September President's Report

The Union for the Information Age

September 2007 President's Report to the
Executive Board and Membership
Submitted by Malachy Sreenan

It is hard to believe that in less than a year the current Qwest contract will have expired. There should be no doubt in anybody’s mind that, over the next year, we will be in for the fight of our lives. With the number of retirees surpassing the number of occupational employees, and the skyrocketing cost of healthcare in this country, the major hurdle to any agreement next year is going to be healthcare benefits. CWA Local 7800 kicked off what will be a series of monthly mobilizations on Monday August 20, 2007. In addition to advising members that contract expiration was just a year away, we disseminated helpful information and ideas about how to be prepared should we need to go on strike. Over the next 12 months there will be a series of mobilizations focusing on different aspects of the bargaining process, including how the bargaining process works and the Letter of Agreement on Retiree Healthcare on page 154 of the current contract. I would advise all members to take a look at the letter and understand what it says and the impact that it will have on next year’s negotiations; it will be one of the major topics of discussion over the next several months.

The CWA Qwest Bargaining Committee was elected at the 2007 Convention in Toronto. The Committee consists of Suzie Miller and I. both of whom served on the 2005 Bargaining Committee. Suzie is an Assignment Consultant from Denver. In addition, Ken Saether, a Network Technician from Eugene, Oregon, and Kent Anderson, a retired Network Technician from Salt Lake City, Utah, will serve on the Committee, which will begin bargaining in June 2009. CWA District 7 Bargaining Agent, Reed Roberts, will serve as the Union Chairperson, and Jay Boyle, who served on the 2003 Qwest Bargaining Committee, will serve as Union Co-Chair. The Committee met for the first time in Denver from August 27^th through 30^th, 2007, to begin preparing for the talks.

On September 5^th, 2007, Qwest announced that it would be closing the Seattle Annoyance Call Bureau effective December 4^th of this year. The closure will impact 18 members. Citing a reduction in workload and a need to combine resources, the Company stated that the center will be downsizing and moving to Minnesota; there will be opportunities for 8 employees to follow their work. Remaining employees will be seeking employment in other centers here in Seattle, including the BMG Organization which currently has 8 SDC openings, and the Collections Center. For anyone who is interested in leaving the business through E-VSPP, and therefore saving one of the ACB employees from being involuntarily surplused, please ensure that you have completed an E-VSPP show of interest form and filed it with staffing.

Much of August was spent dealing with issues in the LNO Organization of Qwest. I know that we have talked, at length, about technicians keeping logs of their daily activities. It is more important than ever that we start to compile and maintain these logs. In many of the investigatory meetings that the Company held, they had reams of documentation on a technician’s activities from months prior. This information was gathered from GPS, WAFA, and a new tool that the Company has started to use, the Supervisory Analysis Tool. This new tool combines the information from GPS and WAFA and makes it easier for management to track if and when technicians are out of route. Now, we all know that this information is not always accurate; hence the need for technicians to have their daily logs in order to effectively dispute whatever accusations the Company may be making. The Company has also input the home addresses for all technicians into GPS, so that they are aware if a technician goes home during their shift. Be aware that the Company has this information and is reviewing it on a daily basis. In the meantime, be where you are supposed to be, and don’t go to coffee straight out of the garage.

On September 5^th, 2007 the Shuttle Dispatchers and Drivers at MV Transportation voted to reject the tentative agreement that had been reached. Despite a $3 per hour increase over the life of the 3-year contract and many other non-economic contractual improvements, members voted by a large majority of 73 to 22 to reject the proposed agreement. The CWA MV Bargaining Committee will be going back to the table to try to hammer out an agreement that the members are willing to ratify. In the meantime, we will be stepping up contingency plans for strike preparedness should we be unable to reach an equitable agreement.

CWA’s Ready for the Future strategic plan, adopted at the 2006 Convention, called for recruiting 25,000 activists by this summer and 50,000 by 2009, as frontline mobilizers in the critical fights for jobs, health care, retirement security and bargaining rights. The goal for each local is to have 10% of their membership taking active roles in addressing these issues. CWA Local 7800 has made great strides in recruiting active stewards, committee members and people willing to volunteer their time for community and political activities. We have not quite reached our goal yet, however, of attaining 10%. If you are willing to participate in any grassroots union activities that help us win our major strategic goals, please call the CWA Local 7800 office at (206) 441-7800 Ext. 104 or email malachys@cwa7800.org.

As the 2008 election approaches, there is no doubt that we are poised on the edge of an historic moment. If we elect officials in Washington who share our values, 2008 can be the beginning of a dramatic turn away from the anti-worker policies that have dominated our country for the last eight years. We must expand the labor-friendly majority in the house, elect additional friends to the U.S. Senate and, most importantly, elect a President who is on our side.

Over the next year we will be asking members to step up and become more politically active. As I have reported out many times in the past, any gains that we achieve at the bargaining table can be wiped away with the stroke of a President’s, or even a State Governor’s, pen. We have seen this in the recent past with the repeal of workplace ergonomic standards; multiple attempts to limit collective bargaining rights and overtime; and the current President’s crusade to privatize social security. For those who may have believed that unions should not be involved in politics, the past few years have proven that it is not only prudent, but essential, that workers have a voice in legislation that will impact them directly in the workplace.

CWA Local 7800 will also be seeking assistance from members with regards to volunteering for labor-to-neighbor, phone-banking and donations to COPE, CWA’s Committee on Political Education. We will be asking for a little something extra this year. Instead of $1 a week, for the big push in 2008, we ask you to please consider contributing $2 a week and make it $8(per month) for ’08. If everyone does just a little, we can make a huge difference in the lives of all working families in America.