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2004 SBC Bargaining Gets Underway for 100,000
Washington, D.C. – Bargaining kicks off tomorrow for contracts covering approximately 102,000 members of the Communications Workers of America employed at SBC Communications in four geographic regions.
* For 32,000 workers at SBC West, formerly Pacific Bell, bargaining begins Feb. 12 in Pleasanton, Calif.; the contract expires April 1.
* For 27,000 workers at SBC Midwest, formerly Ameritech, bargaining begins Feb. 20 in Chicago; the contract expires. April 3.
* For 37,000 workers at SBC Southwest, formerly Southwestern Bell, negotiations get underway Feb. 20 in Austin, Texas; the contract expires April 3.
* For 6,000 workers at SBC East, formerly Southern New England Telephone in Connecticut, negotiations begin Feb. 23 in New Haven; that contract expires April 3.
CWA President Morton Bahr said the union is going into contract talks at SBC with the goal of reaching a fair agreement, and on time.
"The continued success of SBC is important to our members. CWA members have been a key part of SBC's growth and expect to be an important part of the company's future. Workers have invested their livelihoods in this company – they want to share in SBC's success," Bahr said.
Among the bargaining issues for workers is jobs and employment security. This means access for workers to new jobs in the growth areas of the company, which include Internet services, DSL, data networks, including wireless, VoIP and long distance service. Maintaining quality health care benefits for active and retired members and improving pension benefits also are key goals. For customer service representatives and operators, improving conditions so that workers can provide the quality and level of customer service that will enable SBC to succeed in a competitive industry is a critical concern. This means addressing and easing the pressures of abusive quotas, monitoring and forced overtime.
Over the years, CWA and SBC have worked together, building a partnership that has brought success to the company and its workforce. In this round of bargaining, CWA members expect to share in the company's success.
Industry and SBC Outlook
SBC now provides 3.5 million DSL lines, adding 377,000 in the last quarter of 2003, an increase of 60 percent over the fourth quarter of 2002. Its long distance strategy is working well; SBC added 2.9 million long distance lines last quarter, bringing its total to 14.4 million. Cingular Wireless, jointly owned by SBC and BellSouth, has seen another 642,000 subscribers come on board, with 24 million at the end of 2003. SBC's bundled services will only increase in value with the launch later this month of SBC Dish Network.
SBC's strategy of bundling services, products and technologies is proving to be very successful. For 2003, each SBC employee generated $50,300 in profits for the company, after wages and other operating costs were met.
Overall, SBC's financial outlook is strong and positive, due in large part to the hard work, technical skill and productivity of CWA members. Since 2001, worker productivity at SBC has improved 6.8 percent as measured by revenue per wireline employee.
[source: CWA Research and SBC company reports]
Additional Information
SBC East – covers workers in Connecticut.
CWA District 1 Vice President is Larry Mancino, New York, N.Y.
Media coordinator: Dennis Trainor, 212-344-7332 and Pat Telesco, 203-288-3440
SBC Midwest – covers workers in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin.
CWA District 4 Vice President is Jeff Rechenbach, Cleveland, Ohio.
Media coordinator: Seth Rosen, 440-333-6363
SBC Southwest – covers workers in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas.
CWA District 6 Vice President is Andy Milburn, Austin, Tex.
Media coordinator: Bill Davis and Mike Littleton, 512-330-0871
SBC West – covers workers in California and Nevada.
CWA District 9 Vice President is Tony Bixler, Sacramento, Calif.
Media coordinator: Jim Gordon, 916-921-4500
Issues and information about SBC bargaining are available at ga.cwa-union.org/sbc. Contact Jeff Miller, CWA communications director, or Candice Johnson, associate director, for more information at 202-434-1168 and by email at jmiller@cwa-union.org and cjohnson@cwa-union.org.
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* For 32,000 workers at SBC West, formerly Pacific Bell, bargaining begins Feb. 12 in Pleasanton, Calif.; the contract expires April 1.
* For 27,000 workers at SBC Midwest, formerly Ameritech, bargaining begins Feb. 20 in Chicago; the contract expires. April 3.
* For 37,000 workers at SBC Southwest, formerly Southwestern Bell, negotiations get underway Feb. 20 in Austin, Texas; the contract expires April 3.
* For 6,000 workers at SBC East, formerly Southern New England Telephone in Connecticut, negotiations begin Feb. 23 in New Haven; that contract expires April 3.
CWA President Morton Bahr said the union is going into contract talks at SBC with the goal of reaching a fair agreement, and on time.
"The continued success of SBC is important to our members. CWA members have been a key part of SBC's growth and expect to be an important part of the company's future. Workers have invested their livelihoods in this company – they want to share in SBC's success," Bahr said.
Among the bargaining issues for workers is jobs and employment security. This means access for workers to new jobs in the growth areas of the company, which include Internet services, DSL, data networks, including wireless, VoIP and long distance service. Maintaining quality health care benefits for active and retired members and improving pension benefits also are key goals. For customer service representatives and operators, improving conditions so that workers can provide the quality and level of customer service that will enable SBC to succeed in a competitive industry is a critical concern. This means addressing and easing the pressures of abusive quotas, monitoring and forced overtime.
Over the years, CWA and SBC have worked together, building a partnership that has brought success to the company and its workforce. In this round of bargaining, CWA members expect to share in the company's success.
Industry and SBC Outlook
SBC now provides 3.5 million DSL lines, adding 377,000 in the last quarter of 2003, an increase of 60 percent over the fourth quarter of 2002. Its long distance strategy is working well; SBC added 2.9 million long distance lines last quarter, bringing its total to 14.4 million. Cingular Wireless, jointly owned by SBC and BellSouth, has seen another 642,000 subscribers come on board, with 24 million at the end of 2003. SBC's bundled services will only increase in value with the launch later this month of SBC Dish Network.
SBC's strategy of bundling services, products and technologies is proving to be very successful. For 2003, each SBC employee generated $50,300 in profits for the company, after wages and other operating costs were met.
Overall, SBC's financial outlook is strong and positive, due in large part to the hard work, technical skill and productivity of CWA members. Since 2001, worker productivity at SBC has improved 6.8 percent as measured by revenue per wireline employee.
[source: CWA Research and SBC company reports]
Additional Information
SBC East – covers workers in Connecticut.
CWA District 1 Vice President is Larry Mancino, New York, N.Y.
Media coordinator: Dennis Trainor, 212-344-7332 and Pat Telesco, 203-288-3440
SBC Midwest – covers workers in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin.
CWA District 4 Vice President is Jeff Rechenbach, Cleveland, Ohio.
Media coordinator: Seth Rosen, 440-333-6363
SBC Southwest – covers workers in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas.
CWA District 6 Vice President is Andy Milburn, Austin, Tex.
Media coordinator: Bill Davis and Mike Littleton, 512-330-0871
SBC West – covers workers in California and Nevada.
CWA District 9 Vice President is Tony Bixler, Sacramento, Calif.
Media coordinator: Jim Gordon, 916-921-4500
Issues and information about SBC bargaining are available at ga.cwa-union.org/sbc. Contact Jeff Miller, CWA communications director, or Candice Johnson, associate director, for more information at 202-434-1168 and by email at jmiller@cwa-union.org and cjohnson@cwa-union.org.
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