Following up from last month, I want to report that HB 1231 and SB 1524 (Telephone Deregulation bills have both passed through the Florida Legislature and will become Florida law shortly. We still feel that these bills will have a negative impact of telephone service in our State, but hopefully we will be able to work through the issues that may affect the telephone workers in our state.
With the attacks on working people throughout the country, the Florida AFL-CIO will hold a Festival for Florida’s Future on Saturday, June 4th, at the Central Florida Fairgrounds from 10:00a through 6:00p. At the festival, attendees will learn about how they can fight for Florida by participating in letter writing campaigns, recording video messages, registering to vote and attending a series of teach-ins. More information will be place on our website soon.
I know that Jason Smith, the Political Director for our Local, will give a brief report soon, I want to take this opportunity to personally thank him for all the time and effort he provided over the last 2 months, not only for our membership, but for working families all over the State. He had been on a leave from Verizon, working with the State AFL-CIO and now will be returning to his Verizon job as a Splicer on Monday. Jason, thank you…your efforts have not gone unnoticed and the workers around the state appreciate what you have done for them.
The 5th District Progress meeting was held last month in Tunica, Mississippi and I understand there will be a report from the delegates that attended. I would like to point out that our International Vice-President, Joe Davis, announced he will be running for re-election at the Convention in September. As of tonight, IVP Davis is running unopposed. IVP Davis has been very helpful to our Local Union and hopefully we will have him attend a future meeting so you will be able to personally meet him.
Hopefully you have noticed food bins in your work locations and have participated in the joint IBEW/Verizon Feeding America campaign. As previously reported, our members are getting the recognition they deserve by helping those in our communities with the greatest needs. The feedback we have received from the membership in regards to the newspaper ads and television commercial recognizing the IBEW has been tremendous. Keep in mind the goal that has been set is 20,000 pounds of food collected through the end of June. That may sound like a lot, but it is well within our ability to achieve. The food bins in the Main building has been emptied numerous times, and in Outside Plant, the University work center has collected the most so far. If your work area does not have a collection bin, please contact your Rep at the Hall and we will make sure you have one in place. If you have not seen the commercial and would like to, please email your Rep and they will provide you a copy.
Erik and I attended the Verizon Shareholders meeting yesterday and we can report that all proposals introduced by management passed and all proposals introduced by shareholders did not pass. A couple of interesting things that Ivan Seidenberg stated were that Verizon Wireless now has over 104 million subscribers. With the changes in technology over the past few years, you can see why it is very important for Organized Labor to represent workers in the wireless fields. Verizon has continuously fought to have any of these workers organized, but hopefully we can change that in the future. Wireless constituted about 60% of the total revenues for Verizon last year. Over the last 3 years, FIOS has increased from 5% to 13% of the total revenues. Clearly, we need to address the workers in the wireless industry. Verizon sold 2.2 million iPhones in the first quarter of this year and 260,000 Thunderbolt cell phones (4G) capable were sold in the first quarter. Ivan also stated that Verizon’s 4G network is currently in 38 markets nationally, and will be at 95% nationally before the end of the first quarter in 2014. Traditional phone services, like traditional landlines decreased from 52% to 26% over the last 3 years.
Last week we had a Steward Training class here at the Hall, conducted by the International Office, and I would like to announce that we now have 23 new stewards representing members in Supply, Buried Wire, Verizon Business, along with new stewards in Inside and Outside Plant. Congratulations to all who attended and thank you for stepping up to serve your brothers and sisters. We also conducted our first training class for Investigative and Security meetings for stewards. This class consisted of explaining contractual language, and also how to conduct meetings. The feedback from the first class was very positive and we will be conducting the next class soon. If you are a steward and are interested in this class, please contact your Rep at the Hall.
We were notified during the last month that the Fiber build in Florida will be all but finished for this year by the end of May. We were also told that the Company is looking for approximately 43 more FNFT’s in the Tampa area. Last month there were 18 FNFT’s from Southern Division that volunteered to relocate to Tampa. Those 18 spots were filled by volunteers in the Cable Splicer classification in Southern. We have approximately 140 FTTP Splicers throughout the Florida region. The Company has canvassed the Splicers to see if there was any interest in becoming an FNFT.
We were notified in writing this week that the Company plans on force adjusting 15 FNFT’s in Eastern Division to Tampa. We did ask the Company to canvass for volunteers, which they did, but there were no volunteers. After the 15 have moved to Tampa, there will be a realignment of FNFT’s within the 5 work centers that have FNFT’s. If you haven’t heard, Verizon was able to negotiate and provide 3 Orlando local stations for customers in Polk County. We were hopeful that this would increase order activity and therefore allow the FNFT’s to not be force adjusted. There was a little burst in order activity, but not enough to stop the force adjustment totally.
