respect from Sprint management." Moses added that the mobilization campaign will continue throughout the year as locals begin bargaining for new contracts. More than a dozen CWA units covering some 5,000 employees will bargain with Sprint this year.
In Hickory, N.C., customer service reps wore t-shirts that proclaimed Sprint's campaign to put "sales before service" and protested the company's new requirements that customer agents meet high-pressure sales quotas. At other Sprint facilities - in Rocky Mount, Fayetteville and New Bern - union members participated in mobilization actions, wearing "CWA Yes" t-shirts and calling on Sprint to treat its employees with respect.
Members of Sprint locals everywhere used the mobilization day to contact the company's benefits hotline and verify coverage for medical insurance and other benefits.
Sprint complained that employees were "interfering with company facilities," said CWA Representative Jimmy Gurganus, but "we pointed out that Sprint has done a pretty poor job in administering benefits." Sprint's record keeping system leaves a lot to be desired, he said, noting that North Carolina employees often are told they don't have coverage and are turned away from local hospitals because of Sprint's errors and poor record keeping. Sprint's blunders even resulted in one member being unable to get hospital care for his comatose son.
The action got Sprint's attention, Gurganus said, since the company brought its top officers in the southeastern region to meet with CWA and IBEW union leaders two days after the mobilization with a request that we "work together and solve our problems internally."
The next action will be at the Sprint shareholders meeting, scheduled for Apr. 22 in Kansas City. CWA locals are supporting a resolution to require a shareholder vote on certain executive compensation awards.