John Glye

Brothers & Sisters:

What a month February was! The Sell One Investigations claimed more employees, both craft and management. Rumor has it, it's finally over. There have been multiple changes to the new Sell One More program, so please make sure you are up to date with the 2010 changes.

EVRC Reps are in the process of training for the FSC. As of today, a total of 36 reps have gone through the 13 day "boot camp". Out of that, 32 have successfully passed both the written and the structured interview. I feel that having an employee who talks with our "copper" customers every day is just as qualified without an interview to talk with our "fios" customers as well. We will be grieving each and every failure of the structured interview.

In Temple Terrace, Our dispatchers were asked to help support California which had one winter storm after another leaving 1000's of customers out of service. It appears as of today that the NDC will be moved later this year to Westside. Most of the other departments will be relocating to downtown Tampa.

We still have approximately18 Splicer's on loan to West Virginia. It looks like they will be extended to the end of April. I've received calls from members wanting to go out of state to work, but at this time the company hasn't approached the Union about adding any more out of state work.

FIOS activity has leveled off in all areas. Eastern is extremely low on activity compared to the Tampa area. It looks like the company is going to place some FNFT's on monthly TAC work. This would help out with the lack of FIOS activity, and help fix some of the copper plant before summer arrives.

We continue to meet with the company in regards to the Overtime Rosters. In some areas we can see measurable improvements, but in others…we have some work to do. The next scheduled meeting is Tuesday; hopefully we can identify and correct some of the remaining issues.

In Solidarity,

John Glye Jr.

Brothers & Sisters:

New Year, more problems and issues! It's been a trying month as we have been very busy with trying to meet with everyone outside to discuss to new procedures for overtime. This should help with the equalization. If you have any problems in your area, please call your Rep. for assistance. We have also gone through several rounds of bumping due to the sale of PubCom.

EVRC has started training for the FSC; classes started in the beginning of January and will continue through out the year. Due to all of the classes, flexibility is very limited, so plan ahead if possible.

Temple Terrace has been busy lately. A lot of overtime the last two weeks for the Dispatchers who have been helping California Dispatchers with the high trouble volume they are experiencing due to recent storms.

Cable Splicers out of the Eastern Division were offered again to return to West Virginia. At this time, the company hasn't offered to send any more techs from the other Divisions.

FNFT's were busy this month, hopefully that continues to build through the first quarter. In fact, most of the Tampa Division has been working a minimum of six days a week.

In Solidarity,

John Glye Jr.

Brothers  & Sisters:

December was a month to try and get caught up on outstanding grievances. Laura spent a great deal of time going through the files, and pulling out old grievances for each of the Reps. So far, I've settled or withdrawn well over 100 outstanding grievances in December. I still have a lot to go through, and hope to resolve many more in January.

EVRC has started offering training for the FSC; classes will be starting in the beginning of January. Also, 10 reps went on loan over to the Ecommerce Center.

Temple Terrace had employees in the Network Provisioning group relocated to Telecom Parkway. They are the only group that has actually left the building. Still hearing rumors that the company is still looking at relocating employees to the 301 complex and downtown Tampa, but nothing has been confirmed.

Cable Splicers on loan to West Virginia were brought back the week of Christmas, and what a disaster!!! Management decided they needed to leave right before a blizzard hit the area…lets just say it made for an interesting trip. Luckily, no one was injured, and the company did the right thing and paid the employees who were stuck in hotels through out the area on Saturday.

FNFT's were busy this month, hopefully than continues into next year. It appears that the negotiation between Time Warner and Fox is creating more order activity for FIOS, and that has helped out a lot during the last two weeks of the year.

In Solidarity,

John Glye Jr.

Brothers and Sisters:

October was a busy month for outside plant.  We had technicians from both the FNFT and Cable Splicer classification offered temporary work assignments in West Virginia.  This was due the fact that a large amount of employees in the West Virginia area decided to retire due to the pending sale with Frontier Communications.  So far, most of the technicians are reporting that the assignment is going well.

EVRC is combing the offline work group with the online group. Management has informed the Union that they will be doing some training with the employees who are interested in working some of the "offline work".

Members at Temple Terrace were notified on Oct. 23, 2009 that the property had been "officially" sold, but leased back for approx. 13 months. Hearing rumors that the some departments could be moving as early as December 4th.  Some departments are hearing that the will be moved over to Telecom Park.

We planned to have an Inside Plant Joint Safety meeting on October 21, 2009, but Kevin Cantero, Verizon’s Safety Director, was ill so we had to cancel.  Looks like it will be rescheduled for January.