We were also notified last month that the Skyway work center has been sold and will be closed soon. The employees in that location will be moved to the Gandy work center.
On April 7th, we had another Arbitration hearing for a terminated member. I would like to say that Danny Alfonso did an excellent job of preparing and presenting this case in front of the arbitrator. We feel the hearing went very well and we should have the decision around this time next month. Our next arbitration is scheduled for May 25th, and the next one is scheduled for June 21st. I have been reviewing the outstanding termination grievances and notifying members if there case will be heard at arbitration. Hopefully, next month I will be able to report that we have dates for July and August for the next 2 cases.
As of yesterday afternoon, we had issued 281 grievance numbers since the beginning of this year. Last year at this time we had issued 535 grievance numbers and we ended up with 1270 grievances total filed last year. We do have a couple hundred less members than we did last year, but we believe that issuing less grievance numbers this year stems from several things. The stewards are getting more cooperation resolving some of the smaller issues they face daily in their work locations, and also from the stewards and the Staff at the Hall holding the Company responsible before the contract is violated and a grievance has to be filed. If we can continue this pace, we will be under 900 grievances for the entire 2011 year. We have not been under 1000 since 1994. Maybe, if we can continue working issues out as we have been for the last 6 months or so, the time-frame between 2nd step and 3rd step should be greatly reduced. Only time will tell, but we are optimistic.
I would like to point out a few things about Workers’ Compensation. Everyone should know if you are injured on the job, our Workers’ Comp MOA makes up the difference of what the State of Florida provides (66 2/3) to 80% of your salary. This is for a period of 12 months. After 12 months, you could potentially be separated from Verizon. With the Buried Service Wire Group, the time frame is only 4 months. If you or a co-worker is injured on the job, even if it is not a serious injury, please let a Rep at the Hall know so we can direct you to an attorney. What happens too often, is that we do not get a call until the employee receives a letter from Verizon stating that they have 3 days to return to work. This puts a lot of pressure on you and us and the attorney that we refer you to. We are always more successful if we have time to work on the issue, instead of waiting until the last day or 2. Our goal is always to assist in helping our members get better first of all, then to ensure everything is done to get our member back to work. If it is an injury where the member probably is never going to be able to return to work, we want to make sure to advise about Long-Term Disability and to help get all the forms filled out correctly.
It has been quite a few years since our Local Union has provided information on NACTEL. NACTEL came into existence in 1997 and Local 824 had one of the first graduates in 2002. NACTEL is the National Coalition for Telecommunications Education and Learning! NACTEL is the premier source of online education to address critical employment needs in the evolving telecommunications industry.
NACTEL is a unique partnership of industry employers and unions working with quality educators to create and sponsor online education programs that meet the needs of current and future telecommunications professionals.
All NACTEL programs are developed by the industry, for the industry…
Last month, President Hill appointed me to be one of 4 IBEW Directors for NACTEL. Our Local will now have a direct voice on the curriculum of this degree program. NACTEL has Directors from the IBEW, CWA, Verizon, AT&T, Frontier and CenturyLink. Keep in mind that the Education Assistance of $8000 per year can be used for this degree program. We will have a link on our website shortly with more information.
Under the Executive Board report, you will hear that the Board approved the National Group Protection Company the ability to provide our members supplemental insurance. This insurance will be for Accidents, Critical Illness, and Life. This insurance will be in addition to any provided by Verizon, and would pay out in addition to any insurance you currently possess. This will be a UNION-MEMBER ONLY benefit, and Verizon will not have any part of this insurance. We believe that you will need your IBEW membership number to verify your membership and shortly information will be mailed to your homes notifying you of the coverages available for you or your dependents and the costs to you as well. Once the open enrollment period has been decided, you will be notified by mail and we will also send an email to all members in our database.
On Sunday, May 22nd, from 11-4 we will have our 2nd Annual Solidarity Family Day here at the Hall. Fliers went to all stewards last month and we have received many emails with an RSVP. If you are going to attend, please RSVP by next Friday, May 13th, so we will have time to ensure we have enough food and drinks.
On Sunday, August 21st, we will have our 2nd Annual Solidarity Day at the Trop. The Tampa Bay Rays will be hosting the Seattle Mariners for a 1:40p game. The cost is $22 per person, which includes an Outfield seat, hotdog, Pepsi product and a snack. Fliers for this event have been emailed to stewards and is also on the website. If you are planning on attending with friends, please make a note on your form before you mail or fax it to the Rays. Last year we had around 150 members participate and from the emails we received so far, I believe we will have more than 200 this year.
In Solidarity,
Robert