July/August 2003 Newsletter

 

The President’s Corner
by Clay Bowlby

Qwest and the “Criminal Factor”

(Article by John Thompson, District 7 Vice President)

Last night during a conference call with Locals I listened with interest when two women, one from Omaha and one from Medford, voiced their concerns about the impact of co-pay increases in the Health Plan. One went on to say that it was criminal of Qwest to make those changes. I have thought long and hard about her comments and have come to the following conclusion: Qwest is not the criminal in this situation.

Now before one jumps to any conclusions about that statement, I wish to preface this with one fact, “I have no love for corporate America.” I think many companies and CEO’s would stick it to workers whenever and however they could. It is no secret that we are paying the price for U S West’s and Qwest’s prior indiscretions led by Sol Trujillo and Joe Nacchio. It would do my heart good to see Nacchio sitting in a jail cell instead of an estate paid for by the sweat of the people CWA works hard to represent. His lack of leadership put Qwest in its current situation, which by last account is still 20 plus billion dollars in debt. The interest payment alone on that amount of money makes my heard spin. No CWA represented workers put Qwest in the situation it is in today. I believe everyone deserves a pay raise and a pension increase. Unfortunately, the cold, hard fact is that Qwest can’t afford to pay any more at this time. Yes, we could have bargained the Company into bankruptcy, but then we would have some bankruptcy judge deciding what is and what isn’t important. I have seen how that has impacted other workers and it is not something I want to experience or see again.

The cost of providing health care to Qwest active employees (management and occupational) and retirees is approaching 750 million dollars, and managers pay 20% of their premium plus paying co-insurance when they use the plan. The cost has doubled in the last five years and there is no end in sight. So now Qwest wants and we have agreed to have employees pay for more when they go to the hospital, see the doctor and fill prescriptions. These are changes that we do not want to see but must recognize as absolutely necessary at this point in time.

 		  

Stories in this issue:

Does this make Qwest criminal? I think not, What is criminal is that we live in the richest country in the world and we have almost 50 million people who don’t have any health care. We have employers who do not provide health care for their employees, or if they do the employees have to pay to cover their families. So who pays for their health care when the uninsured do go to the hospital or the doctor? Qwest and any other employer who pays for health insurance are required to pay higher rates to cover uninsured people. That is today’s reality. If we don’t have a major change in how health care is delivered in this country in the next two years, we will face a bigger challenge than we already have in 2003.

Many members are often frustrated and question the Union’s political activity. This is a prime reason why we are involved and work to support candidates who support workers. Keep this in mind as you go to the polls in the next few years. Electing politicians who support health care reform could be the best and healthiest gift you ever gave to yourself

In unionism,
Clay Bowlby
Pres. C.W.A. Local 7804

Secretary’s Report

By Randy Grams

Denied Paid Overtime

You deserve to be paid fairly for your work, including overtime hours.

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act requires that employees, unless specifically exempted—such as managers, certain sales employees and professionals—must be paid overtime if they work more than 40 hours in a week. The overtime rate must be one-and-one-half times your normal rate of pay. The FLSA also prohibits the overtime requirement from being waved, even by agreement of the employer and employee. Or more simply put, it is illegal for your boss to force or intimidate you into giving up your overtime pay, although a recent Supreme Court decision limited this condition for government employees. This holds true for managers that entice you to off shift for out of hours work in lieu of paying overtime. This is wrong, violates the contract, and federal law.

The overtime law is enforced by the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor. Your employer can be criminally charged for violating the overtime provisions of the FLSA, and it also is illegal for your employer to fire or discriminate against you for filing a complaint about an FLSA overtime violation.

Remember: The best way to protect your rights at work is to gain a voice on the job by knowing your contract and participating in your union!

Know your contract. The Qwest contract has language specific to overtime; contiguous to shift, scheduled, callouts, 40 hour premium and 49 hour premium. It is also specific as to holiday pay and personal days. Vacation days, ETN, UAN do not compute towards 40 and 49 hour premiums. Personal Days do compute towards 40 and 49 hours premium. Premium time is only paid for hours worked beyond 40. Again, know your contract! If you have questions around any of this please call me or another officer.

Randy Grams, Secretary-Treasurer

Thoughts on the New Contract

By Jake Williams

As of the writing of this article, CWA and Qwest Communications had reached a tentative agreement. If the agreement is ratified, there a couple of things that I would like to remind everyone. It is no secret that the new contract will be like no contract that we have seen before.

