Business Rep Reports

Brothers and Sisters,

I would like to start off by thanking each of our safety advocates who are on the joint IBEW/Verizon safety committee.  I am both honored and humbled to be part of a committee which has had such a positive affect on our fellow co workers.  Because of our advocates and their commitment to the Safety committee we have drastically improved our safety results in just 2 short years.  These results are not just numbers and percentages.  In reality, they represent the fact that more of our fellow co workers went home safely in 2011 thanks to them.  We will be discussing our accomplishments in detail during our first quarter meeting which will be on Wednesday March 28th.  Also during that meeting we will be discussing upcoming safety rodeos which will be held in the Tampa north and Eastern areas this year.  I would ask that we continue to focus on safety every day with the ultimate goal that EVERY ONE GOES HOME SAFE.

One of the things our safety committee was successful in getting done over the past year was a video on attic safety.  Our very own Noah Kaaa, starred in the video.  The videos should start showing up in the work centers within the next few weeks.  I would like to thank Noah for his commitment to safety and to our safety committee.

In southern division, things have started to settle down for Fnft’s.  In the last few weeks, mandatory overtime and required lay days have eased up considerably.  As for copper, the work is still steady but the use of required overtime has not been an issue.

Unfortunately, in the FSC our CSA’s are still on mandated 2 hours of overtime on a daily basis.  We were successful for a few weeks of getting some relief on the 2 hour mandate.  Perry Sidelinger (FSC chief steward) and I are still working on trying to get some relief on the weekend coverage and the mandated overtime. We will keep you informed on the progress.

Please Work Safely,

Danny

Brothers and Sisters,

Grace Smith, Chief Steward in the SST, Marilyn Glymph, Steward in the SST and I met with management. We were advised that the BSSR completed 30,000 cases last year which equates out to about 5 cases per rep. The compensation plan for the sales reps that the BSSR support went out and it is said to be doubled this year so cases are projected to be up this year. We were advised in late December that some billing was still coming into the BSSR. We were told that this was less than 1 reps work. The company has decided to move that work to the BSSS billing group. 2 BSSR’S will attend High End Ordering training due to the increasing volume.

Zaida Menendez, Chief Steward in the CSSC, Jim Brading, Chief Steward in the BSC and I met with Rhonda Britto (S.E. Regional Sales Manager) A few of the items of discussion were, Quota, Set Top box returns, and scheduling. We will be having another meeting in February where we will get the follow up answers on these concerns. We were advised that the Brandon and University Verizon Plus stores will now be opened until 7:30pm. Last month we were advised that the CSSC (Sales/Retention) would be opened 8am - 9pm. The company advised us after further call research that it has been determined to move the hours back to 8am – 8pm beginning on February 13^th.  Please remember that YOU have to ask for a steward if you are called into an investigation or being given a write up.

I was notified last week that there appears to be several members that have been out on Metlife/FMLA without approvals. It is your responsibility to give the correct claim number when you call out. If you or any of your coworkers are having problems with the Metlife or FMLA paperwork please have them call the hall so we can assist them.   

In Solidarity,

Michelle Agne

magneibew824 [dot] org

813.731.7680(Cell)

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.

Brothers and Sisters,

Zaida Menendez, Chief Steward in the CSSC, Jim Brading Chief Steward in the BSC, Robert Prunn, and I met with management to go over the 2012 Compensation Plans. One of the biggest changes that we see that will affect all departments that place sales orders is when placing an “M” Order. No credit will be given for moving the same products from one location to another. If you have to place an “O” and “I” in place of an “M” please get management approval.  We will continue to meet with Stavros Maglis (CSSC), Juan Escodo (Retention) and Daryl Hawkins (BSC) every Friday for our environmental meeting.

Dora Mullis, Chief Steward at the 301 Complex, Melissa Braswell, Steward at the 301 Complex,  Robert Prunn and I were notified that management is going to split the BSSS representatives into 2 separate (billing and orders) work groups. A grievance has been filed.

Grace Smith, Chief Steward in the SST, Marilyn Glymph, Steward in the SST, Robert Prunn and I will meet with management to discuss the issues in the SST.

Sherry Waters, Chief Steward in E-Commerce and I have been working with management to close out any outstanding grievance follow up’s. We will continue to schedule monthly roundtable meetings and encourage all members to let Sherry or the Stewards in E-Commerce if you would like to participate.

We continue to receive several calls each day concerning the Short Term Disability/Metlife process. If you or any of your coworkers are having problems with the Metlife or FMLA paperwork please have them call the hall so we can assist them. We have samples that we can email or fax to take to the physicians to make the process easier and states exactly what each vendor is looking for.

