July/August 2006 Newsletter

 

President's Corner

The summer has been busy and rapidly seeming to vanish already. I have attended the Tri-state meeting in Oregon in June and the national convention in July. The nature of our great union is currently going through change and will continue in that direction for the years to come.

We face ever changing issues with our employers, surrounding performance expectations, job security, outsourcing or off shoring of our work, healthcare and pensions to name a few. (Jan.1, 2006 Jeff Rechenbach CWA Exec. VP) "We see some of the richest corporations eliminating defined benefit pensions and slashing health benefits wherever they can. For example one of our largest employers, Verizon recently froze pensions and cut health care for tens of thousands of management and unrepresented workers. We see other corporations like US Airways and United Airlines taking advantage of bankruptcy laws to shed their pension and retiree health care obligations. Now, Delphi is seeking dramatic wage and benefit cuts for IUE-CWA members and others through the bankruptcy route".

CWA has just ended a 10 month project of discussions, and planning, by voting in a 10 point plan to strengthen bargaining power, expand and increase funding for effective political action, tap the potential of as many as 800,000 retirees through a retiree activist network, and expand organizing beyond the current 10 percent commitment in place prior to the 2006 convention. This is a bold strategic plan that includes the creation of a new Strategic Industry Fund to support campaigns to change employer's anti -union behavior and changes in public policy on issues such as trade and health care that effect working families. Offense, not defense is the point of the Strategic Industry Fund. It will give us the means for major, long range action programs to change the terms of engagement with our employers Members of 7804 face these same issues in the workplace. Our retirees have and will continue to face their benefit and healthcare issues. We can not idly sit back and hope everything will take care of itself.

In case you hadn't figured it out yet, we are at war with our employers every day in the workplace. It is time to remind all of our members it is time to take the workplace back. We control the work, we control the workplace floor! We can strive to achieve the 10 point program adopted at convention. A key provision creates a trained and motivated army of stewards and activists, 50,000 strong, who will be ready to defend workers' workplace interests and join with activists in other unions to build a movement for fundamental change. Thanks for all you do, both active and retired members.

In solidarity, Randy Grams President.

  		 

Stories in this issue:

Newsletter Moving to Electronic Issue Only Via the Website and E-Mail Notification

Dwindling membership and rising costs to do business has given us reason to plan to go to an all electronic issue of the publication. Currently our website has a link to sign up to receive notification of the newest version of the newsletter. It is easy to sign up for. On the homepage of our website; www.cwalocal7804.org, click on the link for PDF version of the newsletter. It will take you to a sign in box. Simply fill in the box with your name and your e-mail address. You will be automatically notified when the newest version is available. All you have to do is click on the link and it will download for your perusal. It will come in Adobe Acrobat form so you will need to have that as well.

Also at your disposal is a searchable archive of all newsletters ever posted on our website. Note too that you can have the top stories "pushed" to you via our RSS feed. For more information on this, see our What is RSS/XML page.

For your information, there is a location at the bottom left portion of the main website homepage, where you can sign up to receive e-mail from the local. This was a very valuable tool during bargaining last summer with Qwest. This is a useful and expeditious tool. If you have internet access, I encourage each of you to plug in and sign up to receive both the newsletter updates and the broadcast e-mail system. We will consider mailing courtesy editions for those who request, however, we will eventually be abandoning mass mailings. This system is quick, convenient, and part of the electronic age.

CWA RETIRED MEMBERS COUNCIL

The CWA Retired Members' Council is a serious organization that focuses the accumlated skills of CWA veterans on the critical issues facing retirees. It has the expertise to help insure that retirees have input into key retiree matters as they are shaped by former employers and public policy dedision-makers. The RMC works to safeguard and enhance your retirement years in many ways.

  • By monitoring company/agency pension policies
  • By tracking national and state legislation affecting retirees.
  • By presenting retiree concerns to Bargaining Councils in their negotiations.
  • By keeping you in the loop through informative emails, the newsletter, Journeys, and the bi-monthly Retirees Matter column in the CWA News.

Structure

The council is made up of Local retiree chapters as well as district-wide chapters for retired members whose Local does not yet have a chapter. Each year in conjunction with the CWA Convention, the Council holds an Annual Membership Meeting where delegates from the chapters gather to discuss retiree concerns. The Council's Executive Board is comprised of a president and vice president from each of the Union's eight regional districts and a merger-partner sector president and vice president. Each of the nine District/Sector presidents is a delegate to the CWA Convention, representing retiree interests with a voice and vote.

