President’s Report 5/15/19

President’s Report

May 15^th, 2019

Frontier Updates:

Membership Counts by Title as of 04/30/19

Resignation

Retirement

Voluntary Severance:

Terminations

LTD Absences

Frontier 2nd Step Grievance Meetings:

August 28, 2018 Grievance committee in attendance: John Pusloskie, Sue Phillips, Rich Winter and Kevin Blazey. 

Gr: 7-1484-18 The Company violated the contract when it hired a contractor to repair the central office ladder.  We received a 2^nd step answer dated December 6, 2018 denying the grievance.  Status still pending

December 4^th, 2018 Grievance committee in attendance: John Pusloskie, Andy Cimino, Rich Winter, Mike Sutphen and Pat Clancy.

Gr: 7-1485-18:  Union presented on the Unjust termination of Sales and Service tech Brian Hart.  The Union sent a letter on January 29^th and February 15^th, 2019 requesting the Company’s second step answer.

Gr:  6-1515-18:  Management performing craft work.  Director John Gilbert performed craft work on Liebert air conditioner.  Steward Joe Joram was denied time off for meeting, so grievance has been deferred.

Gr:  5-329-18: On October 25^th, Paul Thom, Pat Clancy, Tony Smith and Thanh Nguyen had their 4-hour overtime assignment revoked after starting the tour.  A follow up letter was sent to HR Manager on April 30^th, requesting verification that the two hours of base pay agreed to on December 18^th, 2019 was issued.

To date we haven’t received any grievance answers from the Company.

December 18^th, 2018 Grievance committee in attendance: John Pusloskie, Sue Phillips, Joe Joram, Andy Cimino.

Gr:  6-1515-18:  Management performing craft work.  Director John Gilbert performed craft work on Liebert air conditioner.  John Gilbert doesn’t agree that this is craft work.  To date the Company hasn’t sent a second step grievance answer.

Gr: 5-329-18:  Overtime administration violation.  P. Thom, P. Clancy, T. Smith, and T. Nguyen were solicited for OT and accepted.  Then after the start of OT they were told OT was cancelled and told to go home.  The Company agreed to pay each individual two hours to settle the matter.

Gr: 3-4164-18:  Payroll errors, members suffering OT pays, regular work hours loss, etc.  Time reporting clerks frustrated, if they had access, ½ the problems would go away.  To date the Company hasn’t sent its second step grievance answer.

Gr: 3-4165-18:  Payroll violation. Mechanization, violating administration.  Implementation of PATS.  To date the Company hasn’t sent its second step grievance answer.

Gr: 7-1486-18:  Payroll violation. Unilateral changes to tech portal, MyWork/MyTime System.  To date the Company hasn’t sent its second step grievance answer. 

To date we haven’t received any grievance answers from the Company.

January 29, 2019 Grievance committee in attendance:  John Pusloskie, Rich Winter, Demiah Smith and Dave Barney.

Gr: 2-2592-19:  Desk Tech Jeff Boxx was issued an unjust verbal warning on December 13^th, 2018.  The Union received the Company’s second step answer on April 24^th, 2019 denying the Unions grievance.  The Company maintained its position that Mr. Boxx’s demeanor and attitude were disrespectful and inappropriate. 

March 12, 2019 Grievance Committee in attendance: John Pusloskie, Andy Cimino, Joe Cicero, Patty Roberts, Sue Phillips and Rich Winter.

Gr: 3-4166-19: The Union recently became aware that the Company moved time reporting functions performed by the Communications Clerks to other employees of the Corporation.

The Company answered the grievance on April 24^th.  The Company agreed that the Rochester Time reporting functions will continue to be performed by CWA represented Communications Clerks but they now will report to Frontiers Capacity team managed by West Virginia.

Gr: 5-330-19:  Network-Switch tech Rick Hawkins was bypassed for callouts due to the Company not updating the call out list with his name.

The Company answered the Grievance on March 12^th agreeing to provide Rick a 12-hour overtime make up on a non-precedent setting basis.

April 23, 2019 Grievance committee in attendance:  John Pusloskie, Andy Cimino, Rich Winter and Mike Sutphen.

