Monthly Archives: October 2014

Negotiations over Verizon’s “Special” EIPP

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October 29, 2014

The Company has made an offer to further negotiate over the “Special” EIPP. They have also sent an e-mail to all of our members attempting to negotiate with the membership to try and divide us. The Union has agreed to re-open negotiations but the Company’s action make these negotiations harder not easier. We will of course keep you apprised of the situation as it unfolds. We have set a deadline of November 7th.

Dennis Trainor, Assistant to District 1 VP Chris Shelton

VZ email to our member’s

CWA District 1 in NY/NE Rejects Special Incentive Offer

Four weeks ago the Company approached the union to seek its agreement to a special incentive offer.  The offer would allow certain associates who wanted to leave the payroll to do so with significant economic benefits not otherwise available under the existing collective bargaining agreement. The economic offer was the same as the offer the Company made a year ago. However, the scope of the offer changed in two significant ways:

  • The offer in 2013 was limited to 4 titles in certain Force Adjustment Areas (“FAAs”) while this year the Company proposed making the offer available to 26 titles in certain FAAs.  At the bottom of this communication is a list of the titles and FAAs covered by the current offer.
  • The offer provided the union with the flexibility to accept either a statewide offer by surplus title and FAA or the offer by union local and surplus title.

Unfortunately, the union has informed the Company that it is unwilling to agree to the special incentive unless the Company agrees to expand its FiOS build-out.

The Company has already invested more than $4B in New York State and more than $20B nationally in its FiOS build and continues to increase the number of small businesses and consumers who have access to fiber within its current FiOS footprint. Our focus now needs to be on driving penetration by increasing sales and retaining customers within the FiOS footprint where we have already invested significant capital and have a tremendous opportunity for future growth.

The Company has reached agreements with CWA District 2/13 covering the Potomac area, Pennsylvania and Delaware Local 13100, in addition to IBEW locals covering New England, New Jersey and Pennsylvania Livesource associates. In the negotiations leading to those agreements, the Company was flexible in responding to union demands to increase the scope of the offer so that associates in additional titles and locations would have an opportunity to consider the offer. In light of these agreements, we informed CWA District 1 of the following:

  • If it was important to them, we would be willing to make the incentive offer available to Field Techs in FAA1 as well as consider other requests for FAA and/or title expansion of the offer where it makes business sense.
  • At the CWA’s option, the offer could be available on both a local by local and title by title basis (for example, for some locals the offer could be made available to the Operators they represent even if the local chose not to make the offer available to Field Techs).

The CWA has suggested that by communicating with you regarding the status of these negotiations, the Company was trying to get the union to “cave-in to a one-sided offer” and that we should come to the table with a “serious proposal.” This makes no sense. Certainly CWA District 2/13 and the IBEW representing more than 22,000 associates from Massachusetts to Virginia did not “cave-in” by agreeing to a special incentive which gives their members the chance to voluntarily leave with significant additional financial benefits. The Company has made a serious proposal to address an ongoing associate surplus which is of great concern. Quite frankly, we find it puzzling that CWA District 1 would find a proposal aimed at dealing with a force surplus in a totally voluntary way, with financial benefits to its members, as “one sided” or not “serious.”  In fact, in 2010 CWA District 1 agreed to the special incentive in New York, Massachusetts and New Jersey with the same economic terms – certainly that was not a “cave-in” to a “one-sided” offer. It is also puzzling that a more flexible option allowing each local to determine whether its members would participate would be viewed as an attempt to “divide and conquer” the union.

The only thing that rejecting the special incentive achieves is preventing associates who would like to leave voluntarily from doing so with a substantial additional economic benefit while increasing the likelihood that the Company will have to find other means to reduce expenses relating to this associate population. We are hopeful that CWA District 1 will reconsider its position.

Sincerely,

Marc Reed

Chief Administrative Officer

Update on Verizon’s Special Offer

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From Dennis Trainor, District 1, Assistant to Vice President Chris Shelton. (Photo, Chris Shelton, left and Dennis Trainor, right)

Two weeks ago, the Company approached CWA with a special incentive offer for certain members to leave the payroll. This offer was identical to the offer that CWA rejected last year with a few exceptions.

