CWA Local 1170

At the Unit 7 meeting on Thursday, the following members were nominated for the Executive Board position of Chief Steward and the Vice Chairman of Unit 7.  They are:

            For Chief Steward:

                        Rich Winter

                        Jim Bowen

            For Vice Chairman:

                        Mark Semrau

                        Guy Marble

                        Tom Whitehair

            An election will be held and the winners will be announced in a couple of weeks.

The Company has begun to outsource more motor vehicle work in the Garage.  We currently are down to two garage mechanics.  Please support them as they are working under extremely stressful conditions as two mechanics cannot keep up with the workload for 500 motor vehicles.  We have received a report from 1 driver whose vehicle was inspected and passed by a vendor and returned with bald tires and cracked mirrors.  These vendors do not care about your safety like our mechanics.  Please report any issues you may have to your stewards or Executive Board members.  Also, let us know how long your vehicles are sitting at these vendors waiting to be repaired.

This is your President, John Pusloskie, thanking you for calling your Union Tape, the place where we are Union and proud of it.

* Steward’s Training  Feb. 12^th

At last night’s Unit 2 meeting, Osbourne Boxx was elected Chairman of Unit 2 representing Desk Techs.  There will be an election for Vice Chairman between Mike Chomik and Demiah Smith, as both were nominated.

This Friday Ballots for Chairman Unit 7 representing the Steward body will be counted.  Those eligible to vote, your ballots must be at the P.O. Box by this Friday.  If you haven’t mailed your ballot, please do so today or tomorrow to make sure your ballots count.

CWA members represented by four different locals in Pennsylvania have rejected the tentative agreement reached between the old Commonwealth Telephone Co. and CWA, representing approximately 450 workers.  Their contract expired on October 31^st.  I will update the tape as talks progress.

At tonight’s United Way labor recognition dinner, Rich Downey will be posthumously presented with the Robert Flavin Award for exemplary commitment to community service.  Rich’s passion and support of the United Way was a true example of selflessness.  He was a credit to this community and his local Union and those that benefited due to his hard work owe him a debt of gratitude.  May God Bless Him.

This is your President John Pusloskie thanking you for calling your Union tape, the place where we are Union and Proud of it.

It was discussed at last nights Executive Board meeting that those who worked overtime on the Union Activity Day January 29^th will be contacted by members of the Executive Board to make a contribution to the Flavin Scholarship Fund.  This Membership directive has been in place since 2002. 

A reminder for all Desk Techs – there will be a Unit Meeting at the following times: 8:30am, 11:30am, 2:30pm, and 5:30pm.

All meetings are going to be held at the Union Hall.  This is a Union Activity Day just for this unit.

A meeting has been scheduled with the Company for Wednesday to discuss the score card program for the Sales and Service techs.  The Company was advised that the Union doesn’t endorse this program.  The Union has never agreed to have the stewards talk to the techs about their numbers.  The Company is reviewing every aspect of your job.  I would advise each of you to keep a daily log book to document your day.

This is your President John Pusloskie thanking you for calling your Union tape, the place where we are Union and Proud of it.

I’m saddened to announce the passing of retiree, William Greer.  Bill was hired in February of 1947 and retired in September of 1979.  He worked as a Lineman and IR man during his career.  On behalf of the Union I want to extend our sympathies to his family.

I would also like to extend the Union’s sympathies to our neighbors to the West affected by the tragic plane crash in Clarence Center, NY.  It is certainly devastating news to many families this morning.

I want to recognize the following members who have service anniversaries this month:

            40 yrs – Former Executive Board Member George Fridd, Carrier Tech

            40 yrs – Gary Lawless, Switch Tech, Suburban East

            20 yrs – Bill Holland, Carrier Tech

Yesterday the following issues came up between the Union and the Company:

The Union grieved that the Company violated the CBA when it transferred Sr. Frame techs to the Switch Vacation List.  The Company’s response to the grievance was they are going to move those Sr. Frame techs back to the Frame Vacation lists they were on.  The Union’s position is the vacation schedules were negotiated during the Contract and any change to those schedules has to be negotiated.  The Company didn’t declare an opening in the Switch.  If they did, they would have the obligation to poll by seniority for the title. 

2^nd issue of importance was a meeting concerning Engineers drawing prints and the Company not complying with the arbitration settlement reached in 2007 over that work.  The parties agreed to meet once the Company has investigated the Union’s concerns. 

The last issue was Sales and Service Tech Stewards being asked to talk to those identified by the Company as not meeting the performance expectations of the Company.  Linda McGrath and I stated to the Company in November that we don’t support the report card program.  There are too many different variables that go into numbers and a history of inaccuracy to how they derive them.  Further discussions are scheduled with the Company.

Nineteen members attended the Steward’s Training last night.  We will schedule further training in the future.

This is your President, John Pusloskie, thanking you for calling your Union Tape, the place where we are Union and proud of it.

Our brothers and sisters with AT&T Mobility contract expires at midnight on Saturday.  The contract currently covers over 20,000 members.  Negotiations have been non-productive to this point.

The company has prepared for a strike as they have replacement workers ready.  If the union does strike, please remind these replacement workers that they are scabs and deserve to be treated as such.  Our members work at the AT&T stores at the following locations:  S. Winton Rd, Marketplace Mall, W. Ridge Rd, Greece Ridge Mall, Eastview Mall, and Webster.  Please support our members as they are fighting for a fair and just contract.

Yesterday we had an issue with the company in regards to excused paid time to see the doctor.  We have resolved it as the company has committed to living with the contract for excused time for medical, family, or legal reasons.

This is your President John Pusloskie thanking you for calling your union tape, the place where we are union and proud of it.