Telecom News: CWA/NETT Provides Digital Edge for New Jobs

As digital technology sweeps the telecommunications industry, members are turning to CWA/NETT Academy to train for jobs that are no longer just in the future. They are here today.

Verizon, in late October, announced plans to add 70 jobs to its FiOS call center in Hampton, Va., where service associates take calls from customers and technicians, troubleshooting problems with the company's fiber optic, high speed Internet and TV service. The center opened in March 2005 with 180 workers. With the new hires, it will employ close to 400.

Training received through CWA/NETT Academy gives members a leg up in competing with newly discharged military personnel from the U.S. naval station at nearby Norfolk, recently trained in digital technology.

"Skill sets for this work are more focused on data networking," said Local 2205 Vice President Allison Brown, a customer service associate at the center, who has completed CWA/NETT Academy's Fiber Optics Program — an eight-week course on the fundamentals of fiber technology, through online and hands-on activities. Materials include textbooks and DVDs, so participants can review lectures as needed to acquire greater understanding as their work requires.

Brown is one of the first service reps to receive fiber training, along with about 25 higher-paid network technicians who do higher tier troubleshooting with the field technicians and the central office.

"She wants to move up to an NT job, but it's important for her now to understand customers' and technicians' needs. This is the kind of training the company is looking for," said Kevin Celata, CWA/NETT training administrator.

"The knowledge I've gained in fiber optics helps me solve customers' problems more efficiently and will help me get a higher rating," Brown said.

An efficient rating, coupled with classes in Electronics and Advanced Mathematics — also available through CWA/NETT Academy — will qualify her to become a net tech within a year.

"The company looks to CWA/NETT Academy as a preferred provider of the training needed to move with the company and is quick to approve CWA-negotiated benefits to pay for these courses," Celata said.

Said District 2 Vice President Pete Catucci, "The fact that members can enhance their skills by learning from home, at their own pace, and with training reimbursed by the employer, makes CWA/NETT a valuable program for securing our careers in this rapidly changing industry."

Verizon is already offering or preparing to offer FiOS in parts of Virginia and at least 15 other states: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Texas. The company projects that as FiOS is fully deployed over the next three to five years, four out of five central offices will close. About 100 CWA members have so far taken CWA/NETT's fiber optics training.

Local 2202 member Tim Scarry, a 10-year central office technician for Verizon in Virginia Beach, Va., is taking no chances with his career.

He and several co-workers have received their Fiber Installers certification and are working toward their Fiber Technician and CCNA certifications, all through the CWA/NETT Academy.

"We are in the best position to show the company how we can be the future," Scarry said. He feels that he now has all the makings of an ideal technician for the next 20 years. His advice: "Upgrade now, take your future in your hands, and let's work on keeping our jobs right here."

To learn more about CWA/NETT Academy, visit the website at www.cwanett.org.