Last year, the proposal was to make an offer to 4 titles in certain Force Adjustment Areas.  This year the proposal is to make an offer to 25 titles in certain Force Adjustment areas.   In this year’s proposal the Company offered an alternative arrangement to using Force adjustment areas. They offered to exclude any Local in a Force Adjustment Area that did not want to accept the offer.

When we first received the proposal from the Company we informed them that we are not interested in dividing our Union by making offers on a local-by-local basis.  We would not allow the Company to attempt to “divide and conquer” our membership.

Last year, when the Company made a very similar proposal, we had intense negotiations to discuss their desire to get people off the payroll and our desire to address the future work for our members.  We asked the Company to commit to FiOS build-outs over the next several years, to build new wire centers and to reduce the number of Board and Lodging Assignments.

This year, when the Company made their proposal, the Union raised the same concerns about the future work for our members.

The Company made it very clear that they are not interested in entertaining any proposal regarding FiOS build-outs.

Over the last two weeks we have been discussing this proposal with our locals, District 2/13and IBEW.  Last Friday, the Company put out an email to all employees stating that they made a proposal to the Union and they spelled out some of the details. This caused a lot of confusion and many members thought it was an actual offer.  Verizon must think that by communicating an offer directly to our members that this will make us cave-in to a one-sided offer that does nothing to protect the future work needs of our members.

Today we told the Company that if they want us to consider their proposal-they have to address our needs.  We told them that we stand ready to discuss a real proposal that allows them to offer an incentive where needed, while growing the Company and jobs for our members.  We hope the Company heard us and will be willing to come to the table with a serious proposal.

Local 1101 Officers Election – Ballots Mailed

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Please Vote!

October 15, 2014:  Ballots will be mailed to all eligible members.

October 22, 2014:  Any eligible member who has not received a ballot in the mail, at home, may request a duplicate ballot by calling the American Arbitration Association (AAA) at 800 529-5218.  If a member requests a duplicate ballot, only that duplicate ballot will be counted.

November 7, 2014: Ballots will be counted by the AAA at their offices at 10 AM

Fairpoint Workers in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont on Strike

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Unions Say Company Refuses to Compromise to Preserve Reliable Service and Good Jobs

Augusta, ME-At 12:01 a.m. on Friday, October 17th, nearly 2,000 employees of FairPoint Communications (FRP) in northern New England went on strike. Early Friday morning they established picket lines at hundreds of work sites across Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont.

“The company’s actions have brought us to this place,” said Peter McLaughlin,Business Manager of  IBEW Local 2327 in Maine. “We did not want to take this step. Our members want to work; they want to take care of their customers.However, our bargaining team worked as hard as we could to reach a fair agreement that would preserve good jobs and help the company prosper. We’ve offered significant concessions to this company that would save them hundreds of millions of dollars. But they absolutely refuse to compromise on any significant issue.”

Negotiations began on April 25th, when the company came to the table with proposals that would cost workers more than $700 million. The company sought to freeze pensions, raise health care costs, cut retiree health care,and institute a two-tier wage system that would pay new hires as little as minimum wage. In addition, the company sought to end job security and outsource union members’ work to out-of-state and foreign contractors.

After dozens of bargaining sessions during which the company rejected every significant union proposal, the company declared an impasse on August 27th and imposed the terms and conditions of their proposals on the workers. The unions have charged the company with violating federal labor law and are seeking injunctive relief from the National Labor Relations Board.

Employees say the North Carolina-based company, which emerged from bankruptcy in 2010, wants to slash labor costs in order to either sell the business or satisfy shareholders with dividends. “This company is largely owned by a small number of Wall Street hedge funds like Angelo, Gordon & Co.,” said Don Trementozzi, President of CWA Local 1400. “Their priority is to squeeze as much money as possible out of the workers who’ve kept this company going, not to provide the 21st-century telecommunications system that northern New Englanders need and deserve.”

Union leaders say the company hired a notorious “union avoidance” law firm, Seyfarth Shaw, to lead the negotiations with the goal of forcing draconian terms on the workers. “It is clear that this company never intended to reach a negotiated agreement with our members,” said Glenn Brackett, Business Manager of  IBEW Local 2320 in New Hampshire. “They put their outrageous proposals on the table on April 25th and never budged. That is not good faith.That is not compromise and cooperation. It is disrespect, pure and simple. Our members refuse to work under these conditions any longer.”