In Solidarity,

Michelle Agne

Brothers & Sisters:

I finally had a meeting with the new EVRC manager in November and Robert and I also met with Patti to discuss schedules, offline, etc. Now that Chrissy is back I hope that with her guidance, things will continue to improve in the EVRC. Schedules have finally gotten better; the big issue now is getting the grievances caught up.

The Dispatch and Translation Specialist have now had approx. 2 months under the new title and we continue to have issues with training, schedules, etc.  I'm setting up a meeting with Jim as soon as he get back from Chicago to see what can be done to improve the schedules and work assignments. This should happen sometime after December 11th. I will hopefully have more to report next month on what's being done to fix these issues.

FNFT's in Tampa are still busy, most working 6 days a week. Most of that is voluntary. Kwame has agreed to move the FNFT's who were forced from Eastern to Tampa, over to either Brandon or University. They are currently in the Tampa Central area and this will certainly help cut down on their driving time by moving them closer to home. Several FNFT's have gone on loan to Southern division to help out with heavy work volume. It appears this will last for the remainder of 2011. The company recently did an audit on "remote parkers" to see how far they are driving and where they are parking the company vehicles. Due to the audit, some FNFT's are being required to either change their parking location or report back to the work center.

Classes for the CZTII's and Cable Splicer's who volunteered to become FNFT's have been taking place over the last several months, but will stop temporarily due to the holidays. Classes should resume on January 10th. We had a total of 80 techs scheduled for training and it appears that 55 have been through the training. The remaining 25 will be trained in the first quarter of 2012.

In Solidarity,

John Glye Jr.

Brothers and Sisters,

 In the month of November, safety meetings were held in both inside and outside plant.  The main topic of discussion for inside plant was the successful fire drill which was held in the EAX building.  The building was completely evacuated and everyone accounted for in seven minutes.  This was a big accomplishment!  These fire drills are necessary to insure that everyone knows the safest and fastest way out of the building. As with any drill, a few issues were made apparent and have been corrected in the event of an actual emergency.  I would like to thank everyone for their cooperation.

The outside plant safety meeting primarily focused on vehicle accidents and how to prevent them.  Since July there have been 9 accidents in which fixed objects were hit. The committee looked closely at each accident and concluded that we need to refocus on making sure we perform a circle check before the vehicle is moved.  Also since July there have been 8 accidents in which an impact occurred with other vehicles.  Two of the accidents were very concerning and involved 2 buses which were rear ended.  In both cases, prior to the accident, the drivers reported the brake issues to fleet but did not get the issue corrected and continued to drive the vehicle.  The other 6 accidents were either caused by following too closely or not paying attention.  The safety committee makes the following recommendations-

·      Perform vehicle safety inspection routinely

·      Pay attention to surroundings (traffic conditions, school buses, children present, weather conditions)

·      Avoid distractions- cell phones/ laptops while driving

·      Always use the 3 second rule.

Please do not drive an unsafe vehicle for any reason.

I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New year!!

In Solidarity,

Danny Alfonso

Hello Brothers and Sisters,

In the Western Division we were notified that the Skyway Work Center is up for sale.  The Company also notified us that the technicians will be moving to the Gandy Work Center before the end of the year.  With this move there have been some issues that have risen in regards to schedules and I am working with Cheryl Field to resolve them.  Once we have the details finalized I will let you know.

We have finally received the Job Descriptions for the Senior Tech and Communication Tech Job classifications and there aren’t many differences.  We have requested more information from the Company regarding Overtime, Training, and Call-out.  We have also requested a meeting with the Management Personnel that made the decisions to upgrade some of the Communication Techs prior to them being covered by the Collective Bargaining Agreement. 

Supply members voted in favor of their contract. This vote came in with 95% approval.  As I’m sure you have heard they had no changes to their benefits, received a 2.75% increase in pay each year for three years and we were also able to gain more Job Security for the Material Handlers.  We also did a lot of Language clean-up during the Bargaining process, since the Supply Contract had language all over the place. This process took some time, but we believe the new Collective Bargaining Agreement makes it easier to find language issues you are looking for.

We are still looking for volunteers to help with an Organizing effort that will take place soon. We have had numerous employees from different companies that have contacted us over the past two years interested in forming a Union but none of them have shown successful. The campaign that we are currently working on appears as it will be successful and there are a lot of employees, therefore we need as much help as possible. I wish I could give you more information but we are still in the planning stage. Once we get all of the information that we need from the employees that work there and start to proceed further, we will give more info. With that said, we have an Organizing training class scheduled for Saturday December 10, 2011 at the Union Hall.  If you are interested in learning more about organizing please give me a call or send me an email at dwagneribew824 [dot] org.

