Reader's Corner Page 4

I have mixed feelings about publishing the following letter, but have decided to do so with some "light" editing.

Mr. Tony Bixler
C.W.A.
411 Airport Blvd.
Burlingame, Ca.
Dear Sirs:
I am writing to you on behalf of the members of Local 9430. I wish to pass on to you the dissatisfaction that I am feeling toward C.W.A. District 9 leadership for their failure to take action against Pacific Bell for their blatant disregard of the recently signed Memorandum of Agreement regarding forced overtime.
It is my understanding that District 9 never wrote a letter expressing outrage at the company's disregard of the agreement, and never bothered to even make a telephone call. It is also my understanding that Mr. Quirk's response to our concerns was to instruct President Dunn to "file grievances"...I feel confident that this action by our C.W.A. leadership has the company shaking in their boots. You know and I know and the company knows that grievances take a year to get to the labor relations level, and longer to go to mediation or arbitration. Telling your Locals to file grievances is pretty much the same as doing nothing at all, at least in our view.
We look to our Union to protect us from unfair labor practices thrust upon us by our employer. We look to you to take action when the company openly trashes the contract. It is District 9 who bargains these agreements, and we look to you for satisfaction when the company thumbs their noses at us. So far, you have failed us miserably.
Technicians know that openly defying a direct order to report to work would most probably result in disciplinary action. We also know that a wildcat strike is illegal. We know that we can call in sick, but many of us are already marginal, or not meeting standards, which leaves us again open to disciplinary action by the employer. We feel that if District 9 were to call for a sanctioned strike vote, a very loud and clear message would be sent to the company, and no one would have to fear retaliation. We have heard that District 9 is fearful that the vote might come back negative, and this would make us look weak to the company. If the vote were to be positive, we would look strong to the company...if the vote comes back negative, then you can tell the membership to shut up about it, the vote was taken, and the answer was no. I, for one have faith in my Union brothers, I think people still realize that an injustice towards one is an injustice towards all. What happens in Northern California today might happen in Southern California tomorrow. It seems a shame that you as Union leaders don't have the same confidence in the membership who pays your salaries.
It seems obvious to me...we are all looking to you for action and satisfaction. Please don't let us down.
Many of our tech's have been working forced overtime for over one year now...straight. We were all elated with the new Memorandum, at last, a chance to spend some weekends with our families. Who would have thought that it would only last a month before the company suspended it, citing emergency conditions. Who would have thought that District 9 would fail to react?
As you may know, our Local has been active in fighting off the company's labor practices by publishing a page on the world wide web. The Local also has a policy of printing, unedited, letters that it receives from it's members. I have been told that not only do the members anxiously await news on the web site, so does the company, and at least one well known San Francisco newspaper does as well. It is my intention to pass this letter on to the web site. I hope that you understand that our intentions are merely to spark District 9 into action, since you seem to be slow on taking the initiative on your own.
Thank you for your due consideration,
A frustrated technician in the North Peninsula

Setting The Record Straight

To: letters@examiner.com
CC: cwa9430@ix.netcom.com
From: Name Withheld
Dear Editor:
Concerning the article (December 11,1996) by Mr. Louis Trager regarding Pacific Bell's recent "state of emergency" declaration, I feel I must point out an inaccuracy.
The statement "a Pacific Bell spokesman said the company had forced overtime three weekends this year," is misleading. The technicians on the San Francisco Peninsula have been forced to work at least sixteen Saturdays and four Sundays in the past year, and that is only a portion of the 182 total forced (ten hours or more per shift) days during 1996. And we're still counting.
Recent changes by Pacific Bell in its management tactics - downsizing, rearranging the workforce and attrition - have reduced our ability to provide the service that has been expected of us. As a result of these changes, productivity has literally been cut in half - and according to the company it is the fault of the workers!
As one of the Service Technicians on the Peninsula, I may be biased in this matter, but I think that people should be reminded that we are the men and women who climb the poles, crawl under the houses and spend countless hours in manholes and bucket trucks in all types of weather - night and day. It is rigorous work in the best of conditions - even on a straight 40 hour week. Add commute time to a 10 to12 hour shift, do it six or seven days a week for over a year and you'll find there is little time for any kind of quality life.
Historically the phone service technicians have willingly put in the necessary extra hours to meet the demands of the winter load with the understanding that the storms won't last forever. For Pacific Bell to ignore contracts and agreements, and demand that its employees sacrifice their lives year round because of their inadequacies and short-sightedness borders on criminal.
Those who have spoken up on these matters, even constructively, have been systematically harassed and threatened with unpaid suspensions and dismissals. I cannot sign my name for fear of reprisal, but my identity - and the information above - is verifiable through our local union, CWA 9430.
Public relations carries a lot of weight with Pacific Bell; we are hoping that illuminating these conditions, as you have done, will hasten the end of this forced labor marathon. I know I speak for many of Pacific Bell's employees by saying I appreciate the attention given to this matter by Mr. Trager and the Examiner. Thank you for listening.
Les - Pacific Bell Employee

