| September
8, 2006
CWA members and retirees at Lucent Technologies are keeping
up their fight to stop the company from carrying out cuts in
jobs, health care and other benefits in the wake of the merger
with French-owned Alcatel.
At a special shareholder meeting this week in Wilmington,
Del., 100 CWAers were out in force, alerting shareholders to
potential problems with the merger and concerns about health
and retirement security.
Ralph Maly, CWA vice president for communications and
technologies, reminded executives and shareholders that
workers and retirees "have huge concerns with the direction
that Lucent is going and the future of our jobs, health care
and pensions" and that "we are looking for answers about the
merger."
While CWA and the IBEW have been working to relieve
Lucent's health care obligations through legislative efforts,
especially for retirees, the company was negotiating more than
$100 million in savings for itself from health care and
prescription drug providers, fully intending to shift more
costs onto workers and retirees, Maly said.
Maly called on Lucent to agree to an extension to Jan. 1,
2007 for any pension and health care changes pending
legislative action to allow Lucent to use funds from the
occupational pension plan for future health care obligations.
"Our members and retirees are looking to be part of the
future, and to have Lucent — or its merger partner — do the
right thing," he said.
Lucent shareholders narrowly approved the Alcatel merger,
with 51.9 percent of shares supporting it.
Still unresolved is ownership of Bell Labs, which carries
out high technology and defense-related research and
development projects.
CWA members who worked alongside police and firefighters in
the aftermath of the World Trade Center attack are among
thousands of rescue and recovery workers who are suffering
persistent respiratory and other health problems five years
later, the Mount Sinai Medical Center reported this week.
The center coordinates the World Trade Center Medical
Monitoring Program, which has seen nearly 12,000 people who
worked or volunteered at or near Ground Zero, including
hundreds of CWA-represented telecom workers, nurses, news
crews from NABET-CWA and TNG-CWA and traffic enforcement
officers.
About 60 percent of the workers screened are still
suffering a variety of respiratory and pulmonary problems,
including asthma, chronic sinus problems, bouts of pneumonia,
vocal cord dysfunction and chronic coughing. Many workers are
also suffering mental health problems.
Federal dollars covered comprehensive exams for the
workers, but unions and other advocates had to battle to get
funds, and fight even harder to get money just this year to
offer treatment, said Micki Siegel de Hernandez, health and
safety director for CWA District 1 and a member of the
monitoring program's steering committee.
"We've been fighting since 9-11 for this program to exist,
and for an expansion of it," Siegel de Hernandez said. "The
funding has been piecemeal, when it should be in place for at
least the next 30 years."
Dr. Robin Herbert, co-director of the Mount Sinai-based
screening program, said there's no longer any room for
argument about whether Ground Zero workers and volunteers are
suffering. "Our patients are sick, and they will need ongoing
care for the rest of their lives," she said, quoted in the New
York Times.
According to media reports, some workers are permanently
disabled as a result of long-term health problems following
their exposure at Ground Zero, and many fear that cancer could
be their next diagnosis. The Times reported that a coroner has
linked one death, a 34-year-old police officer, to lung
disease caused by Trade Center dust. At least six other
families believe they lost loved ones to toxic exposure at the
site.
The U.S. House Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging
Threats and International Relations is holding its fourth
hearing in New York City this week on protecting public health
since 9/11. Some lawmakers, notably Sen. Hillary Clinton, Rep.
Carolyn Maloney and Rep. Jerrold Nadler, all New York
Democrats, have helped force the Bush administration and
Republican leaders in Congress to make funds available and
address unmet health needs.
But the lack of federal money until now for treatment by
specialists meant that many workers were being improperly
diagnosed by their own doctors and prescribed medication that
wasn't helping, Mount Sinai doctors said.
Help is available in the New York/New Jersey
metropolitan area, as well as many other parts of the country,
for anyone who worked or volunteered at Ground Zero and meets
eligibility requirements. Anyone who hasn't been screened, or
people who were screened but haven't had follow-up
appointments, are urged to call the World Trade Center Medical
Monitoring Program toll-free at (888) 702-0630, or go online
to http://www.wtcexams.org/.
CWA District 1 Health and Safety Director Micki Siegel says
members can also call her with questions or concerns at (212)
509-6994.
A local congressman and a newspaper columnist have weighed
in on Local 3220's fight for a first contract with Frontier
Communications in Statesboro, Ga., and more than 2,000
customers and union supporters have participated in an
e-activist campaign in response to leafleting by CWA's
Frontier locals.
Among key issues, the company wants the unlimited right to
subcontract work, said Jimmy Gurganus, CWA vice president for
Telecommunications. There has been no bargaining since Aug.
23. A federal mediator has been assigned, but there has been
no response from the company.
"I urge you to bargain with the CWA in good faith. Any
settlement should be mutually beneficial to all concerned,
recognizing the contribution made to our community by Frontier
Communications and these highly skilled, high quality members
of the Communications Workers of America," Rep. John Barrow
(D-Ga.) wrote to Citizens Communications President and CEO
Maggie Wilderotter. Citizens is the parent company of
Frontier.
On Labor Day, Statesboro Herald columnist Jan Moore
acknowledged CWA's fight for job security and wages on par
with other telecom providers. She noted that CWA has requested
assistance from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service
and expressed hope that, for the workers sake, the two sides
reach an agreement.
In late August, CWA Frontier locals across the nation
joined Local 3220 in a mass distribution of fliers to the
public, asking Frontier workers, customers and others to send
e-mails to Wilderotter through the e-activist network.
Fourteen months into their bargaining effort, the 34 Frontier
workers in Statesboro, "remain determined to stand strong and
win a fair first contract," said Local 3220 President John
McInnis. He appealed to union brothers and sisters to continue
to pressure Wilderotter.
At last count, 2,238 e-activists had written to Citizen's
CEO, urging her to bargain fairly with the workers. "Community
jobs and quality work are at risk because of subcontracting,
stagnant wages and high-cost health insurance for workers,"
they said.
To add your voice, visit
www.unionvoice.org/campaign/frontierturnsitsback.
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