Membership

Anyone who retired as a member in good standing from CWA or its merger-partners is eligible for membership in any RMC chapter. Currently, there is no retiree chapter in our local, we are looking for interest to begin one. As an RMC member, you may participate in the CWA Union Privilege Programs which includes a no annual fee credit card, and discounted fees for legal assistance, low cost mail order prescription plan, travel service,and supplemental term life insurance. Go to www.unionprivilege.org for more information.

Political Action Network

To paraphrase the distinguished Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, "The stakes are far too high for government and bargaining to be a spectator sport." That is why the Political Action Network was created. Retirees need to be involved in political action and contract mobilization to be sure our issues are heard. Action Network members work along side active members in such things as phone-banking, letter writing, demonstrations and doing whatever it takes to negotiate good contracts, elect good candidates, and enact good public policy.

Phyllis Dionne, a retired member and current Secretary of Local 7810 in Olympia is a member of the Retiree Health Care Committee organized and supported by District 7. She helps to deal with issues related to Retiree Health care and can be a resource for our retired members. Should you wish contact information please inquire through the local.

CWA Local 7804 is looking for a show of interest to start an RMC, or Retired Members Council chapter of our own.

Shortly after this newsletter is published, a private mailing will go out from me. This mailing will be directed to retirees whose names are currently in the database kept in our office. This data base is not complete, as some of these records were lost approximately 7 years ago. We currently have a database of approximately 120 retirees. If you do not receive this mailing please contact the local to update your mailing address/e-mail address. We would also ask for people to indicate there commitment if interested in heading up this council. CWA Local 7804 can be reached @ 253-572-7804 or e-mail cwalocal@msn.com.

Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you and your interests.

Randy Grams, President.

New Position for Secretary Treasurer

Secretary Treasurer Jake Williams has recently been appointed to represent the CWA Washington North Idaho Council as a lobbyist. He will join fellow lobbyist Gail Love from Local 7810 in Olympia.

Jake's first assignment will be attending the Washington State Labor Council Convention in Wenatchee August 21st with Gail, and Kevin Lathrop also from our local, 7804. This will be a constitutional convention, where the council will make policy.

As a lobbyist, Jake will be spending time in Olympia while the lawmakers are in session and meeting with them to pursue our interests. Jake and Kevin have both been active in the business of this local for the past several years, and represent our members well.

Jake has been a CWA convention delegate three times, and has just returned from the CWA national convention in Las Vegas. He has also contributed ideas and tools that have been adopted by District 7 Staff surrounding QJD, CTEP at Qwest, and how we can combat these issues.

Should you have issues that you would like Jake to pursue with the state legislature please contact him. He reports to the Trafton-A garage, and can be contacted through the local.

Thank you.

Randy Grams, President

Association of Flight Attendants AFA-CWA

After a week of intense bargaining and a final marathon session, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA) and Northwest Airlines reached a new tentative agreement early July 17, 2006. Negotiators reached the agreement in time to avoid rejection of the existing flight attendant contract, as had been authorized by the bankruptcy court. "With the airline in bankruptcy, this deal was always going to be about survival," said Mollie Reiley, Northwest Interim Master Executive council (MEC) President. "We left no stone unturned and have made a significant difference together, but this is not a day that we celebrate. We have an agreement that will give flight attendants hope for the future and one that allows us to fight another day."

For over 60 years, the Association of Flight Attendants has been serving as the voice for flight attendants in the work place, in the aviation industry, in the media and on Capitol Hill. More than 55,000 flight attendants, including 9,200 at Northwest, come together to form AFA-CWA, the world's largest flight attendant union. AFA is part of the 700,000-member strong Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO. Visit them at www.nwaafa.org.

"PATHWAYS TO THE FUTURE"
A Great Education Opportunity for Qwest Members

The purpose of PATHWAYS is to promote life long learning through educational opportunities which meet individual needs, provide personal and career choices, and create a flexible and skilled workforce so that the employees, the Company and the Union are prepared to fully participate in a changing and diverse marketplace. PATHWAYS To the Future is an educational benefit program for employees to use for education and training outside their current job. All Regular Full-Time and Regular Part-Time employees with a minimum of six (6) months Term of employment (TOE) will be eligible to participate in PATHWAYS.