Gr: 5-352-19:  Beginning in January of 2019 the Sales and Service tech Tuesday to Saturday schedule was increased without discussion with the Union and with disparity to the different regions.

The Union received the Company’s second Step answer on April 24^th, 2019 agreeing to adjust the number of technicians working the Tuesday to Saturday effective with the next quarterly schedule.

Gr: 6-1516-19:  On January 8, 2019 the Union was notified that the Company was bringing in contractors to perform Lineman work (Make Ready Work) in violation of the CBA.

To date we haven’t received the Company’s second step answer.

Closed Out: 

Arbitration Update Frontier:

• Transfer of bargaining unit work due to M6 Conversion. As of February 4^th, Mike Miceli has been assigned to the Network provisioning team getting trained to provision Metro E circuits for the Rochester market
• Grievance 7-1476-17 Unjust termination James Everts request arbitration 2/2/18.
  • The arbitration has been approved by our CWA Staff Rep and the CWA District 1 office. An Arbitrator has been selected and June 4^th has been selected by both parties.
• Grievance 7-1477-17 Unjust termination Peter Loss request arbitration 2/2/18.
  • The arbitration has been approved by our CWA Staff Rep and the CWA District 1 office. The case has been assigned to CWA attorney Atul Atwar and August 5^th has been scheduled before an arbitrator.
• Grievance 7-1479-18 Unilateral change to Long term disability income capping it at $3,000 per month. The grievance was protected for arbitration on May 15, 2018 and is now in the CWA review process.
  • On October 18^th, the Union received a letter from Human Resources that they are not willing to settle and the grievance is untimely.
• Grievance 2-2585-18 Unjust Layoff of Network tech Ernie Magar NCS 8/15/2016. The Local requested arbitration on June 21st, 2018.  Sue Phillips has taken the lead on investigating and presenting this case.
• Grievance 7-1482-18 Unjust termination of Desk Tech Marnye Knight on April 19^th, 2018. The Local requested arbitration on August 15^th, 2018 protecting time limits.  On October 16^th, the Union sent a letter requesting Marnye Knight be reinstated based on Prudential approving loss of benefits thru April 30^th beyond the April 19^th termination date.  The Company has rejected the Unions request.
• Grievance 7-1481-18 On September 5^th the Union requested arbitration on the Company failing to provide paychecks on time.
  • John Pusloskie, Andy Cimino and CWA Rep Shawn Leblanc met on October 10^th with Frontier HR Manager Tracy Owen to settle the matter.
• Grievance 3-4162-18 On August 31^st 2018 the Union requested arbitration on Frontier contractors, management and other employees performing clerical work.
• Grievance 7-327-18 and 7-328-18 On August 31^st the Union requested arbitration on Overtime administration violations involving Lead Man status.
  • On October 10^th, 2018 the Grievances were settled with the Company agreeing to provide 12-hour overtime makeups to Sales and Service techs Brian Hart, John Gardner, John Fridd, and Tim Wallace.

Take the Lead Sales Monthly Reports 

                        Referrals        Sales               Total Revenue           Annualized Revenue

YTD12/31/18                                                   $394,441.07                $206,679

Managerial Changes

Angela Christian was promoted to be in charge of Customer Care operations nationwide

Tracy Owen is leaving her position as Sr. Labor Relations Manager in Rochester and Peter Homes from Corporate Labor Relations is being assigned to Rochester.

Alex Levy Director of CNOC has resigned as of April 15^th, 2019

Don Moscaret Supervisor of Lineman has resigned effective April 2019

Bryan Conklin Supervisor of Network tech/Carrier and Time Reporting has retired as of April 23^rd, 2019

Peg Kalpfus, Supervisor Operations has resigned effective May 2019

Bill Carpenter, Director of Operations resigned effective May 13^th, 2019

Commercial NOC Center:

Monthly Collaboration Meeting October 16th 2018.  For the Union; John Pusloskie, Demiah Smith, Diane Pappas.  For the Company; George Madison, Ross Serafino, The Following items were addressed.

