July 2006 President's Report

The Union for the Information Age

July 2006 President's Report to the
Executive Board and Membership
Submitted by Malachy Sreenan

Local 7800 officers attended the Tri-State meeting in Oregon June 29^th-July1st, 2006. The meeting, included numerous important presentations from Stan Gosch, District 7 Legal Counsel, Chris Kennedy, from the CWA Public & Health Care Workers, and Jeff Safrit, from the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, CWA’s charity of choice. The speakers all shared a lot of information which will be incorporated into our Stewards’ training over the coming months. Carla Floyd also gave updates on Qwest Disability Services, and the status of the dependant verification process. The focus of much of the meeting, however, was what is going on at Qwest, with respect to the roll-out of the new performance standards for the outside forces, namely QJD and CTEP.

The overwhelming feeling of all of the CWA officers in attendance was that we must protect and defend ourselves from any and all arbitrary actions that might be taken by management. There is little doubt that Qwest cannot be managed successfully by numbers and spreadsheets. Lets face it, QJD and any other measurements that focus solely on numbers and statistics are a cop-out. The only thing that it will prove in the long run, is that Qwest has fostered a management team that is either unable or unwilling to truly manage or lead its workforce.

In the meantime, this needs to be addressed at all levels of the union, from the members up to the District 7 office in Denver. During the month of June, Vice President, Bill Haag, AVP, Candi Thiesen, and I met with technicians at the Lake City, 1^st Avenue and Airport Way garages. We distributed paperwork and asked that all technicians keep a log of their daily activities, especially any circumstances which may appear out of the ordinary. This will be our first line of defense, if we are called in to investigatory or disciplinary meetings as a result of QJD or CTEP. Keeping a log of daily activities has already helped technicians in Washington and other states throughout the District in defending against unwarranted and unjust discipline. It is a pain, and it is sad that we have to resort to such measures, however, it is the best line of defense in proving that Qwest work is Qwest work regardless of how management chooses to measure it.

We also asked that technicians who receive documented discussions or disciplinary action, as a result of performance measurements, force management to draw up a plan on how they are going to help them attain satisfactory performance. The plan should be detailed and show step by step how management is going to help them be successful. We will then be holding management accountable for doing their job. The Local will be filing grievances on all discipline and documented discussions that are issued to our members. If you are called into any meeting which you believe could lead to discipline, you should always request a steward. This will help in defending against any arbitrary actions, and will also expedite the grievance filing process. If no steward was present in your meeting, then please contact your steward, Area Vice President or the Local office as soon as possible, so that we can begin the grievance process.

The Consumer Markets Scheduling Advisory Team continues to meet and discuss issues around scheduling in the Consumer Centers. Flex Time and Schedule Change policies have been instituted in all centers. Similar policies have also been instituted for Consultants in initial training. A trial on fixed schedules is also under way, which will hopefully result in much needed relief for employees with regards to the fluctuating start times which have been in place for the last few years. There are also plans to offer part-time hours to those holding the SC, CSA and CSSA titles as well as hiring into part-time for the CSA and CSSA vacancies. The plan is to staff enough part-time employees in shifts that include Saturdays and off-peak hours to eliminate mandatory Saturday's and reduce mandatory over-time.

On June 14, 2006, CWA Local 7800, along with Jane Nishita, Community Affairs Director for Washington State, Qwest, and Donna Casky, Senior Account Executive, Qwest, had the pleasure of presenting a check for $3,645 to the Children’s Home Society of Washington. The Children's Home Society of Washington has served Washington State's children and families for more than 100 years through adoption support services, family support and parent education, early childhood development, school-based services, advocacy, counseling and out-of-home care.

The Family and Work Development Fund was created during 1995 bargaining and is a provision of the CWA/Qwest Collective Bargaining Agreement (Addendum 4). The current CBA stipulates that Qwest will make available one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) per year for the purpose of funding family care programs to address the evolving needs of employees represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) throughout the fourteen (14) state region for Qwest and Qwest Business Resources, Inc. (BRI).

The Children’s Home Society of Washington received this check as a result of a Qwest employee, Donna Casky, who also volunteers with the organization, sending a request for funding to the Family and Work Development Board. If you know of an organization in your area and/or community that could benefit from the fund, please forward a request to the Board for review.

Local 7800 union members and Qwest management teamed up again this year for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation RACE FOR THE CURE, and were among the 15,000 participants who raised $1.5 million in the Puget Sound area. The race was held on Saturday, June 17th at Qwest Field and Event Center in Seattle. What distinguishes the Race for the Cure from other breast cancer events is that 75% of net proceeds from the event stays in the Western Washington to fund breast cancer education, screening, and treatment support programs. The remaining 25% of net proceeds are invested in the Komen Research Grant program, which funds cutting edge breast cancer research around the world. I would like to personally thank Local 7800 members Joan O Malley, Terry Thompson and Diana Williams for all of their hard work and dedication in making CWA and Qwest an important part of this event, and for helping to raise both money and awareness for this important cause.

CWA Local 7800 also took part in the Gay Pride Parade again this year. Taking part in the parade each year highlights CWA’s commitment to ensuring that all of our members are able to work in workplaces free from discrimination. We marched from Westlake Center along Fourth Avenue, with other labor organizations, and concluded the day with celebrations and speeches at the Seattle Center. I would like to thank Naiela Long and Michael Lynch, Co-Chairs of the Local 7800 Equity Committee, for all of their hard work in making