PATHWAYS-provided education and training will be separate and distinguished from an employee's current job specific training. PATHWAYS-sponsored education provides for education and training for skills not expected or required in the employee's current job. Participation in the program is voluntary and is on the employee's own time. Local 7804 is currently working with a vendor of interest to provide suit cased training for our members. Brochures and show of interest sheets are currently circulating in the workplace.

Our PATHWAYS coordinator is Anne Smith who is a Central Office Technician at the Waverly 2 Central Office. She can be reached at 253-597-5570 for information, questions, and guidance on how to apply for a letter of credit, etc.. Visit the PATHWAYS website by going to this address; https://www.qwesttuition.com/Login.aspx . We need only 6 or 8 people signed up to bring a class in. Please give Ann your show of interest right away so we can get it scheduled.

Quality Jobs per Day (QJD), Construction Technician Enhancement Program, (CTEP) ,Central Office Quality and Efficiency (CQUE)

These programs are created by staff personnel at Qwest in order to remove people from the headcount. I can't make this any plainer for you. Our jobs are under attack. Our working conditions are under attack. The company tries to control the work; however we know they are doing a bad job of it

Techs need to keep a notebook to track what they do during the day. It is important that you write down what you are doing on every job and between jobs. If for any reason you are out of route you could be disciplined and without your notes explaining the reason for being out of route, the only documentation will be the company's such as GPS and orders.

Things to Document:

  1. Late out of the garage in the morning, call the manager and let them know and then document what you said and what the manager said and the reason for being late out of the garage
  2. Take notes on what the manager tells you in the morning before work or during work.
  3. Keep notes on safety meetings.
  4. Keep notes when you are out of work and ask the supervisor to find work for you.
  5. If you leave the garage and then pull in to a parking lot to make calls to the customer, document it and keep it in your notebook. (Do not leave your notebook at work)
  6. If for any reason you are out of route document it and call your supervisor for permission and document it.

This local intends to grieve every instance or action taken by the company, documented discussions, written warnings, and warnings of dismissal. We need your help as a member in order to represent you.

Remember, the company has the burden of proof. It is your responsibility to maintain the facts on your behalf. That will give the union a basis for the argument. The notes taken by you are critical, should you be interrogated, dismissed, suspended, or worse, terminated.

Investigatory Interviews

We have made this information available numerous times, but it is good to reiterate it again. Know your rights! The rights of employees to have a union steward present during an investigatory interview were decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1975 in the NLRB vs. J. Weingarten Inc.

An investigatory interview occurs when a supervisor questions an employee to obtain information which could be used as the basis for discipline or when the employee is asked to defend his or her conduct.

Weingarten Rights:

The employee must make a clear request for union representation before or during the interview. The employee cannot be punished for this request. After the employee makes the request, the employer must either: grant the request and delay questioning until the union representative arrives and has a chance to consult privately with the employee. Or deny the request and end the interview immediately. Or Give the employee a choice of either (1) having the interview without representation or (2) ending the interview.

If the employer denies the request for union representation and continues to ask questions, it commits an unfair labor practice and the employee has a right to refuse to answer.

Before going in to a meeting with management you should ask "CAN I BE DISCIPLINED FOR ANYTHING I SAY IN THIS MEETING?" If management tells you that a steward is not needed or refuses to stop a meeting, consult a steward immediately after the meeting.

The old adage, a day's work for a day's pay continues to be a useful slogan. Workers have an intimate connection to the work we perform. Management must recognize this. We know the company has not sought input from us before implementing these plans. This employer has failed to discover the day to day glitches.

Randy Grams, Pres

Service Anniversaries and Retirements

July:  Teresa Bradford 35, Troy Rush 10, Bryan Mittge 10, Kenneth Ward 10, David Schott 10, Scott Ljunggren 5, Tanya Ramseth 5, Adam Vannoy 5.

August: George Kinney 25, Laumea Vee 10, Kevin Ring 5.

Retirements: Phil Beyers Central Office Tech Qwest, 31 years. David Parker Customer Service Tech Qwest, 36 years..

Congratulations to all and best of luck!

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