I am delighted to see that others are trying to turn the spotlight on the company's "dirty little secrets".
ED

Pac Bell Logic...(or lack thereof)

To: cwa9430
From: Name Withheld
I felt like I just had to get my two cents worth in on the topic of bringing technicians out to California from Kansas City without trucks. Lets say that for whatever reason, it was not possible to have the loaner technicians bring their trucks with them.
Let's also give the company the benefit of a doubt, and say that the loaner technicians are not going to be lost in a strange land, and are going to be fully productive just as soon as they hit the streets...this equals one technician.
Now lets consider the problem of not having a vehicle for him or her to drive.
The Pacific Bell solution is to take one vehicle away from an existing technician, give it to the loaner technician, and have the now truckless Pacific Bell technician "double up" with another Pacific Bell technician...this equals two technicians doing the work of one. The net result equals this, no matter how you look at it...
Loaner technician = one technician (maybe)
Two Pacific Bell technicians in one truck = one technician!!
What has all of this moving around accomplished? You brought a significant number of technicians out here from back east, and ended up with absolutely no more productivity than you had in the first place, but what you have done is significantly increased your operating costs. You had to fly these people out here, put them up in a hotel somewhere, feed them, and break them in.
This is not to mention what you have done to the attitudes of the Pacific Bell technicians who had to give up their vehicles for the S.B.C. technicians.
Solutions such as this one is the PRIME reason that Pacific Bell is in the position that they are in today folks, and take it from an insider, this position is not a good one for Pacific Bell, it's employees, S.B.C. or the rate payers!
Who is it good for? Well I guess the technicians who are coming out here from back east are happy, they are making really good money, getting to visit the west coast, getting put up in a pretty decent hotel, and being fed pretty good grub, not to mention the fact that they are getting all of the overtime that any one person could possibly stomach!
GOOD SOLUTION PACIFIC BELL MANAGEMENT...why not give yourselves another BIG bonus!!!

Thanks To E. Benner

I enjoy your newsletter very much. Some very insightful comments by E. Benner. Here is wishing you and your members a very happy, prosperous and un-forced filled New Year.

Plug, Punch, Bite & Scratch

To ALL those who Plugged and Punched and Bit and Scratched (you know who you are!)
I can't think of a better sentiment in the last few hours of this very tough year than to simply say
THANKS for being there.
It's not over yet, but are you sensing some cracks in the corporate veneer? I am.
I predict they will GO DOWN for the count in '97!
Les

A Hard Rain Is Going To Fall

I think it's already falling. The electronic web is entangling our management in their own abuses and dehumanizing decision-making. Our members, because of your effort, have become one of the best informed groups within the telephone community, including Australia!
I'm looking forward to the next three years. We have a great team, officially, and a great team of "guerillas." The Braxtons, Jerolds, Skippys, Stretches, Kalubafeks, and Lesters, are probably our strongest assets in the coming months.
We have to remember, like the football 49ers, to have fun during the games and battles. We need to play relaxed and enjoy the game! Our models probably should not be Zsa Zsa Gabor, "relax and enjoy it!" But more like Joe Montana during the Super Bowl (with Cincinnati?) when he saw John Candy in the crowd and then went on to lead the winning drive toward victory!
Let's all have a Merry Christmas, even if it is looking through the windshield of a Company van.
Signed, Skippy Machiavelli

Follow The Money

By Braxton J. Hicks

I read this letter on the "conferrence" section of sfgate.com, and found it to be so good that I wanted to reproduce it here.
If you haven't checked out sfgate.com yet DO IT!!!