• Lindsey Fisher Tour not consistent with the schedule
  • Schedule working 4pm to midnight, actually working noon to 4pm.
  • Rad Upgrades – assigned to Tim Gross, He will be doing new software code 5.9 revisions, Next year 6.1 software codes will be assigned to someone else. George Madison – management will decide how to do this.
  • Management putting out daily stats causing morale issues. The Union asked to reconsider this go monthly and talk to employees directly
  • Acting Management – Acting management positions to be for 30-day time periods.
  • Need to work to improve morale.

Frontier Updates:

• On January 8^th Bill Carpenter notified the Union that the Company was going to contract out Make Ready work normally performed by our Lineman. The Union has sent two requests for information and will be moving forward with an Unfair Labor Charge if not provided the information that we have requested.
• Beginning on February 4^th Network Carrier tech Mike Miceli is to begin his training to work with the Network provisioning team as agreed in the arbitration settlement.

The Company is moving forward with the automation of the Pre-posting and has denied the Union Grievance.  We will now have to assess the case for arbitration.

• Working on putting a training program together for Fiber splicing for the members.
• Frontier Announced its 1^st quarter results on May 7^th, 2019. A report can be found on Frontiers investors website.
• A communications Coordinator 1 was given a 1-day suspension and written warning for a poor handling of a commercial call.
• The Company announced that its going to change the measurements of Productivity and Quality and we’ve demanded to cease and desist with any changes to our MOA on standards of performance. Local Representatives will be meeting with CWA Local 1298 and Frontier representatives on February 20^th and 21^st.
• The Company has implemented a Micro Battle team in Rochester from March 11^th to the end of the Month. The program restricts any employees access into Assignment, the employee must communicate via the email program Bold Chat.  Feedback has been that it has slowed work down drastically delaying customer service.
• The Company is also denying any vacation requests where 5 days advance notice isn’t being provided. Please go to your Union stewards or Executive Board member with any issues.
• The Union secured the following amounts of back pay because the Company failed to give employees the 2% general wage increase after returning from disability.
  • James Nemeth $1158, Tom Ruston $627, and Dennis Connell $1,002.72
• The Union filed 19 grievances and information requests for 19 technicians who were given counseling memos in March for new measurements established by the Company on the Sales and Service tech title.

Safety Committee

No report

Affiliate Report:

AT&T Mobility:

On January 17^th 2019 Upstate Union representatives met with Upstate management to address various issues.  Representing Local 1170 Were Chief Steward Teri Oliver, and CWA 1170 Secretary Rich Winter.  The following issues were addressed.

• Revised Sales relief policies
• Part time scheduling Exemptions
• Mandatory Trainings
• Key holder pay
• Retail reps getting quota relief for doing SSR Duties
• Travel Bans and their impact on Store Closings

For further information on the meeting please contact Teri Oliver or Rich Winter.

ATT-219-18    The Company unjustly terminated Patti Ross’s health insurance benefits.

The grievance is still pending as we wait for the Company’s response to Ms. Ross’s employment status.

ATT-221-18    Kelli Pilaroscia was unfairly denied Paid Family Leave and unjust disciplined in the attendance program.  A first step meeting was held and AT&T has denied the Grievance.    A second meeting was held on June 29^th with Ben Marcello and Stephen Papageorge with AT&T.  The Company agreed to remove the points, leaving the issue of pay.  We’re waiting on the Company to resolve the pay issue.

ATT-222-18    Unjust final warning Tim Spaker.  The Union filed a grievance concerning the discipline and unfair investigation. We have also filed a charge with the National Labor Relations board in regards to the Company’s failure to provide information concerning the investigation as of September 13^th.  A second step grievance meeting was heard on September 19^th.  The Company agreed to reduce the final written warning to a written warning.  Grievance closed on 10/16/18.

ATT-223-18    Never filed

ATT-224-18    Unjust counseling notice – Jeff Stone.  1^st step answer received on 11/13/18 denying the grievance for lack of evidence.  Grievance closed on 11/30/18.

ATT-225-18    Unjust Termination – Anthony Contrera.  1^st step meeting held on 12/20/18.  2^nd step requested on 12/19/18.  Currently waiting for information requested before having 2^nd step meeting.

