Brothers & Sisters:
In December, FNFT's couldn't get any time off unless they had a vacation scheduled. In January, they can't find enough work to keep them busy for an eight hour tour. Orders have dropped off significantly, so were back to moving FNFT's over to copper, on loan to other areas, etc. Hopefully the activity picks back up in February.
In the EVRC Robert, J.P., and I met with Amy and Aaron to discuss the FSC training for 2012. They are planning on starting a class soon with a maximum of 20 in the training. I've gotten some calls on the rumor that the EVRC was closing, and both Amy and Aaron said that wasn't true. There is no date at this time, and neither one believes it will be anytime soon.
We have a new ACOM in Eastern; Kim Wiley has taken over the CZTII/FNFT groups from Ron Corgan. The Chiefs and I have met with her, and I believe Kim will work with the Union to continue to make improvements in Eastern.
Kim's replacement in the DRC is Geoff Chisolm. Carrie and I met with Geoff to discuss the plans on combining the Copper and FIOS dispatchers into one group. The plan is to also include Expedite. Geoff will get back with us once he has finalized the plan for training. We also had discussions on the best possible way to keep FNFT's at 50% Saturday coverage. As of the end of January, we are still discussing this issue.
Last but not least, Wayne, Marty, and I met with Steve Glogowski to discuss the Broadband/Central Office workgroups in Tampa. We discussed multiple issues for both workgroups including schedules, training, tools, managers, etc. The big surprise was that the company is planning on conducting a pilot program for the Tampa North C.O. techs, and that at the conclusion of the pilot, the company will be collapsing the COMG workgroup back into the Central Office workgroup. We will meet again at a late date to discuss in greater detail.
In Solidarity,
John Glye Jr.