Hi
It is August 21, 2004 and all hell has broken out. We now have a dress code that we do not recognize. We also have a new tardiness and absence process. I guess we don’t have any rights anymore, and our contract doesn’t mean anything to the management of White Plains. Although, we have and item that covers appearance guidelines [page 335} the company has made up their own rules. So when you are spoken to about your appearance, simply file a grievance.
For the forty-four years that I have been involved with AT&T, we have never had this much trouble. I guess we will have to request from Dave Dorman that Labor Relations hold classes for the management of White Plains and explain Articles 1 & 2 and the Common Bond with them. Oh! Wait a minute, the Common Bond is only meant for the occupational. I forgot. Obviously, it is only meant for us, because if it applied to management, then C. Michael Armstrong would not have been able to take our customers with him when he went to Comcast. Nor would he have been able to make a deal, for his own personal gain, such as the salary and title he got with Comcast. But that is long past and there is nothing that can be done about that. Besides we have bigger problems to deal with.
As if the problems aren’t enough dealing with our local management, we also are still having problems with Article 43. It seems the National Union put out a letter to all those techs who left the payroll either through VTP or were surplused. They are getting letters asking them if they would like to be on the variable work force. I have gotten several calls regarding the letter. I certainly have no way to explain it, as I didn’t send the letter out. In fact, we are still calling Washington to see if we could do something about this new and “wonderful” article.
It boggles me as to why anyone would get in touch with techs who are off the payroll, when you still have techs working. Even though the company representing the variable work force is union, I can’t imagine why you would make it easy to lay off our techs who are still working. I would think you would send these letters out when the company offers VTP to the techs and do not have people to do the work. But that is just my way of thinking.
If you would like to express your feelings to someone,
Then send your letters to:
Gerald Souder
Staff Rep.
501 Third Street, N.W.
Washington, D. C. 20001-2797
or
Ralph Maly
- P. of C. & T.
Washington, D.C. 20001-2797
In unity,
Mary Lou
First of all, I would like to thank Henry Hanna for the Website. Henry built the website and has been updating it daily. Thanks to him we received a notice from Washington that the “Website of the week belongs to CWA Local 1153 of Valhalla, N.Y." When you see Henry, be sure to congratulate him and thank him, as he did the work without anyone assisting him.
We met with the Connecticut members Tuesday the 22nd of June and met some of the LNS techs. They were signed up and one has volunteered to become a steward. Lets hope this new article will not cause the demise of our on-site workforce.
We did win a grievance that would have brought one of our peers back to the job. Billie Bates worked very hard at getting him his back salary, his benefits and any bills incurred during the time of layoff to be paid. His service would have been bridged and would be starting back at the job June 1, 2004. However, the grievant was no longer interested in working for AT&T any longer. Thanks to Billie for all his hard work.
We are receiving many grievances regarding management doing your work. We have already filed charges with the NLRB. The more grievances we get, the stronger it will make our case. If you see a manager working on a ticket, please get a copy of that and fill out a grievance form. We are fighting an up hill war and need all the ammo we can get.
A grievance has recently been filed because of a so called dress code. It seems management would have other things to be concerned about with everything else caving in on us other than harassing members. We haven’t has a dress code since the 70’s. Why this should be a concern of management now boggles me. The reason management did away with a dress code is because they found people worked better and their and attendance improved. You may have to prove to them there is a reason why we should not attempt another dress code. Besides if they are going to tell you that shorts and hats are not allowed, then they should follow the rules themselves. For the manager who said he could wear shorts because he wasn’t on duty. News flash - management is on duty 24-7.
In Unity
Mary Lou
