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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.

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

Verizon Corporate Profit Sharing Award

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Verizon announced today that the Corporate Profit Sharing award for full time employees is $825.00. The award will be pro-rated for part-time employees and those employees who participated for more than 3 months but less than 12 months in the plan year. The award will be paid on March 14, 2014.

Position Paper May, 2011 & Voting for Proposed By-Laws Changes 2014

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Source: http://d-hex.blogspot.com/

Voting for Proposed By-Laws Changes is Underway

Ballots were mailed by the American Arbitration Association on January 2, and are due back January 29.
Check Your Mail – and Vote!

Since taking office the Executive Board has worked hard to find ways to cut costs at the Local. President Keith Purce worked with the by-lawscommittee, members Anthony Hall, Nancy Branham, and War­ren Donofrio, to figure out how best to reduce costs.

The Executive Board is recommending three changes to the Local’s by-laws. One is a restructuring of the Retirement Trust Fund to give every current 1101 member a disbursement of $1101. Two are to save money on lost time wages and officers’ salaries.

You should be receiving a ballot in the next few days for the proposed by-laws changes. If you don’t receive a ballot by January 9th, see the information at the bottom of this email to request a duplicate.

The Local has contracted with the American Arbitration Association (AAA) to conduct the vote. The proposed by-laws changes are detailed below.

1. Revise the Local Retirement Trust Fund to allow for the disbursement of $1101 to each Local 1101 member (Article XXI)

The Local Retirement Trust Fund currently has a balance of more than $9 million dollars, which is more than is necessary to fund the current disbursement of $2000 at each member’s retirement. The Executive Board pledged to disburse some of this money to the Local’s membership now, while making sure to keep the Fund solvent.

The money in the Retirement Trust Fund can only be used to make direct payments to members, and there are strict rules about how the money can be disbursed. Local 1101 Secretary-Treasurer, Kevin Condy, has been working with the lawyers and ac­countants to determine how best to restructure the Local Retirement Trust Fund in compliance with all laws and tax regulations.

The by-laws change proposes that every member who has been in continual good standing for five years preceding 10/25/2013 shall receive a benefit of $1101 now and $1101 when they retire. Members can choose to defer the first payment of $1101 and receive a total of $2202 when they retire, as long as they have been a member of Local 1101 in continuous good standing for the five years prior to their retirement.

In addition, if deferring the initial benefit of $1101 please be aware of the following. According to federal law and IRS regulations, if a member de­fers the first payment of $1101 until retirement, that $1101 will still be taxed in the year it could have been received (in this case 2014). This is called “construc­tive receipt” (26 C.F.R. Sec 1.451-2), which means the benefit is taxable as income in the year when the option can be exercised, regardless of whether or not the benefit is actually received in that year.

If a member has not paid $1101 in dues at the time of the disbursement, he/she will receive an amount commensurate with what he/she has paid in dues so far.

2. Compensation for Union Business (Article XXII)

All members and officers of Local 1101 who have to be pulled off for union business will be reimbursed for any lost time, paid at the same rate of pay they receive from their respective titles for a combined total of 40 hours a week. The hours that the Local pays for union business are considered “lost time wages”, since they are wages not paid by the employer.

Under the Local’s current by-laws, compensation for lost time wages is paid at top craft pay. Not every member or officer works for Verizon, however, and not every Verizon employee is at top craft pay. Paying members and officers at the actual rate of pay they would be paid by their respective employer will save the Local tens of thousands of dollars a year.

3. A 5% pay cut for the Executive Board (Article XXII C)

Executive Board members currently receive offi­cers’ pay as detailed in Article XXII (C) of the current by-laws. This by-laws change would cut the Executive Board members’ pay by 5%.

Make sure You Vote!

We encourage every member to read the materials carefully and to vote. If you have any questions please call the Local at 212-633-2666.

If You Haven’t Received a Ballot by January 9th

If you haven’t received a ballot by January 9th, call AAA at 1-800-529-5218 Monday through Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm. Members can also request a duplicate by emailing Sacha Ulerio at ulerios@adr.org. Please do not call prior to January 9, 2014 to allow sufficient time for delivery of all ballots.

Ballots are due back at AAA offices by Wednesday, January 29, 2014 at 5pm. The count will be held at the AAA offices on Thursday, January 30th.

The ballot includes the proposed language as well as the old language, and shows all of the proposed changes. Current By-Laws here.

CWA Local 1101
275 Seventh Avenue, 17th Floor
New York, NY 10001
212-633-2666

Source: local1101.org