CWA Local 1170

Meeting Minutes

Your Union Officers John Pusloskie, Rick Sanchez, and Marie Spendlove met with Company representatives Kathy Slocum, Jim Currie, Rod Dietz, Kimberly Brathwaite, and Bryan Conklin on Wednesday, May 26^th to discuss the Jobs Bank Program.  The following members are being assigned into the bank based on the recent force reduction:  Charles Becoats, Jim Lynch, Ken Swavely, Curt Carter, Dale Latta, Dan Brooks, and James Wojtarowicz.

The members above will be reporting to W. Henrietta Road on Tuesday, June 1, 2010 at 7:30am at which time they will be given an orientation.

Both the Union and Company presented and discussed work to be performed such as pole audits, replacing contract flaggers, frame verifications, and other engineering support functions, pedestal replacements, subway inspections and such.  The Jobs Bank Committee will meet ongoing to monitor the work assignments.

On Tuesday your Union officers met with Company representatives Kathy Slocum, Kimberly Braithwaite, Bryan Conklin, and Rod Dietz to discuss the Jobs Program.  Bob Trouskie, a retired union representative from the U.A.W., was in attendance and presented information to both parties as to the mechanics of the General Motors Jobs Program.

At this point there have been no decisions to the job assignments for those who will be in the Jobs Bank.  We are waiting for the Company to get back to us with dates for further meetings.

1170 Wraps Up Successful United Way Campaign

The Local had a tremendous campaign again this year and was again presented with the United Way Excellence Award from United Way President Peter Carpino, Workplace Campaign Director Jon Roberson, and AFL-CIO Labor Coordinator Rose McKinney.  I want to thank Fritz Amrhein and Bill Netchke for doing an outstanding job coordinating our campaign and the following solicitors for their hard work in engaging our members in the work place:  Ryan Bills, Tony Gaudio, Lisa Tantalo, Mark Semrau, and Jeff Leshner.

This year’s campaign goal was set at $125,000 and after it was all said and done, we raised over $146,000.  The importance of these dollars cannot be overstated or their impact on the community.  We should all be very proud of our efforts and our involvement in this year’s campaign.  The incentive prizes will be drawn very soon.

CWA Cleans Up Awards

On Thursday, May 13^th the annual Rochester Labor Council awards dinner was held at the Rochester Auditorium.  The event was rescheduled from December when it was cancelled due to bad weather.

Labor Educator of the Year was presented to Vice President Rick Sanchez for his ongoing work on the Labor Council Education Committee.  Rick is responsible, along with this committee, for organizing Rochester’s Annual Labor Day Parade.  Congratulations to Rick for his outstanding work!

Labor Day Parade – Local 1170 was awarded best theme for Employee Free Choice Act and the hearse for this past year’s parade.  Thank you for the efforts of Diane Papas, Patty Roberts, Joann Dzwigal, Colleen Baliva, and Rich Winter who prepared the decorations for the parade and Joann Dzwigal who provided the hearse.

Community Solidarity Award – Our 1170 members who worked at Caldwell Manufacturing were presented this award.  Their long, hard fight with their employer finally resulted in a contract in August of 2008, after years of strikes, unfair labor charges, and negotiations.  In January of 2009 Caldwell announced they were closing the plant.  The Union negotiated for six months before we came to a closure agreement that preserved retiree health care benefits until the end of the contract.  A great show of solidarity by the members.

1170 Force Reduction – It has been anyone’s guess from day to day what the Company’s plans were for the bumping interviews this week.  Originally scheduled for last Monday and Tuesday, they were constantly rescheduled and now will go into this week.  Employees originally scheduled to be off the payroll Friday, May 21^st will now be on the payroll through this Friday.

On Tuesday, May 25^th we are scheduled to meet with the Company to discuss the administration of the jobs bank and what reporting location and work assignments will be assigned to those forced into the jobs program.  This program has never been utilized, as the force reductions have never reached those with job security.

Frontier Communications Corp. chairman and CEO Maggie Wilderotter’s compensation fell 32 percent in 2009, dropping from $7.1 million in 2008 to $4.8 million.

The telecommunications firm’s five highest paid officers took base-salary hits last year, a proxy statement filed with Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday shows. But Wilderotter and one other—Peter Hayes, executive vice president of commercial sales—saw their total compensation go down, as well.

After Wilderotter, Frontier’s four highest paid officers in 2009 in descending order of total compensation:

Donald Shassian, executive vice president and chief financial officer, $1.8 million, up 5 percent from $1.7 million;
Daniel McCarthy,  executive vice president and chief operating officer, $1.2 million, up 8 percent from $1.1 million;
Hayes, $1 million, down 5 percent from $1.1 million; and
Cecelia McKenney, executive vice president, human resources and call center sales and service, $948,173, up 2 percent from $928,630.
Wilderotter’s base salary fell 4 percent from $920,833 to $882,308, but was balanced by a 4 percent hike in non-equity incentive bonus pay from $878,611 to $910,200. The value of her stock awards fell 43 percent from $5.3 million in the prior year to $3 million last year.

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