Reader's Corner Page 5

Some people dance in the New Year. Others, like the management of Pacific Bell, knew they blew it big time so they went to their spin doctors in advertising and conjured up this expensive load of #*!@.
Not everyone took the Holidays off, not everyone could. Pacific Bell employees were forced to work overtime for the 200th time in the past year because the management doesn't know its anus from an excavation. Phil Quigley and Dave Dorman padded their golden parachutes to the tune of a couple of mil by strip-mining a public utility.
Marty Kaplan was asleep at the wheel as usual.
Randy "no comprende" Strahan just can't figure out where all of the work could possibly be coming from - especially since the plant was effectively abandoned years ago, in a classic corporate down-sizing move that borders on criminal negligence.
To Linda Standen - love your nails. And Frank Simanson - love your nails.
Last but not least, little Skippy Mabry is headed South to Mountain View. It's a start; another four hundred miles and he will be back in L.A. - where he should have stayed in the first place - and please take Frank and Linda with you.
So to all of the Pacific Bell Managers who participated in irreparably fouling up what once was a pretty good telecommunications system, the people who actually do work at Pacific Bell would just like to take this opportunity to respond to your feeble gratitude by saying, "KISS MY BELL SYSTEM BUTT."
Author Unknown

Rank Has Privileges

To: cwa9430
From: Name Withheld
So many of our workers now are going into their 4th forced OT weekend, supposedly 10 hour days, and we are doing 1 HOUR TURN-AROUNDS! Many of our customers have been waiting days for a repair....that's what is so quizzical about this particular case of trouble.
Another rather interesting thing is that this was not a medical emergency, a handicapped person with only one line, or a household with a single line. The CBR (can be reached) number was an "addline" at the same residence.
I'm sure all Pacific Bell customers, at this time of year, would like to know this customer's secret for getting such a wonderful response from an overloaded workforce. A workforce that is stretched so far that management has FINALLY decided to bring technicians in from Southwestern Bell and Canada to meet the demands of their customers for new service and repair of existing service. Customers, business and residence, are waiting many days for a technician to arrive because of the recent storms, "add-line campaigns" and lack of facilities that have overwhelmed the infrastructure set up by current the management.
Why, Randy Strahan, couldn't you have predicted the growth in our business? "Nobody could have predicted it!" We, the employees and the customers of Pacific Bell are getting rather tired of you repeating this same pathetic statement in every article written about the troubles at Pacific Bell! Pardon me, but don't you make a pretty good salary to PREPARE our Company to work smoothly, efficiently, and for the good of the Public. Especially when the future you are predicting is created by YOUR advertising campaigns and the other ways of manipulating the desires of the public to buy our products. When our Company is successful in creating a demand for our products doesn't it seem pretty important to be able to deliver the products! Strategic planning was somehow missing this time around. Didn't they teach any of this at any of the Business Schools that you (Professional Managers) have attended in the past. Why have so many of our management "brains" spent their summers at Harvard and Stanford learning from the BEST! What a total waste of the RATE PAYERS MONEY!
Well, I can't hold the suspense any longer. This particular customer lives in Hillsborough. HE IS ALSO A NEIGHBOR OF PHIL QUIGLEY! Yes, that's right. You just have to live in the right town and be a neighbor of our CEO. East Palo Alto, sorry! Pacifica, sorry! San Jose, sorry! Millbrae, sorry! Sunnyvale, sorry! Pacific Heights, maybe! Orinda, maybe! Atherton, maybe! Hillsborough, "we'll have someone there in an hour...what was that street you live on, again?" RANK HAS ITS PRIVILEGE! MONEY AND RANK HAVE A LOT OF PRIVILEGE! THOSE ARE THE COLD HARD FACTS OF LIFE!

We're Here To Help

To:cwa9430@ix.netcom.com
From: Name Withheld
I just wanted to relay a story of a job that goes something like this:
A technician had an installation that was originally committed for 1-7-97, but had been subsequently changed to 1-22-97.
It was given to him on 1-7-97, and he went ahead and did the order, but of course when he checked for dial tone, there was none. He asked the customer about the new commitment date, and, of course the customer knew nothing about it, as a matter of fact, he was due to leave for Europe, and won't even be in the United States on the new due date of 1-22-97!!
The tech called management at the yard to get instructions, but nobody bothered to return his calls. He called management in the Center for assistance, but nobody would return his calls there either!! All in all, he made 7 phone calls to try to get this customers telephone service turned on, and it took way too much time out of his day. (he is probably less than acceptable anyway)To make matters worse, the center called him and wanted to know why he was over-running!!!
Why is management changing due dates without the customers approval? And then why do they send it to the field two weeks before the new due date when they know that the dial tone is not due to be turned on for another two weeks?
To make a long story short, he finally did get the service working with the assistance of a very nice MLAC person who cared enough to do a lot of work that should have been done by someone else...this was in no way due to any cooperation that they received from management!!!
Is this any way to run a company???
I guess this is the new Pac Bell!!

