 | |
| July 14, 2004: SBC National Bargaining Update | |
2004 SBC-Southwest Bargaining UpdatesNEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release 7/1/2004 For More Information: Jeff Miller or Candice Johnson CWA Communications, 202-434-1168 CWA Members Ratify SBC Contract Washington, D.C. -- Members of the Communications Workers of America at SBC Communications ratified a five-year agreement, approving the contract with an 85 percent "yes" vote. The agreement, covering 100,000 CWA workers, was reached May 25 following a four day strike across the 13 states of SBC territory. Results for SBC Southwest (Southwestern Bell) were reported by District 6 Vice President Andy Milburn; for SBC West (Pacific/Nevada Bell) by District 9 Vice President Tony Bixler; for SBC Midwest (Ameritech) by District 4 Vice President Jeff Rechenbach; and for SBC East (SNET and Yellow Pages) by District 1 Vice President Larry Mancino. Bargaining took place in the four districts in Austin, Tex.; Pleasanton, Calif.; Chicago; and New Haven, Conn. The settlement achieved CWA members' key goals: maintaining quality health care, with employer-paid premiums, for both active and retired workers, and ensuring employment security. The settlement guaranteed that there will be no layoffs of employees currently on the payroll for the life of the agreement and called for the rehiring of several hundred laid-off workers at SBC Southwest and SBC Midwest. It also provided CWA members with access to the jobs of the future at SBC, in such areas as FTTP (fiber to the premise), Voice over Internet Protocol, Wireless Internet, video services and business data services. The contract provided for an across-the-board compounded wage increase of 12 percent, plus an additional 1 percent lump sum in the first year and cost-of-living adjustments in the fourth and fifth years. The initial wage increase is retroactive to April 4. The thirteen states are Connecticut, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Texas, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, California and Nevada. ### The Newly ratified Contract calls for a 1% Lump Sum Payment and Retroactive pay of 2% to be paid back to 4/4/04. An HR contact has confirmed that the 1% Lump Sum will be included with the July 23rd paycheck and the back pay will be on the August 6th paycheck. | |
 CWA: Taking a Standfor Jobs and Health Care | |
