July, 2005

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Service Anniversaries, March through August

Friday, July 1st, 2005

Service Anniversaries:

March: Toy Phean 5, John Appelt 5, Jeffrey Carter 5, Michael Williams 5.

April: Jim Belcher 35, Tom Alsup 25, Jim Greiss 25, Yvonne Wiggins 25.

May: Stephen Lampman 25, David Gonzales 5, Michael Eldred 5.

June: Bob Arenburg 35, Phil Byers 30, Lynne Clevenger 30, Ron Jones 25, Thaddeus Parker 5, Roger Quist 5, John Strickler 5.

July: Ann Smith 25, John Deibel 5. August; George Morrow Jr. 25, John Gerasimczyk 25, Mark Fox 25, Wesley Bryde 20, Timothy Harbison 5.

Welcome to new members Shawn Breer and Christian Brennan.

Retirement: Gay DeCamillo

Congratulations to all!

CAFTA Showdown Looms in Congress

Friday, July 1st, 2005

About 100 opponents of the Central American Free Trade Agreement, including CWA headquarters staff, rallied at the U.S. Capitol on June 15, as the House Ways and Means Committee approved the treaty in a “mock” mark-up. Click to continue »

CWA’S Member Relief Fund

Friday, July 1st, 2005

Qwest is a hugely profitable company thanks to your hard work. Although they have a remaining debt load and revenues are not flowing in like they used to. All we want is a fair and equitable contract that provides improvements in wages benefits and other conditions of employment. The National Union’s Strike Fund requires every striker to perform strike duty in order to be eligible for strike benefits. You will be advised of your strike assignment. Picket Captains have been working on getting everyone scheduled for picket duty. If you haven’t been contacted, see a job steward or call the Local. Your Strike Committee Chairperson is Jake Williams. If you are unable to walk a picket line because of a medical problem, we can assign you other duties and need you desperately. Click to continue »

Local Rules Regarding Illness/Death/Flowers

Friday, July 1st, 2005

Local rule 10 of our bylaws and rules reads: Members who are home ill for one or more weeks (5 working days) or hospitalized for three or more days shall receive an appropriate card from the local. In the case of the death of a spouse, a child or parent, the member shall receive flowers or a gift not to exceed $60.00. It is impossible for us to read the crystal ball; we need your help in this endeavor. You are the eyes and ears in the work place. If you know of a member who is ill or suffered a loss, please contact the local so we can respond accordingly. Click to continue »

Health Care Dependant Audit Coming Soon

Friday, July 1st, 2005

Qwest has hired an outside firm, Budco to validate all employee and pre Medicare retiree’s dependants. They claim to find a 9% drop in ineligible dependants on the first phase and a 6% drop on the second. The first audit will be July 13-August 26th, the 2nd audit will be September 21-Dec. 22nd. An ineligible dependent can self report and pay COBRA or drop out. If employees don’t positively report they will be dropped and run the risk of being back billed to January of 2005 for their health care premium. This means we must show proof of birth certificates for children and student verification. We don’t know with certainty what documents will be required for spouses whether it be marriage licenses or proof of tax filings. We will try to get more information as it becomes available.

A special thank you to our outgoing Editor

Friday, July 1st, 2005

Have any of you noticed the credits for editor in the Communicator never mentioned who he or she was. We all recognize this person and understand that he likes to fly below the radar screen. I want to personally take this moment to thank Ron Jones for editing our newsletter so successfully for the last several years. Ron has taken personal time out of his life to make a huge contribution to our local and in the best interest of what we are about. Thanks Ron for helping out. Ron works out of the Trafton- B garage as a Construction Network Technician, a darn good one, and a UPS Grad as well. The secret is out now.

Website and E-Mail Information

Friday, July 1st, 2005

For all you members out there who are really living the technology age and actually use a computer, whether it is at home or at the workplace, get on the www and check out the Local’s website. The address is www.cwalocal7804.org. I’ll bet you didn’t know it’s been there since 1999. That’s right, 1999. Click to continue »

Annual Picnic slated for Sunday August 7th

Friday, July 1st, 2005

Our picnic committee has announced our annual summer picnic will combine with the members of Local 7810 in Olympia again this year. We hope to get better cooperation from the weather man and have a larger participation from our local. Click to continue »

Working Beyond Contract Expiration

Friday, July 1st, 2005

The purpose of a newsletter is to provide specialized information to a targeted audience. YOU! If the union decides to continue to work beyond expiration without a contract to fight for our bargaining objectives, then: Click to continue »

CWA in Bargaining with Qwest

Friday, July 1st, 2005

Bargaining began June 22 in Denver. These rounds of bargaining with Qwest are extremely important to all our members and pre Medicare retirees. Health care is one of the most important issues on the table. We expect the company to take a hard line regarding these issues. We are not interested in higher co-pays or monthly out of pocket premiums. Click to continue »