City of Canandaigua PBA:

No updates for April.

Town of Greece

Gold Badge Club:

Several fund raisers have been organized for Sergeant Chris Beach who is fighting an aggressive form of Cancer.

Greece Part Time Unit:

We have received an offer from the Towns attorney in regards to the contract that expired December 31^st 2013.  A meeting has been called for November 15^th 2018 to discuss the offer with the members.

Town of Greece Crossing Guards:

Sharon DeLucia termination: Jonathan Johnsen attorney argued the case on September 10^th at the appellate division of the State Supreme court.  The Appellate division ruled 5-0 in the Unions favor to confirm the arbitration award which called for reinstatement of the grievant with full back pay.  As of February 8^th an agreement was reached which is to remain confidential.  The matter is finally resolved after 4 years.

Greece Lighthouse:

The current contract expires 12/31/19.

A meet and greet was held at Davinci’s restaurant for 5:30pm.  The bargaining survey was mailed with responses from12 members.  Health care and wages seem to be the focus of everyone’s responses.

City of Canandaigua DPW:

The Town hired four new employees in January of 2019 who all signed membership cards to join the Union.  Their names are Brett Depuyt, Devin Ezzell, Jose, Santell, and Jordan Wistner.

Town of Canandaigua Employees Highway Association:

The Union received notice on May 3^rd from the Town which included changes to the Employee handbook.

The Union has reviewed the changes and sent the Town Manager a letter agreeing to the changes and requested a MOU stating the agreement.

Town of Henrietta:

On January 17^th, 2019 the following grievances were heard at second step with the Town Supervisor.

H00-552-18:  The Union claims that Corey Jones was bypassed for Out of Title pay on 10/11, 10/12, and 10/13 for being assigned the responsibility to drive truck 314.  The Town has denied the Grievance.

H00-553-18:  The Union claims on 10/11, 10/12, and 10/13 that Laborer Joey LaRocca was bypassed for Out of Title assignments by a lessor Senior employee Corey Jones.  The Town has denied the Grievance.

On February 18, 2019 the Union signed an agreement with the Town to add GIS Operator A to the CBA at Group 9.  Jeremy Difilippo is going to be promoted to that title.

The Highway, Parks, and Sewer department voted to change the hours to the Summer hours effective May 13^th thru September 30^th.

Village of Waterloo PBA:

No updates for April

Town of Gates Full time:

On March 27^th an information request was sent to personnel director Jim Donovan requesting wage and Health Insurance information in order to prepare for bargaining.  The Union will be requesting bargaining dates for May to begin negotiations with the Town.

Political Action Committee:

The Save NYS Call Center Jobs Act passed in the NYS Senate 58-3, with the following State senators voting yes; Rich Funke, Joe Robach, Pamela Helming, Patrick Gallivan.  We thank all of them for their support.  The Bill must now go to the NYS Assembly where it has already passed the last two years.  The Bill would do the following:

• A call center employer that intends to relocate at 30% of call volume in a year out of state is required to notify the Labor Commissioner. Failure to do so will subject the Company to a fine.
• The Labor Commissioner will make public an annual list of all call center jobs and call center employers that move at least 30% of calls out of the State.
• Companies on the list will not be eligible for any public grants, loans, tax benefits and state contracts for three years.
• The state can claw back any governmental support for five years
• All state agencies are required to ensure that all state business related call center work is performed by companies located in NYS. State contractors who currently have call centers outside of NY have two years to comply.

Other:

3/22/19 Rural West Sales and Service tech Dan Lacey reported that he, Jim Nemeth, and Joe Girod have done 28 Fiber to the home installs, where the Company wired 64 homes with NYS Broadband funds.  There is no Spectrum presence where they wired the homes.

Frontier has notified employees at the Internet Help Desk, 280 in all, that their employment will be terminated on July 31^st.

Frontier notified employees in the training department on May 14^th that their employment will be terminated on May 31^st.  Twenty-two employees in all are impacted.

On March 27^th, 2019 a copy of the bylaw changes were sent to our District office to be reviewed by CWA attorney’s.