The increase in co-pays on prescriptions and no pay raises are both tough to swallow. We also know that the current state of the company is not from one Union Employee. Upper Management has put Qwest where it is today, and has cost us all an unthinkable amount. So it is easy to say we are making huge sacrifices.

The new agreement is good for 2 years, that’s only 24 months. With the sacrifices that we are making today, in 2 years we need to go after what we gave back to help save the Company. Everyone needs to keep their Strike Fund up and growing, cause I have a funny feeling it might not be Qwest Communications that we will be bargaining with.

If we would have walked out on strike this time, I firmly believe we would have killed the company. But two years is not a long time, and when this agreement is up we all need to be strong and ready. In my eyes this contract gave every member in Local 7804, 24 more months to be ready.

In 2 years, when Qwest predicts that the company will be in better shape, it will be time to pay back to the union members for what we have sacrificed today. The message is, be happy and thankful for where we are now, but never forget where we need to be, 2 years is right around the corner.

In Solidarity, Jake Williams

House Votes Down Bill to Protect Overtime Pay

July 11—The House voted 213-210 yesterday against a legislative amendment authored by Congress David Obey (D-Wis.) and George Miller (D-Calif.) that would have blocked changes proposed by the Bush administration to take away overtime pay rights for millions of American workers. The Senate is expected to vote on the same measure within the next two weeks. Under the Bush proposal, workers including police officers, nurses, store supervisors and many other workers, would face unpredictable work schedules and reduced pay because of an increased demand for extra hours for which employers would not have to compensate workers, according to an Economic Policy Institute report released June 26.

(Article from AFL-CIO website.)

Secretary’s note: If proposed federal changes to overtime pay go through, workers in Washington state still would enjoy many of their current protections because they’re mirrored in state law. Although the changes wouldn’t nullify overtime arrangements negotiated in union contracts, labor leaders at the Washington State Labor Council expect a new assault on the state’s laws and regulations. This will set labor unions up for new rounds of court cases that will decide how our state law is going to be interpreted.

A bill that would have eliminated the state’s overtime law in favor of the federal standards passed the Republican-controlled state Senate this year, but died in the Democratic House.

Why the Food Connection?

Because....

We’re dealing here with poverty and it’s last stages. Before and after happiness, with or without wages.

We’re dealing here with families that have been abused. We’re dealing with prisoners who’ve never been accused.

Respect, self respect and a little food, I think that’s what they need now and I think it’ll do some good.;

Time or money, food or clothes, we all have something to give. So join on in and help us, to better the way they live.

D L Gibson Long.
The Food Connection 1323 South Yakima Avenue (south side of building).
Serving Tacoma/Pierce County since 1982.

We are trying to collect enough of specific food items to run for an entire week at a time. This will allow us to put items together that meals can be made from rather than items being distributed arbitrarily.

That being said here are the items: July—Peanut butter August—Powder Milk September—Canned Meats.

Thanks again for all you support and remember if you wish to donate more than the months’ item you can refer to the list below:
Baby food; baby formula;: canned fruit; canned vegetables; stew; soup; juice; Tuna; chili; pork & beans; peanut butter; rice; dry bean; mac & cheese; canned milk; ramen; instant potatoes; sugar; baking mix; pasta; tomato sauce.

CWA Local 7804 will gladly accept donations at the picnic or the next membership meeting to support this worthwhile cause. Thank you.

We Want to Hear from You

In an attempt to keep up with the cultural changes wrought by technological progress, the COMMUNICATOR staff would like to offer an alternative to a mailing of the monthly newsletter by giving our Local members the opportunity to view it on-line. If you would prefer this method of delivery, please log in to the Local’s website, go to the Members area and fill in the form. Next month you will be e-mailed when the COMMUNICATOR is on-line for viewing. We think this can make the newsletter more effective, build a sense of community, be more interactive and immediate, as well as saving some trees. Please join us in this effort……..we think it has great possibilities for all of us……..let us know today. Thanks.

Good and Welfare:

Anniversaries: JULY: Dan Riddle, 35 years; Reggie Zimmerman, 35; Don Schmidt, 35; Jim Scott, 30; Kevin Smith, 25; James Armstrong, 25; Chris Augustin, 5; Jo Ray, 5. AUGUST: Cheryl Dallum, 35; Cheryl Tomlin, 25; Eric Kinney, 5; Derek Berheim, 5.

Retirees: Jim Ensey (Qwest).

 

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