Members of IBEW and CWA as well as supporters from other unions and community organizations will picket at work sites in order to bring public awareness to their situation and to deter replacement workers from crossing their picket lines. They will ask customers and service providers not to cross the line to do business or make deliveries to FairPoint locations.

“This fight is about keeping good middle-class jobs in our region and making sure that customers get the service they deserve from well-trained, experienced workers, not low-wage temps from out-of-state or overseas,” said Mike Spillane,Business Manager of IBEW Local 2326 in Vermont. “Our members have been organizing and educating the public for well over a year. While they would much rather continue to work and take care of our customers, they are absolutely united and ready to strike for as long as it takes to win a fair agreement.”

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) System Council T9 includes local unions in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont and represents nearly 1,700 employees at FairPoint Communications. The Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 1400 represents nearly 300 FairPoint employees in the three states. For more information, visit www.fairnessatfairpoint.com.

FairPoint Freezes Pensions of 2,000 Employees

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By Tom Bell

FairPoint Communications on Tuesday froze the pensions of nearly 2,000 employees in northern New England, according to unions representing the employees.

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Communications Workers of America had been in negotiations for a new contract until talks ended in August when the company announced an impasse, paving the way for an employee lockout or strike.

The unions represent nearly 800 FairPoint workers in Maine.

The company has already stopped providing retiree health care and support for child and elder care, the unions said in a news release on Tuesday.

Source: http://www.pressherald.com/2014/10/14/fairpoint-freezing-pensions-of-union-workers/

Verizon’s Latest EIPP Offer

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CWA District 1, October 10, 2014

Memo from Dennis Trainor, Assistant to Chris Shelton, Vice President, District One.

We have received a proposal from Verizon regarding a surplus offer. One of the provisions of the Company’s proposal is to offer an option to make this offer on a local by local basis. The National Union has told the Company that we are not interested in dividing our Union in this way. We are in discussions with all of our locals regarding the remaining provisions of the proposal and what our response will be.

Earlier today we found out that the Company is planning to send an e mail to employees this afternoon regarding this situation.  As usual, when dealing with Verizon their communication will cause confusion in the ranks and is being sent to all employees, even ones not included in the Company’s proposal.

Please be assured that we will provide any updates regarding this matter as they develop.

Email to employees below.

VERIZON PROPOSES SPECIAL ENHANCED INCENTIVE OFFER

10-10-2014

The Company continues to have a significant associate surplus in certain titles and locations in New York and New England. To address this force problem in a way that is beneficial to those associates, the Company has made a proposal to CWA District 1 to extend a special offer to them. The proposal would provide the following enhancements to the contractual Enhanced Income Protection Plan (EIPP) program for eligible associates voluntarily leaving under the offer:

  • A one-time bonus of $50,000. This is a $40,000 increase over the existing $10,000 voluntary termination bonus provided for in the labor contracts.
  • The elimination of age-based pension reductions for service pension eligible associates under age 55 with less than 30 years of service. This reduction equates to 6% per year, up to a maximum of 30%.
  • The raising of caps on EIPP payments from thirty years of service to forty years. This would increase the maximum payout from $66,000 up to $88,000.
  • A protected interest rate used for pension lump sum conversion, which could be particularly valuable if interest rates increase.

The Company’s proposal contains two options. The first is a statewide offer by surplus title by FAA. The second option is an offer by union local and surplus title which would allow a particular local(s) to participate in the incentive offer even if other locals did not wish to participate. CWA District 1 may select either of these two options.

We look forward to continuing our discussion with the union regarding this offer.

NY labor leader likely next CWA prez

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By Brian Mahoney 10-10-2014

The Communications Workers of America, one of the country’s largest unions, may have found a replacement for its outgoing president Larry Cohen. Christopher Shelton, who is Vice President of the northeastern CWA District 1, will run for president of the union next spring.  And he appears already to have locked up enough support to win.

Previously Shelton led CWA’s largest district through a three week 45,000-worker Verizon strike in 2011. He also oversaw organizing drives at Cablevision and among Verizon retail workers.

Full story here: http://www.politico.com/morningshift/1014/morningshift15607.html