Contract Explanations and Ratification Votes

As previously mentioned, we will have contract explanation meetings at the Union Hall at 405 50th Street on Thursday, 3/22/2012. The meetings will be from 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM and 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

The district will be holding a explanation conference call on Sunday, 3/25/2012 at 7:00 PM. It is not anticipated that there will be time allotted for questions on this call.

We are asking our local membership to submit all questions they have about this tentative agreement to the local as soon as possible, but no later than Wednesday, 3/28/2012.

We will hold our ratification votes at the Mobility Call Center on Thursday, 3/29/2012 and Friday, 3/30/2012. We are spreading the vote out over two days to make sure that everyone has a chance to vote.

Tentative Agreement Explanation Meeting

Monday, 3/12/2012 Malashon, Cora and Erin will be attending the tentative agreement explanation meeting, taking place between noon and five pm. They will be passing information back to the union hall as the meeting takes place so that we can keep the membership informed through the website, facebook and twitter.

We will hold a local explanation meeting as soon as practical to make sure everyone has an understanding of this tentative agreement in advance of a ratification vote. We will announce details as they become available.

Working Without A Contract: What It Means for Us

As we all know, our contract expired at 12:01 AM on 2/25/2012. Our bargaining committee was in talks with AT&T at that time, talks which continued late into the night. Unfortunately, AT&T continues to push for concessions that we simply cannot accept. Last night AT&T’s bargaining committee declined offers to continue working under the terms of our current contract or “stop the clock” while bargaining continues, and we have elected to work without a contract for the time being.

AT&T may not care about it’s employees or its customers, but we certainly do. Working without a contract means that we will continue to report to work as always, ready and willing to help. We will continue to go above and beyond for our customers, protecting the company’s reputation and demonstrating our superior customer service skills.

The terms and conditions of our employment remain the same, including pay and benefits such as our pensions and health care. Our grievance procedures are largely unaffected, though we may lose the ability to take grievances to arbitration during this period; relying instead on our bargaining committee to negotiate any disciplinary actions at the bargaining table.

An important aspect of working without a contract is that we no longer have a “no strike / no lockout” agreement, meaning that the company has the right to decide to lock us out of work. While we consider this unlikely, we are prepared for the possibility. In the state of Texas you are eligible for unemployment benefits in the event of a lockout, and under normal circumstances we cannot be permanently replaced, regardless of the rhetoric. Remember — we have the right to strike. At this time, we are not exercising that right out of concern for AT&T’s customers and our membership. We are dedicated to continuing to provide a superior customer service experience.

During these contract negotiations, your direct managers often feel extraordinary pressure. Follow all company policies and procedures to the letter. Never rely on your experience and memory when assisting a customer, always use the company-provided reference materials. Work safely, stay strong and stay united. Do not put your stressed-out supervisors in a position where they need to discipline you. They will almost certainly be expected to be doing everything exactly by the book at this time, do not take your good rapport with your manager for granted.

It cannot be stressed enough: You’re all experts at your jobs. Make an extra effort to shine every moment of every day during these negotiations. When customers want to speak with or write to management to sing your praises, help them to do so. Take no shortcuts in your jobs; follow instructions to the letter. Adapt to changing instructions and stay united. Keep in close contact with your stewards and your local. Throughout the district, the locals are united. AT&T sees this unity, and when they see that delays cannot chip away at it, we will prevail in winning the good, fair contract we deserve.

During the days ahead we ask that our members keep in mind our brothers and sisters in districts 1, 4, 9 and Legacy T whose contracts are all set to expire on April the 7th, and are gearing up for similar negotiations with AT&T.

Bargaining Update Call Information

Tonight’s bargaining update call was an informative one. For those who missed it, an archive of the call will be available at district6.cwa-union.org/mobilitycall later this week, and you can review the earlier calls as well.

Among the many issues covered, we have been asked to take time to dial 888-877-2040 to express our support for HR 3596, the United States Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act. Please get involved with supporting this important legislation and ask family and friends to get involved too; this affects everyone you know and could make a real difference for our local community as well.

Also discussed on the call were strike authorization ballots. As mentioned, this does not mean we are on strike, or are voting to strike. We are voting to give the Union authority to authorize a strike in the event that the bargaining committee and the company are not able to come to an agreement on a good, fair contract. It is very important that the bargaining committee be able to demonstrate broad support for this measure from our membership; solidarity on this issue is both the best way to ensure the best contract possible as well as reducing the possibility of an actual strike. The company will want to avoid the possibility of a strike when they see that we are all united on this issue.

For a strike authorization ballot, see a steward. We will be distributing the ballots to stewards as early as tomorrow and expect them to be widely available by the end of this week.

February Meeting Reminder

Local 6203’s monthly meeting is to be held this Tuesday, February 7th. The Executive Board meeting is at 5:30 PM, with the general membership meeting begining at 6:30 PM. These meetings are your forum; they are your opportunity to have questions and concerns addressed, they are your chance to vote on issues including how your dues money is spent. Grab a fellow member or two and make every effort to be here!

Bargaining Begins!

Kicking Things Off

District 6 Bargaining begain at 10:00 AM today, January 31st, 2012. Locally, Cora Ward got us off to a start first thing this morning, signing up new members and helping to provide information to our membership. We had several others on hand to help as the day went by and all in all it was a good start to the process for us.

As of 4:30 PM we have signed up nine new members, a great start to bargaining!

One of our concerns is that the company may push to include a Leveraged Service Representative title in this contract, something we are deeply opposed to. We have reached out to every local in the district to express our concern, and the response has been largely in agreement with our position.

Unfortunately, we have had less luck getting a commitment — or even a response — from the district on this important issue. We have reached out to District 6 Vice President Claude Cummings and are anxiously awaiting a reply.

There will be a special meeting tonight at 6:30 PM for the Core Leveraged Service Reps. Members are welcome to come listen in to find out about the working conditions these members endure and hear about their concerns.