Well it has been one year since the C.W.A. strike against US WEST, so I thought it would be appropriate to take a minute and think back about all of the changes since the work stoppage. I must admit that to me it seems the company treated us with more respect during the strike than they have since we returned to work.
Upon returning to work last fall we were not greeted with open arms and welcomed back, but instead with working managers and new contractors. The contractors for the most part are still in place, being used to lower the amount of overtime available to regular employees, thus limiting our earning power. When news that the contract had been rarified, the company took a tough new tact with the union by refusing to bargain on any local agreements. Instead they used the tactic of stalling and grievances to deny entitlements that we believe are spelled out in the contract and in the intent of bargaining. This is how they have implemented unfavorable vacation and Saturday schedules for example. So now while you are working more weekends, you probably are working them for straight time.
Over the last year we have had the pleasure of the constant propaganda emitting from the direction of Denver telling us a variety of half truths, and overstatements. For example "The strike has had little effect on the day to day operation of the company, because we are so highly mechanized". Or how about the promise of tools, trucks and training? Or best of all, "Tech-load is making our employees more efficient and we are getting more work done." In reality the company is telling the state utilities commissions that we haven't recovered from the strike, we have employees driving around in rental vans, and Tech-load works now better today than the day they rolled it out and proclaimed it a success.
Keeping all of this honesty in mind, we are about to get a first hand look at the program that Sol and the boys wanted so badly last year that they were willing to take the company out on strike. This was the single most contentious issue during bargaining last year and it is called the Employee Compensation Plan (E.C.P). Now if you believe that the company has been honest and fair to you, if you believe that all of the changes they have been implemented regardless of how they affected you and your family are good and if you believe that all of the programs that we are struggling with are for the good of the company, its customers, and its employees, then en #1 I have some waterfront property in Nebraska that I would like to sell you. And, #2, you should immediately sign up for E.C.P. On the other hand if you have qualms about management's intentions with this plan and their ability to manage a plan that puts the money in your pocket, then I would suggest that you stay in the bargained for wage scale program.
I personally don't want to be in a program that the company has the right to change the rules when they decide to without consulting me, the wage earner. But, regardless of what I think or what the company tells you, I would encourage all employees to get as much information as possible before making a commitment on this program. Remember, it is your wallet that US WEST wishes to play with, and you will have to live the consequences.
In Unionism, Clay Bowlby
by Randy Grams Ex.-Board
Union leaders from District 7 and locals from Oregon, Washington, and Idaho met in Seaside, Oregon August 18 and 19.
Newly elected Vice President of District 7, John Thompson was introduced to the delegates for the kickoff session Thursday morning. He shared information about the state of District 7, regarding US West as well as the Qwest proposed merger. Nothing is in concrete at this point. Regulatory hurdles will be there. Other players (corporations) may become involved.
Also attending were Pres. Dick Godwin, E-Bd. members Kevin Lathrop, and Jake Williams. Workshops regarding organizing of TCI/TCG, arbitration update(s) and trends by Dist. 7 Counsel, Regulatory/Legislative issues, and bargaining unit meetings were held to finish off the conference. Former member (ret'd) Nancy Maynard sends her love to all, we had a nice visit with her while in Seaside, her home now. A large thanks for sending us!
Each of us can help put an end to the truly outrageous scandal that has become known far and wide as the Saipan Scam.
The scam: More that $1 billion a year in clothing is shipped in to the US from Saipan, in the US Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Most of it is made of foreign-made cloth in foreign-owned factories by thousands of indentured foreign workers, most of them from China. And, thanks to loopholes in current US law, this clothing is able to carry the "Made in USA" label, and enters the US duty free, at a cost to taxpayers estimated at $200 million a year.
This and more has been reported time and again in TV magazine broadcasts, most notably ABC'S "20/20". In national magazines, including Time and the Readers Digest, in daily newspapers the length and breadth of US and in the labor press. Each of us can help put an end to the Saipan Scam, individually and collectively we can make a difference, and we can do it right now!
All it takes is a letter, a postcard, a telephone call or an e-mail message to the member of the US House of Representatives from your district and to both US Senate members from your state.
But remember, it was just a couple of years ago, in 1997, that the Federal Trade Commission had to withdraw its proposal to weaken the standards for use of the "Made in USA" label. Opposition to the proposal was considered a lost cause-until union members, consumers and others rallied to the cause with letters and postcards to the members of Congress.
We sincerely believe that every member of the Congress should be a co-sponsor and supporter of the bills to the end the Saipan Scam and that the majority of them will be if enough of the voters in their states and districts let them know that they should.
You can identify and contact your US Representative and Senators through the Union Label Department's page on the internet: www.unionlabel.org (click on "Made in the USA Labels"). You can also link up there to the site maintained by the Take Pride in America Coalition: www.takepride.org. Printed information about the campaign and preprinted postcards to Congress are available from the UL&STD at 815 16th St. NW, Washington DC, 20006.
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