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Written by Administrator
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Wednesday, 28 April 2010 13:21 |
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I have long joked that, from the Company perspective, it is never OK to lie to the Company, but it is always OK to lie for the Company. In the past, this has particularly applied to the various systems by which the Company measured work-group productivity and customer satisfaction. In this endeavor, we were teamed with our managers because their numbers were a reflection of our numbers. This is no longer the case. Enter Management System and Operating Control, or MSOC. While this system is being rolled out company-wide, I am most familiar with its banal evil in the outside world, so it is there to which I direct most of my observations. The proponents of MSOC claim it will “..drive the company towards operations and process excellence through behavioral changes..” In the short time since MSOC has been rolled out, we have seen the that the primary behavioral changes consist mainly of lies, apathy, confusion, finger-pointing and despair. Why is this?
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Written by Hooker
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Friday, 10 July 2009 07:55 |
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Editor's note: This is a reprint of an article from Info.Net, the Local newsletter that won first place for Best Opinion Column at the CWA International convention in June 2009. The article was first publishe in September 2008. The editor of Info.Net is Shelly Lubbinge who has tirelessly worked on the newsletter and for the Local as office manager. Under her leadership, the Local newsletter has garnered many national awards. The author is Hooker, who has an opinion.
Many of my friends suffer under the misapprehension that they are where they are in the company, and in life, because of their rugged good looks, charm and their supernatural ability to bring dial-tone to the masses. Sadly, brothers and sisters, this is not so. While many (OK, a few) of us possess these qualities, they are not enough, and have not been enough for some time. Only the collective effort of all of us, united behind our Union leadership, has brought us this far. More effort will soon be required.
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Last Updated on Friday, 10 July 2009 08:05 |
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Written by Hooker
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Friday, 20 February 2009 19:32 |
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Beginning no later than February 24th, 2009 I am asking the membership to re-think being a TLD for their managers. February 24th marks the first day of bargaining between AT&T and CWA; our mobilizing efforts during this time will be critical. Management is mobilizing, too. They are leaving their job duties to go train for our job duties. But, they have a problem. Management needs to cover the work-load and be far away at training, both at the same time. Enter the TLD. For the low, low price of just $14/day, a technician will sit at a manager's desk, answering a manager's phone and tell other technician where to go and what to do. Then, when and if we strike, that same manager will come and do our work, and/or supervise nasty scabs who cross our picket-line. Our contract states that members cannot be compelled to TLD; it is voluntary. Think, people! If you end up with a protracted strike, or a concessionary contract, be sure to thank a TLD. |
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Written by Administrator
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Thursday, 12 February 2009 13:51 |
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It began as a movement out of love for a brother who lost his life to a SCAB during the NYNEX strike of 1989. It was resolved that every Thursday we would show the Company that we are a UNITED and strong work force. That we would neither tolerate the injustice of Gerry’s death nor the disrespect the Company shows us each day…Not just at contract time…Not just when we are challenged with new or unfair policy…but every single day we come to work…especially on Thursdays. Tricia McNamara, the SCAB, had to get to work and drove her car through the line of picketers outside of her work area. In her haste, this summer SCAB struck down a strong union member, Brother Gerry Horgan. Gerry Hogan gave his life for what he believed in, for what he loved, for what he lived for. He wanted what we all want, a good life for his wife, his children, and his friends. Local 1103 in Westchester County N.Y. lost a Brother that day. A wife lost her husband and two little girls lost their daddy to Corporate GREED. This greed still exists today. The members of that Local wore red for the first time in Unity for Brother Gerry Horgan. That display of Unity is what CWA members are supposed to be all about. Is it too much to ask that we wear RED on Thursdays, to say with a color or your voice "I'm Proud To Be A Union Member, I'm Proud To Be With CWA!". Remember, wear RED on Thursday , and please remember Brother Gerry Horgan! |
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Written by Brian Hooker
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Saturday, 10 January 2009 16:52 |
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There's been some chatter that, even though there is an on-going surplus, Union members should continue to work overtime because this “hurts the Company,” and somehow informs the company that it should retain surplussed workers. On the face of it, this rationale makes sense; however, there are factors that many of us are not aware. Let's do some quick math... When we do $1 of work, we are paid $1.82 in pay and benefits. These benefits, bargained by our Union, include: paid vacation; 401k-matching; medical, dental, vision insurance; funeral leave time; paid holidays; and, especially, defined pension benefits (this list is not all-inclusive, there are many more benefits, but my point is clear). These bargained-for benefits, not “given to us” by the company, are calculated on a full-time basis for each employee; that is, if I work one hour of OT in a given day, I get the time-and-a-half for the salary portion, not the benefit portion. This means that for $1 of work, after 8 hours, I am paid $1.50. The $1.82 from the company only counts for straight-time work done by regular full-time employees. So, if you are an outside guy staying out on OT to catch up the repair load, you saved the company money (you were paid $1.50 for $1 worth of work)! If the company had to hire another regular full-time worker to catch up the repair load, it would have cost the company $1.82 for that same $1 of work. |
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Last Updated on Saturday, 10 January 2009 17:01 |
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Written by Brian Hooker
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Thursday, 11 December 2008 18:40 |
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Travel web site Expedia released the results of its eighth annual Vacation Deprivation survey, and the upshot for Americans is rough: Despite earning the least amount of annual vacation days, Americans will leave an average of 3 days unused—totaling more than 460 million in 2008. |
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Last Updated on Thursday, 11 December 2008 18:58 |
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Stewards' Notes
