Jamuary '08 President's Report

The Union for the Information Age

January 2008 President's Report to the
Executive Board and Membership
Submitted by Malachy Sreenan

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our members a happy and peaceful new year. With the holidays behind us, we can start to look forward to what will undoubtedly be a busy and eventful year. National politics is already hitting fever pitch with the caucuses in Iowa just days away, and many of the issues that are important to working families are front and center in the national debates. The decisions that we make at the caucuses and the voting booths will have far-reaching impact in our workplaces and at bargaining tables over the next decade. I urge all of our members to not only be informed of the candidates’ positions on workers rights, healthcare, outsourcing etc, but to also participate in the process of ensuring the election of labor-friendly candidates, at every level of government, in the 2008 elections.

Qwest has recently committed to joining the fight, alongside the Communications Workers of America, for health care reform. It is not a matter of whether reform will happen, but a matter of when. Unfortunately, it won’t be in time for our next round of bargaining with Qwest in August of this year. Healthcare, for both active employees and retirees, will be the largest obstacle to reaching an agreement, as costs continue to soar. While it may seem daunting, it is certainly far from impossible. It will require the commitment, however, on the part of every single union member to be a part of the solution, to stand strong and stand together, and fight for what we deserve. Are you ready to do your part?

A recent decision from the Washington State Supreme Court held that the drive time from home to the first job for home-garaged employees is compensable time as set forth under the Washington Minimum Wage Act (MWA) 49.46 RCW. As such, technicians working in Washington State that are home garaged (including technicians who intermittently home garage when assigned an access device or pager) will receive payment when traveling from their home (or the location where the vehicle is stored) to their first work assignment. Inversely, technicians will be paid upon their return trip home (or the designated vehicle storage area.)

Although Qwest has made changes going forward to get in compliance with the law, they have made no effort to compensate technicians for their failure to pay appropriately prior to November of this year. CWA Local 7800 has filed grievances on behalf of all technicians who have home-garaged, either regularly or intermittently, over the past two years. We have sent letters to all technicians who may have been impacted as a result of this recent decision. If you would like to be included in this grievance, please complete the questionnaire, which can also be found on the CWA Local 7800 website (www.cwa7800.org), and return it to the Local.

Last Quarter’s CWA Local 7800 newsletter contained a Qwest Bargaining Proposals form, soliciting information and ideas, from members like you, for bargaining proposals to be submitted to the CWA District 7 office for the 2008 negotiations. I would like to thank everyone who took the time to complete the questionnaires and return them to the Local. Our Bargaining Proposals Committee, chaired by Pete Redis, went through the responses and is in the process of compiling the information, which will be presented to Local 7800 members in a meeting on January 18^th, 2008, prior to the submission deadline to the District office in Denver.

The Annoyance Call Bureau in Seattle closed in early December. Work being performed by the Security Assistants in that department was moved to the 911/Security Response Center in Minneapolis. Of the 18 employees impacted by the closure, 12 secured other jobs within the company, mainly SDC positions in the BMG Organization, right here in Seattle. Two people elected Voluntary Separation; three elected to leave with ISPP, and one was involuntarily susplused. I would like to congratulate all of those who were successful in securing alternate positions, and wish them the best as the transition into their new jobs.

There will be a major change for employees enrolled in classes through Pathways. In the past, tuition benefits received by Qwest employees that exceeded the IRS limit of $5,250 were included in an employee’s normal biweekly paycheck. At the time of accounting for the taxable benefit, the taxes associated with the tuition benefits were deducted from an employee’s paychecks. Effective January 1, 2008, Qwest will no longer withhold federal and state taxes associated with taxable tuition benefits that exceed the IRS limit of $5,250. The Company will however continue to withhold the 7.65% FICA tax on the taxable tuition from impacted employees’ paychecks, which may affect their regular net pay.

With this change, the burden of paying federal and state taxes associated with Taxable Tuition becomes the obligation of the employee at the time they file their annual income taxes with the IRS and appropriate State agencies.

There continues to be issues with employees getting approved for Short Term Disability by Qwest Disability Services. There are a few steps that you can to save you from the headache and financial impact of dealing with a denial.

Ensure that you contact your supervisor on the first day of absence to report your disability.

Contact QDS on or before the fourth calendar day, or on the first day of a relapse.

Ensure that your providers send all objective medical documentation to QDS for review no later than the 21^st day of absence. (Objective Medical Documentation should include, but is not limited to: Diagnosis, Treatment Plan, Medications, any Job Restrictions, Chart Notes, and any information that supports the presence of a disabling condition.)

Ensure that you follow the recommended treatment plans from your providers and/or QDS.

A decertification petition was filed by one of the employees at Aronson Security in November. An NLRB election was held at both the Seattle and Spokane locations on December 14^th, 2007. There were nine represented workers between both locations, eight of whom voted in the election. The election resulted in a tied vote, four who wanted to continue to be represented and four who did not. Unfortunately, under current NLRB rules, in order to continue to represent a bargaining unit, the union must receive a majority of votes. As a result, the employees at Aronson Security Group are no longer represented by a union.