BZT I’s throughout the company are being offered temporary assignments in the Central Office.  Central Office technicians are being told this is due to BZT I not having enough work…NOT TRUE!!! We have plenty of work for the BZT's.  The problem is that the company continues to give their work to the Customer Engineers and VSSI techs.

I attended an IBEW Safety Caucus in Orlando on October 22, 2009. Most Unions are reporting the same issues…work is slow. Hopefully the New Year will be brighter than this year was. The good news was that OSHA is planning on hiring up to 1,000 new field inspectors. They are also promising to really crack down on corporations who violate the OSHA laws.

In Solidarity,

John Glye Jr.

Brothers and Sisters:

September brought all of the FNFT's working out of state back home.  At the time the decision was made to bring them back, Florida was busy with FIOS activity.  Things change quickly in our industry.  September was a slow month, and October appears to be even worse. We do have some techs on loan from the Coast and Eastern in Tampa working FIOS but that is about to end.  After October 9, 2009 no one should be working out of area due to the layoff within the Tampa FNFT's.  If you know of anyone working out of area, please contact the hall immediately.

CMG is also reporting the last couple of weeks have been some of the slowest they have ever witnessed.  It seems as if all of the work has just disappeared.

EVRC has been business as usual, and hopefully we are getting closer to the center becoming 24/7.

Temple Terrace seems to be in a holding pattern…everyone is anxious to know when and where they will be moving to, now that the building has been sold.

Cable Splicer's are not happy with working fluid, and the fact that they have to rotate into Saturday coverage.  Hopefully next year will bring us more work in placing fiber, we are waiting for the numbers on how many homes they plan the pass in 2010.

The CZTII's biggest issue right now is the creation of the new Circuit Repair Group and waiting to see when and how the company plans on back filling the empty positions left in the CZT work group.

I had my first joint Safety Meeting with the company on September 16, 2009 and the next one for is scheduled for October 21, 2009. The big issue in safety right now is injuries related to strains.  Lets all do our part to make sure that we are working in a safe manner each and every day.

If you have any questions regarding anything in this report, please contact me at the Union Hall.

In Solidarity,

John Glye Jr.

Brothers & Sisters:

Hope everyone enjoyed the weekend, especially Labor Day. Some call it the "unofficial end of summer", but it truly means a lot more that that. With that said, I'm going to point out a few facts about Labor Day: How it came about; and what it means:

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883.

The first governmental recognition came through municipal ordinances passed during 1885 and 1886. The first state bill was introduced into the New York legislature, but the first to become law was passed by Oregon on February 21, 1887. On June 28, 1894 Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories.

The first labor union in America was the Federal Society of Journeymen Cordwainers (shoemakers) formed in Philadelphia in 1794.

The first eight-hour day in America was introduced for federal employees in public work projects in 1868.

This nation’s first major sit-down strike, i.e., occupying the workplace but refusing to work, occurred on a mass scale in the rubber factories of Akron, Ohio, in 1936.

The first African-American union was the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, founded in 1925.

Cost-of-living increases were first worked into union contracts in 1948, as a result of negotiations between General Motors and the United Auto Workers.

Hope the history lesson wasn't too painful, now down to business.

The FNFT's working out of state were informed last week that the company is bringing all of them back to Florida on September, 18, 2009. Work has been increasing back in Florida over the last month, and hopefully the trend continues. The company has also asked FNFT's from both the Coast and Eastern to go on loan to the Tampa area for at least 30 days.

I've had several meetings over the last month with Management/Stewards in the EVRC, and it looks like the center could be going to a 24/7 schedule by the end of the year. This should help establish the Florida EVRC as one of the top centers in the country, and hopefully bring us more work and better tours. 

Temple Terrace aka "The Palace" has been sold. I've heard nothing official as to a time line for relocating the employees at this location, but I'm hearing rumors that some will be moved by the end of the year. As soon as I get the details, I will report on it.

In COEI, the company is beginning to replace four contractors with company employees. This is more work for members, and that’s a good thing.

We are seeing a trend with Light Duty… Management is sending employees home!!! This is going on in all Depts. Especially outside plant. Some members are already reporting that the company is about to start placing employees on 90 day job searches if they cannot return to full duty in the near future.

Still working with management on the "180 day temporary assignment issue". This is still an issue through out the company; hopefully this will be finalized this month.

The T & P "Circuit Repair" issue is being addressed as I write this, and hopefully soon we will have a report on the web site about this.

Work Safely, and attend your Unit Meetings!!!

In Solidarity,

John Glye Jr.