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Greetings, NOTE: Important News for Current Members and Retirees in this E-Activist News Blast Safety Alert Over the past year, incidents of robberies and violence toward and around Local 21 members have continued to increase in and around the city of Chicago. In an effort to make the workplace as safe as possible for Local 21 members, we have identified specific counter measures that, if implemented, should minimize incidents of unsafe exposure to crime and unsafe work areas. These include, but are not limited to:
Several discussions with the company have already taken place, and we can report AT&T is working with us on these issues. Also, word on the street of a rumor that gangs in the city were recently engaged in initiation activities and the initiation action was to assault a female worker. We have attempted to determine if it was a fact or simply a rumor. Regardless, in the interest of safety we contacted the AT&T on this item and requested they keep the female employees out of the high crime areas until this item is further clarified. As of today, AT&T has agreed. While we realize there is no way to make everyone completely safe while working in these areas, we are doing everything we can to make it as safe as we can. Brothers and sisters, let this serve as another reminder to be safe and alert of all surroundings, on each and every job.
AT&T to Staff New Chicago Garage by Force Transfers AT&T still plans to force transfer 173 splicers and 27 linemen to a new Chicago garage located at 929 Cermak. And they plan to do it by October 26, 2009. We are continuing to talk with AT&T over the impact on the 200 employees AT&T already notified, attempting to open up other locations within Chicago, instead of just the Cermak RD location. Local 21 is filing NLRB charges against the company because AT&T management bargained directly with members over this issue, bypassing our union as the exclusive representative as required by our contract and by law, under the National Labor Relations Act. Local 21 met with AT&T over this dispute in an expedited grievance meeting this week. There was no resolution. Ironically, during a conference call earlier today between AT&T and Local 21 Reps, a call regarding information on the next details beginning on October 26th, AT&T started out the call by saying, “after the 10/26 moves to the city the following locations will be short and we will need to backfill”: 1) Northfield, 27 short, and will backfill with Gurnee and Lake Villa CST’s; 2) Naperville, 10 short, will backfill with Exhibit 3 Fiber techs; and 3) St. Chares, 4 short, will backfill with Exhibit 3 Fiber techs as well. These are backfills for the forced techs to the city of Chicago – duh!
2009 IBEW-AT&T Bargaining Retiree
Healthcare
Highlights
A revised 2009 IBEW-AT&T Bargaining Retiree Healthcare Highlights Overview is now available on the IBEW Local 21 website. To access the document, go to http://www.ibew21.org/attcontract/ibew_retiree_10-6-09.r1.pdf or click here. The revised overview is clearer in our explanation of the new plan. A new item that was not included on our previous handout is that Pre-Medicare eligible retirees qualify for both preventative and wellness care paid at 100%. Your health care provider must be in network and the bill must be coded properly in order to pay at 100%. Open enrollment is an issue. AT&T has sent a booklet highlighting the upcoming benefit changes. As a retiree you will also be getting an enrollment worksheet that is scheduled to mail on October 28th. Your enrollment period is November 4th through November 17th. If you are a currently a Flexible Enrollee your
enrollment period will begin November 12 and end on December
31st. IBEW Local Union 21
Tentative Agreement at DataComm In breaking news, out of DataComm, a tentative agreement was reached between IBEW Local 21 and AT&T on October 14, 2009 for IBEW Local 21 members employed at DataComm. The following letter was sent yesterday to all DataComm members. Dear Brothers and Sisters: Since 1996, when the Telecommunications Act dropped the ban on Bell Operating Companies maintaining separate CPE companies like Datacomm (AT&T Global Services), our Union has gone to the bargaining table with the demand that our Datacomm/Local 21 members be placed in the Core Network contract with the rest of our AT&T members. It is a goal that has eluded our Union for 13 years. This week, we reached that goal when, as the Chair of TCC-7, I was called into Local 134’s Datacomm bargaining and presented with the opportunity to bring Local 134, our Local, along with Local 58 (Detroit) and Local 494 (Milwaukee) into the National IBEW System Council T-3 Agreement as near-intact attachments. This new agreement, although not complete, reconstructs our IBEW structure of National bargaining prior to the 1984 divestiture of the Bell System. That old structure took us nearly 25 years to achieve and ironically it has taken us the same amount of time to rebuild it. As I said, the job is not complete, but it sets up the conditions for us in 2012 negotiations to complete the work we started this week. Attached is a summary of the tentative agreement that we struck last night with AT&T. As with all tentative agreements, it must be ratified by a majority of members working in the bargaining unit. As the Chair of the TCC-7, I support this Agreement and recommend you vote YES to ratify it. In solidarity, Ronald E. Kastner, President-Business Manager & Financial Secretary Following is a Summary of Tentative Agreement - The Datacomm Agreement remains largely intact and is now attached to the national IBEW System Council T-3 “Core” Agreement with:
A cost of living allowance, if applicable, will be applied to the 2011 wage increase as follows: The amount of the October 30, 2011 adjustment to the wage increase shall be .5 times the increase above 4% in the CPI-W (Consumer Price Index less energy costs) for December 2010 over December 2009.
Datacomm members will be placed into the negotiated Core/Network Benefit Plan effective April 1, 2010. Datacomm members will now have access to available positions through the JOBS system which will allow a certain amount of qualified Datacomm people to transfer into Core/Network jobs as openings are available. Datacomm members now have an agreement with the company that if they sell or close all or part of the company, Datacomm workers will be given preferential placement for 30 days after layoff into Core-Network jobs. This Agreement replaces our successor clause. Successor language has been removed from all CWA and IBEW agreements up to this point. The company has given us their assurances that the Company is not for sale. A wage protection agreement guaranteeing Datacomm wages, overtime, differentials, vacations and other paid time-off to any worker accepting a Premise Tech position in Appendix C of the Core contract for the life of the Agreement. DataComm members, watch your mailbox for a package that includes a summary of the tentative agreement reached between IBEW Local 21 and AT&T on October 14, 2009, along with a ballot packet. Please read the materials carefully and return your ballot to the Union office in the business reply envelope provided. All ballots must be received by October 30, 2009, when they will be tallied and the results will be announced. If you have any questions, please contact Business Rep Michael Sacco at 630-222-9115, or Area Steward Ken Stachon at 630-650-6518. Stand Strong, Stand United, and most important, Stand Together! |