I hope that you and yours have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

In Solidarity,

Dan Wagner

Brothers and Sisters,

I have received many calls over the last month concerning the Short Term Disability/Metlife process. A Metlife claim needs to be opened after any sickness disability with duration of 4 or more consecutive days of incapacitation. Any preplanned surgery that will consist of 4 or more consecutive day of incapacitation. Once the claim is open it will take 3-5 business days for Metlife to approve the claim. Metlife will send out an approval/denial letter to the member and the supervisor. If you are having problems with your Metlife or FMLA paperwork please call your rep at the hall so we can assist you. We have samples that we can provide to take to your physicians to make the process easier and states exactly what each vendor is looking for.

Jim Brading, Chief Steward in the BSC, Zaida Menendez, Chief Steward in the CSSC and I have met with management several times over the last month for our environmental meetings for the BSC/CSSC. An expression of interest went out to the BSC offline group looking for 2 additional representatives for the Jeop Desk. As of today that has been put on hold until management can assess the effects to the work load with this pending move.  We were advised that several investigations are being opened on members accessing their own and other members Verizon bills and issuing credits. PLEASE call into customer service or see your coach if you are having billing or financial issues on your own account. The EAX had a practice evacuation of the building taking only 7 minutes for everyone to exit.

Dora Mullis, Chief Steward at the 301 Complex and Melissa Braswell,  Steward and I were notified that the upcoming move that was projected for last month has been put on hold until after the of the New Year. Private Line training was given to BSSS’S. A make up class will be scheduled for those who were sick or on vacation in the near future.

In Solidarity,

Michelle Agne

magneibew824 [dot] org

813.731.7680

Brothers and Sisters,

   I would like to thank everyone for electing me to be a delegate to represent our local at the 38^th International Convention, which was held last month.  With the assault on unions from the national press, it was a great feeling to stand side by side with brothers and sisters from across the US and Canada.  Each delegate present committed that we will not be the generation that allowed the assault to continue on the working class Americans.  As brothers and sisters, we are in the fight of our lives to save the middle class for future generations.  Every member has an opportunity and obligation to get our positive word out to the public.  We don’t need to spend money to take out ads in our local newspapers or take time from our families.  All I would ask is, as we go about our busy lives that we share with family, friends or anyone we come in contact with, that we are the “union”.  When people hear the word “union” unfortunately there is usually a negative connotation associated.  Our friends and family, who know us personally, need to understand that we are fighting for a better way of life for them as well.  Something else that does not cost time or money is to wear your union t-shirt to your child’s sporting events so people will put a face with the word “union” and, if you have the opportunity, explain what it means to you to be a “union” member.

  If you are a sportsman or sportswoman you have the opportunity for a lifetime membership in The Union Sportsmen Alliance free of charge.  “The mission of the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance is to unite the Union community to expand and improve hunting and fishing access and wildlife habitat throughout North America”.   USA member benefits:

·      4 issues per year of The Union Sportsmen’s Journal

·      1-year MyTopo.com online mapping subscription

·      Monthly e-newsletter with tips and special offers

·      Money-saving discounts on outdoor gear and services

·      Chances to win fantastic prizes and trips all year

·      Access to “Members-Only” section of the USA website

On Thursday nights at 8pm on the Sportsman Channel, the USA has a show called Brotherhood Outdoors.  The website to join is www.unionsportsmen.org

Lastly, a Verizon Wellness Fair will be taking place on October 11^th and October 12th from 11:00AM - 2:00PM at the following locations.

October 11th: 610 Morgan St. Cafeteria

October 12th: 610 Zack St. Lobby Area

East West Conference Room

610 Morgan St. 9:00 AM - 11:00AM on the 11th and 12th.

A representative from Human Tech, who is an Ergonomic Expert, will have an Ergonomic Booth Set up. Please take the opportunity to stop by if at all possible.

In Solidarity,

Danny

Brothers & Sisters:

At West Side, the Dispatch & Transition Specialist group has been in training for approx. 4 weeks and so far it's going well. I talked with Jim Welford and he expects to have Instructors on the property for at least 6 months. Having the Instructors teaching the class and being on the floor helping out with the "On the job training" has been beneficial, and much better than when the NDC/CPE groups were combined last year.

FNFT's continue with heavy volumes of work in Tampa. The hardest hit areas right now are in Tampa Central. Even if you are scheduled off for the weekend, the company usually requires the entire area to work Saturday. I've spoken with Kwame and Audrey and we appear to be on track with getting some additional head count in Tampa Central to provide some relief from the required O.T

Between Road Jobs and Fluid, most Cable Splicer's are busy in Tampa and Eastern division. I'm still waiting for Kwame to give me some news on his plans for T&P, it still appears he plans to move some Cable Splicer's over into the T&P workgroup permanently. When I get more information I will share it with the Chiefs.

In The EVRC we have issues...Robert and I are scheduling a meeting with Patti Barry to discuss the problems in the EVRC and can hopefully fix these problems before this gets out of hand.

In Solidarity,

John Glye Jr.