Q. Why are workers on strike at Sprint?
A. We've been trying to reach a fair contract with Sprint for many weeks now. Unfortunately, Sprint just continues to make unreasonable and unacceptable demands at the bargaining table. All along, we've worked to reach a fair contract without a strike. But Sprint has forced this strike.
Q. What are the issues? Why are you so far apart?
A. Sprint is a very profitable company and its local telephone operations are profitable. In fact, Sprint siphoned off $8.7 billion from 1998-2003 from the local phone operations and used it to support wireless and other business operations, instead of using it to support local telephone operations and keep quality jobs. It could have used that $8.7 billion to upgrade service and offer technologies to the 7.5 million Sprint local phone customers who live in small communities just like ours. But it didn't.
Despite its profitability, Sprint is demanding extreme cuts in our job security, health care and other benefits.
Q. What are some of the other issues?
A. Sprint is demanding big cuts to our health care, to our disability coverage if we face a serious illness or injury, and to our retirement 401(k) plan, among other demands.
Sprint workers are a big part of this community. We work hard to get the job done for our neighbors and our families. Sprint's demands are a real attack on our paychecks, our families' health security, and even the quality service that our community wants.
We have to take a stand. This is a profitable company, and Sprint workers here have helped earn those profits. Customers, employees, our communities – we all deserve better treatment from Sprint.
Q. What about wages?
A. We're still negotiating over wages. So far Sprint's wage offers have been puny, and wouldn't even begin to cover the economic losses that Sprint wants to impose in its concession demands.
Q. You say you care about customers. But what happens to them now that you're on strike?
A. We care very much about providing quality service, and that's been a big part of our bargaining with Sprint. You can't have quality service if management keeps cutting jobs and taking away dollars that should be invested back into our local phone system. And that's what Sprint keeps trying to do. We hope customers will support us as we fight for quality service and quality jobs for our community.
Q. Is this related to the fact that Sprint still must get approval for the new local telephone company?
A. Regulators in 13 states still must approve the new telephone company that will cover Sprint's local operations. We've been raising many important issues with regulators – for example, trying to ensure that the local telephone company isn't stuck with an unfair percentage of the company's debt, since that debt was caused by Sprint-Nextel's operations outside of local telephone.
We also want to make certain that Sprint local phone customers benefit from the profits generated at the local company over the past several years. That's the only way that local customers will get the service upgrades and improvements that they deserve – and have paid for.
Note: For more information, contact the CWA Communications Dept., at jmiller@cwa-union.org and cjohnson@cwa-union.org.
