'07 Executive Vice President's Report

The Union for the Information Age

September 2007 Executive Vice-President's Report
by Stan Wylie, Vice President

I attended 3rd year of leadership school with Terry Mitchell last week it was very educational and I hope to share what I learned very soon with the rest of the stewards. It was a very intense training and lasted close to 12 hours each day. There was a lot of training on three of the CWA campaigns Speed Matters, Employee Free Choice Act, and my favorite, Health Care.

I could talk about grievances, QJD, etc… but considering we celebrated Labor Day I think it is appropriate to reflect on what that means to us as Union Members.

As we start the month of September, we Celebrate Labor Day. I like to take the day and reflect a bit on the history of Labor Unions. It is important to remember where we came from and why we are here. The reasons why Labor unions came into existence back in the 1800’s is clear. Primarily, these folks figured out that there is strength in numbers. They also figured out that employers really did not care about employees. It was basically common back then to work 12 hours 7 days a week. Employers also figured out they could employ children for less wages then adults and did so with regular fashion. Employers also had little concern, if any, regarding the safety of the employees.

These folks had little power until unions were formed. In the beginning going on strike was treated like civil unrest and employers would bring in armed guards or the National Guard to break the strikes. People would die.

In 1884, at The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions convention. they passed a resolution for an 8 hour work day. Over many years of struggle, dozens died and hundreds were injured while fighting for the 8 hour day. Some advancements were made during those struggles, the passage of a 10 hour work day in 1916 for one, but it was not until the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 passed mandating a 40 hour work week by 1940 that they could finally claim victory some 50 plus years later. Imagine that, a 50 year struggle just to have a work day defined to 8 hours.

The growth in union strength of both the AFL and CIO throughout the 1930’s also led to passage of a number of national social programs long advocated by the labor movement. The social security program, unemployment compensation, workers' compensation, and a federal minimum wage-hour law to name a few.

Now over 100 years later we continue to fight and struggle with our employers and unfortunately our government. Both of them continue to want to strip away the gains we have made in the last century regarding our benefits and our rights. It is important now for every worker to stand up get involved and take action. Our benefits we have today as well as our contracts are under attack and the only way to preserve those gains is to take a stand and fight back. Like the early pioneers in the labor movement figured out a long time ago there is strength in numbers. But that will only happen if the voices of the many speak up.

Many of our Qwest members are quite content they make a decent wage have a good healthcare plan, pension, and 401K. What is there not to be happy about? Plenty!! We have those things because our union fought hard for those things and went on strike several times to preserve them. As we progress through the next 12 months all of it will be on the table as we negotiate a new contract. The biggest most impacting issue will be health care. We saw last month with Swedish that the health care we have taken for granted may not be there tomorrow. Sure we will still have insurance but if good quality health care providers will not accept it then is our health care as good today as it was yesterday? It is funny that while Swedish was trying to negotiate a fair contract with United Healthcare the CEO was paid over 120 million for 2005 alone. Seems to me some of that could of went towards a fair contract.

While our health care is at risk our retiree’s are at a bigger risk. The company made a promise to them and it is up to us and in our best interest to hold them to it. It is unfortunate though that company’s will continue to attack the most vulnerable. In 1988, 66% of employers offered health benefits to retirees. Today, that number has dropped to 33%. Corporations will continue to say, ”Health care is a huge expense we can’t afford it to remain competitive". I could almost accept that except these companies are doing nothing to change the way health care is delivered in this country. It seems easier for them just to cut it.

So again where does that lead us? It leads us right back to the labor unions. We are the people who are going to take a stand we are the people who are going to fight we are the people who will bring positive change for working people. I ask you to help. Find a cause you like get involved and let your voice be heard.