Regulated Monopoly to Free Enterprise System - that’s what the breakup of AT&T was all about. You know - create competition, drive prices down, benefit the consumer, ad nauseam. Has it worked? Are your phone bills lower? Is the phone equipment you buy up to snuff - and if so, how do you know? (It’s now possible to actually own your very own Sports Illustrated Football Phone!) Have we, the consumer, benefited?
Is it possible for a regulated monopoly to exist and still foster competition? Does the Post Office as a regulated monopoly coexist with UPS and Federal Express? How’s that working out? Scary comparison -we’ll be hearing people say, "D’ja hear about Harry? --Did he go Postal?-- No, he went Telephonal."
FOLLOW THE MONEY. The prognosticators have been busy-- like Robert Harris, a business professor at Berkeley, who predicted that wireline service will be eclipsed by wireless in the next few years (I’m not so sure he has factored in things like existing systems, security, efficiency, cost, etc.). Eclipsed? Probably. Next few years? Not so sure. But this is where the MONEY comes in. Our Boys have bought into the myth! They’ve scooped up their chips on the Wireline Table (the table that currently exists) and have scurried over to shoot craps on the Mystical Technology Table (still under construction). Remember the fourth law of thermodynamics: Air Is Cheaper Than Copper Wire So We Won’t Have To Pay Anyone To Maintain It. Or something like that. The bean counters are salivating.
FOLLOW THE MONEY. Remember a few years ago when Pacific Bell surplused Splicers (why not? --new technologies are just around the corner) -- and now we hear that there are at least 800 cross connect facilities in the Bay Area that are maxed out? Not a problem. Look at the money they saved. And now they can hire back "retired" technicians with no benefits and scab labor from Oklahoma and Texas (Hmm?), even though these incompetents are creating more work than they are saving. PacBell’s still selling service they know they can’t immediately provide--why not? They’ll catch up eventually. Why would they care if customers have to wait several months for a decent cable pair? Where else are they going to go for service? So much for competition.
FOLLOW THE MONEY. So a couple of years ago Pac Bell made a little booboo. They spun off AirTouch, their money maker of the future, their biggest potential for future growth. Not a problem. Enter SBC, the third largest provider of wireless in the world, I’m told. I’m picturing a fellow in a white Stetson hat stepping off the corporate jet (there are no direct flights between Amarillo and San Francisco) saying, "Whitacre’s the name boys, E. E. Whitacre, Junior. And I’m here to help! Now, I’m not askin’ y’all to sell your souls - this ain’t Damn Yankees - I’m just askin’ y’all to sell your company." Our boys look uncomfortable, concerned. Whitacre shields his speech with his hand and says, "Don’t worry, boys, we’ll call it a merger." Smiles all around. So is the merger going to have a positive affect for the California consumers? Kathy Oram, a spokeswoman for AT&T (from the SF Chronicle): "The question is how it plays out in local competition,'' she said. "SBC's territory has some of the most anticompetitive behavior and laws on the books, and we hope they don't bring that into California.'' She called on state regulators to scrutinize it closely. Speakin’ o’which...
FOLLOW THE MONEY. OH-OH. It’s those damn pests - the Public Utilities Commission - snooping around, asking questions like, "will this merger benefit the consumers of California, you know, the ones to whom you sell your service?" Service? Consumers? Hmm, Good question. We had forgot about all that. Not a problem. We’ll just go to the Division of Ratepayer Advocates (DRA, a consumer-rights arm of the state Public Utilities Commission) and see if they can spritz a little water on the fires of controversy. After all, they are the "consumer-advocacy group" that was paid $237,000 to scrutinize the AirTouch spinoff back in April of ’94. They recommended 1 billion in compensation to ratepayers for the spinoff. The five member commission rejected the rebate and allowed the spinoff to occur anyway. Oh well. So PacBell and SBC are now paying the DRA $150,000 to help determine whether the proposed $24 BILLION merger is in the ratepayer’s best interests. I guess there’s nothing wrong in accepting money from the company they are scrutinizing, especially when your own agency has been strapped by state budget cuts. Oh well again.
FOLLOW THE MONEY. Golden Parachutes worth 27 million --Bonuses at the top based on revenues generated by selling services that don’t exist -- Not plowing any money back into the system - Bright shiny packages tied up with string - these are a few of their favorite things. And it’s not as though these guys don’t trust each other -- they’ve set up a $300 million "termination fee" for EITHER side, lest someone breach the "merger" deal. Where would THAT money come from? By the way, lets take a real quick look at some of PacBell’s more recent compensations, despite a financial slump at the time: Fitzpatrick, $597,375 to $780,383, 30 percent; Quigley, 20 percent from $1.34 million to $1.61 million; Dorman, $793,750 to $1.04 million in ’94 - a mere 31 percent (not to mention restricted stocks worth $1.39 million at year-end). Put your hand in your pockets and pull up your socks, boys.
FOLLOW THE MONEY. I have a friend who works in close proximity to the big boys. He’s not a participant -- not even close - says security is capital T Tight - but he’s a casual observer who sees the boys as they come and go to their closed door sessions. The observation that he’s made concerning the merger deal is that the boys from Texas come out of these meetings with yellow feathers dripping from their chins, and Our Boys come out looking like they just stepped in a warm fresh one. Make of it what you will. I discussed some of these things with an officer of the company. He, distressed at my naivete, put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Son, you are stupid because you have no idea about what goes on inside the black box." I said, "True, but I know what’s coming out of the black box, and I’m pretty sure it’s the same thing Our Boys are tracking out of those meetings."
So if you’re still wondering what I mean by FOLLOW THE MONEY, let U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich make the final observation: since 1979, the richest fifth of the country has seen annual earnings go up by 25 percent, while the poorest fifth has taken a 10 percent cut in earnings.
Just some things to think about...

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