 CWA Will Fight for Jobs, Health Care in 2004 SBC Bargaining CWA’s SBC bargaining council met Dec. 2-3 in Palm Springs, Calif., to plan for 2004 negotiations, including specific goals on maintaining job security and our comprehensive health care coverage, protecting retiree health care benefits and funding and improving pensions for both active and retired members. This will be a CWA union-wide effort, with solidarity actions and a coordinated campaign to show SBC that we are united and determined to win a fair agreement. SBC has already told us that it wants to cut health care costs – shorthand for cost shifting. SBC locals – and all of CWA – will be a part of the fight that protects our quality health care and helps us win the contract we deserve.  Local union officers take up SBC bargaining issues. Contracts covering nearly 102,000 SBC workers in four districts expire in early April. Bargaining is expected to get underway in mid-February. The units are SBC Midwest (formerly Ameritech), District 4; SBC Southwest (formerly Southwestern Bell), District 6; SBC West (formerly Pacific Bell), District 9; and SBC East (formerly Southern New England Telephone), District 1. Employment security means access to the jobs of the future, and SBC has bundled local service with long distance, Cingular wireless and DSL. In the near future, it will add satellite television from its partner, Echostar. SBC locals pledged to fight for access to all of this work in this round of negotiations. Other critical job security issues will be: * End subcontracting of our work and the substitution of temporary for permanent employment. * Eliminate the movement of our work to management. * Access to new jobs as they are created. * And improved voluntary transfer rights to work in all aspects of telecommunications. Benefit improvements should include: * Removing Medicare Part B reimbursement caps for retirees and spouses, both present and future. * Increasing union oversight and authority over our health care plans. * Increasing pensions and ensuring the value of the lump sum pension choice. CWA President Morton Bahr, Executive Vice President Larry Cohen, Vice Presidents Jeff Rechenbach, District 4; Andy Milburn, District 6; and Tony Bixler, District 9, attended the session. Representing District 1 was Chris Shelton, assistant to Vice President Larry Mancino. Bahr said this round of bargaining “is about creating union jobs for the future” and stressed that “bringing back work into the company for our members must be our highest priority.” Cohen echoed that goal stressing that “our members are determined to do the jobs of the future regardless of how the technology changes or how SBC structures the work.” Other key bargaining goals include: * A significant wage increase commensurate with SBC profits, productivity and executive compensation (See below for more details.) * Improvements in working conditions, with new restrictions on mandatory overtime, marketing quotas and harsh adherence policies. SBC: Productivity, Profits and Pay SBC has been moving forward to consolidate telecommunications services and bundle them to customers. By offering local service with long distance, Cingular wireless, DSL, and satellite television (soon to come), SBC is positioning itself to continue to be an industry leader. Right now, SBC leads the industry in DSL subscribers. It’s wireless service, Cingular, is the nation’s second largest provider. These factors will help offset SBC’s decline in wireline revenue for the third quarter 2003. Overall, productivity and profits are up at SBC, so it’s definitely in the company’s interest to keep highly skilled workers on the job. In the extremely competitive telecom sector, the companies that provide the best to customers will be the companies that come out on top. The company with the best skilled and most effective workforce will ensure the quality of its customer service. Since 2001, worker productivity at SBC has grown by 6.8 percent. [measured by revenue per wireline employee.] Profits at SBC remain strong, despite the economic downturn that hit the telecommunications sector especially hard. Since 2001, SBC’s profits have increased 5.5 percent, from $7 billion to $7.4 billion. The jump in profits generated per each wireline employee is even greater. In 2003, profits per wireline employee were $42,969. That’s a 19.8 percent increase from 2001. This means that at the end of the year, after all operating costs have been accounted for – and these include wages, pensions, health care, interest expenses and taxes – there remains $42,969 per employee to spend on shareholders and employees and to grow the business. So when it comes to pay, CWA members are looking for our fair share. In past contracts, we have been successful in improving wages and the real purchasing power that means improvements in our members’ standard of living. We’re looking to do the same in this round of bargaining. Of course, SBC does take care of its management and executive team. In 2002, CEO Ed Whitacre had a salary and bonus package alone of $8.6 million, just slightly less than Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg. Whitacre’s total compensation that year, including stock options, was $19.2 million. That’s 78 percent more than the average CEO, and works out to about 426 times the salary of an average SBC employee. We want SBC to do well. And we expect our fair share of the profits that we have helped create. Mobilizing for Victory “Good contracts are won not just at the bargaining table but in the workplace and the community.” That’s the key to CWA’s mobilization program and it needs every member’s support if we’re going to succeed at the bargaining table and make certain that SBC hears us loud and clear. How do you play your part? First, make sure we have your e-mail address. Go to www.cwa-union.org/sbc and sign on with your personal e-mail address. That way, you’ll be sure to get the most up-to-date news about bargaining, mobilization activities and everything you need to know. Every local will have a mobilization coordinator. Check with your local or that person for information about actions planned for your work site, and join in. Spread the word about our fight to family members and friends throughout your community. We’ll be relying on our supporters as we get closer to contract expiration. Locals will be contributing articles and information to this newsletter, so across SBC territory, we can share ideas about workplace actions and build our solidarity. If you have an idea or a story to tell, get it to your local or your local mobilization coordinator. Pass along this newsletter and other updates to your friends and co-workers. Everything we do to build solidarity supports our bargaining teams. Sign up and Spread the Word about SBC Bargaining Remember, Unity@SBC is the on-line source for the latest information on bargaining and mobilization. So make sure you receive your own e-version of Unity@SBC, plus e-mail updates on bargaining, by signing on with your personal e-mail address to www.cwa-union.org/sbc. Our Jobs, Our Future: Worth Fighting For!
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