1) Sprint is profitable, but is making extreme demands of workers.
Sprint's local telephone operations have been consistently profitable. That's one reason Sprint was able to pull $8.7 billion of out the local telephone company in the years 1998-2003 and transfer that money to wireless, business data networks and other businesses.
Sprint isn't using that money to help customers get better service.
Sprint is demanding extreme cuts in workers' health care benefits, retirement security, disability coverage, and even their jobs.
We're taking a stand for our jobs, our families and our customers. We want Sprint to do the right thing.
2) Sprint is reneging on its agreement to fairly distribute assets and debt to the local telephone company.
Not only did Sprint take out $8.7 billion out of the pockets of local telephone customers, it now wants to transfer even more debt to the new local company. This is wrong.
Sprint says it wants to shift $7.25 billion in debt to the local telephone company. That's about 42 percent of the total Sprint debt –including wireless, business and other operations. This is completely wrong, and is contrary to the promise that Sprint made to federal regulators back in August, that there would be "an equitable debt and asset allocation at the time of the proposed spinoff."
CWA has been alerting state regulators who still must approve the new local telephone company of this broken promise, and of the adverse effects on customers and employees.
3) Sprint's actions are hurting customers, too.
Sprint already is failing its local customers. Since 1997, repair intervals increased 72 percent, trouble reports are up 22 percent and repeat trouble reports are up 81 percent, according to the Federal Communications Commission. If Sprint is allowed to transfer even more debt to the local company, there will be even less money available for customer repairs and upgrades, and adequate staff to get the job done.
Services like a faster rollout of broadband and Internet capability, or other new technologies aren't likely to happen any time soon. But customers have paid for quality service – they deserve it and we intend to continue raising these issues with regulators in the states who still must approve the local company.
(Those states are: Florida (approved), Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia, Washington, Wyoming)
4) Sprint forced this strike, and Sprint can end it.
Sprint forced this strike. None of us want to be on strike – it's a hardship for us and for our families. But we have to take a stand. We can't allow a profitable company like Sprint to take away everything we've worked for over the years.
And we can't allow Sprint to abandon customers in our communities who deserve better.
Our members want nothing more than to get back to work. But that's up to Sprint. Sprint needs to come to the bargaining table willing to reach a fair agreement. That's what will end this strike.