"Steely Eyes" Was Red As A Tomato

Word coming out of San Francisco: On Friday Frank "Steely Eyes" Simanson showed up at one of the yards and the service techs really laid into him. Things became so heated that some of the first line managers couldn't take it any more and slipped out of the room. According to a very reliable source, Frank was called some very derogatory names right to his face! Frank, at this point became so "hot" that he took off his jacket and his face was so red it "looked like a ripe tomato about ready to explode!"

If any of you SF techs reading this were there or care to add details to this story be sure to FAX us something, call us directly, or send E-mail to our Web Site.
CWA Local 9430: Ph. (415) 525-9430, FAX 525-9432
E-mail: cwa9430@ix.netcom.com

They're Here

To: cwa9430@ix.netcom.com
From: Name Withheld
I was talking to a girl in MLAC today, I found out that there are approximately 61 loaner techs from SBC, and approx. 50 techs that came in last week from Canada. Starting tomorrow, Monday, there are another 100 techs coming in from Canada. No wonder management is asking us for our preferences! The pendulum is starting to swing. In a little while everybody is going to be ragging on the Union for cutting all the OT!

I can't help but wonder if our short sighted managers thought to put on any additional support personnel? With all of these extra techs floating around, there is bound to be an increased demand for MLAC and MA types.
I also heard that the splicers that showed up have been banned from going into the underground in order to complete a p788! Does this make sense to anyone? It sure doesn't make any sense to me
As far as cutting the overtime goes...I'll believe it when I see it!!!
ED

Letter To The Editor

Letter to the Editor
The San Francisco Chronicle/Examiner
FAX (415) 512-1264
There is a tragic, inhumane drama entitled, "State of Emergency" playing on a nearby street in your neighboorhood. You may have already caught it; but if you haven't, don't worry.....it's been running for 75+ weeks, and the way things are going, it could be around for an even longer run. The main characters are Mismanagement, played by Pacific Bell; Corporate Slaves, played by Pacific Bell technicians, installers, repairmen, cable splicers; and literally a cast of thousands representing concerned spouses and parents, children, friends, and customers.
(Def. Emergency, n, an unforeseen happening or state of affairs requiring prompt attention.) For over 1 ½ years the Corporate Slaves have been forced to work 10-hour physically and mentally demanding days for six to seven days a week due to the poor planning of Mismanagement. It is not uncommon for these people to come in at the end of yet another exhausting day to be informed that their one day off has been cancelled due to "the emergency." These long hours, of course, require working on into the dark; they are not equipped with proper night gear (what an exciting scene: a repairman weighted down with a heavy tool belt attempting to climb an already unmaintained pole at night with a flashlight gripped between his or her teeth.)
I attended a backstage gathering of some of the cast recently, and was appaled to see the physical condition of these people. They have repeatedly expressed to Mismanagement that they are totally exhausted, and voiced their concerns about operating a vehicle in this condition and meeting rigorous demands of their workday safely. All to no avail. Definitions, rights, rules, laws in place to avoid these unacceptable working conditions are either redefined or totally ignored, whichever is to the benefit or convenience of Mismanagement. But there is not a total absence of subtle humor in this drama, folks. The motto of Pacific Bell is: "No job is so important and no service is so urgent that we cannot take time to perform our work safely."
This is a despicable pot of travesty and injustice already simmering on the back burner; what is it going to take to bring this shameful situation to an end before it boils over and innocent people fatally hurt? These people have no personal lives, their families and loved ones have been virtually exorcised, and, most important, they have reached the bottom or their emotional and physical wells. This drama is ongoing; it cries for the support of the audience and a positive closure. Put your hands together, folks, and help put an end to a play that shuld be put to bed!

Joan Y. Kienker
A Concerned Parent
Ruidoso, New Mexico

By The Way...Love Your Nails

Some people dance in the New Year. Others, like the management of Pacific Bell, knew they blew it big time so they went to their spin doctors in advertising and conjured up this expensive load of crap.
Not everyone took the Holidays off, not everyone could. Pacific Bell employees were forced to work overtime for the 200th time in the past year because the management doesn't know its anus from an excavation. Phil Quigley and Dave Dorman padded their golden parachutes to the tune of a couple of mil by strip-mining a public utility.
Marty Kaplan was asleep at the wheel as usual.
Randy "no comprende" Strahan just can't figure out where all of the work could possibly be coming from - especially since the plant was effectively abandoned years ago, in a classic corporate down-sizing move that borders on criminal negligence.
To Linda Standen - love your nails. And Frank Simanson - love your nails.
Last but not least, little Skippy Mabry is headed South to Mountain View. It's a start; another four hundred miles and he will be back in L.A. - where he should have stayed in the first place - and please take Frank and Linda with you.
So to all of the Pacific Bell Managers who participated in irreparably fouling up what once was a pretty good telecommunications system, the people who actually do work at Pacific Bell would just like to take this opportunity to respond to your feeble gratitude by saying, "KISS MY BELL SYSTEM BUTT."
Author Unknown

We Need Your Stories and Experiences!!! If you have a story or a news item that you would like to see published here, don't hesitiate to let us know about it. E mail us at cwa9430@cwa9430.org We would love to hear from you.

Page created by: cwa9430@cwa9430.org
Changes last made on: Sat Dec 28, 1996