Posted on 08/12/2005 1:23:58 PM PDT by soundandvision
Clock ticking on Qwest contract talks Pay, health care, OT sticking points as sides gird for strike
By Jeff Smith, Rocky Mountain News August 12, 2005
Qwest Communications and its unions are fast approaching the deadline on contract negotiations, with union officials reporting little progress on key issues such as wages, health care, job security and forced overtime.
The current agreement expires at midnight Saturday, and although both sides say they don't want a strike, they are preparing for the possibility. Roughly 25,000 of Qwest's 40,000 employees are union workers, predominantly with the Communications Workers of America.
An informational picket by a few dozen union employees was being planned for midday today in front of Qwest's downtown Denver building at 1005 17th St.
"CWA's goal is to reach a fair and peaceful settlement and to negotiate an agreement by the contract expiration," CWA District 7 Vice President Annie Hill said in a statement Thursday. "However, Qwest must approach this process in the same spirit, with the same determination to reach an agreement that recognizes and acknowledges the contributions of workers."
Qwest spokesman Bob Toevs said the Denver telco would leave the specifics of the negotiations with the bargaining teams.
"Qwest and the unions continue to bargain in good faith," Toevs said. "And we're optimistic an agreement will be forthcoming by the deadline."
Some analysts have said they believe neither side can afford a strike. But union officials note that their members agreed to a wage freeze two years ago when the company was in dire financial straits, and they want more money this time.
CWA members have overwhelmingly authorized a strike under certain conditions. Qwest has asked its managers not to go on vacation in case they need to perform union work. Both are standard procedures.
Union members in part are irked that Qwest has asked for a higher cap of 16 hours a week on mandatory overtime. The union fought hard in 1998 to reach an agreement that gradually reduced involuntary overtime to eight hours a week.
"Before that agreement, thousands of workers were being forced to regularly work 60 hours or more every week," Hill said. "It took a two-week strike (in 1998) to reach an agreement on this critical issue. We hope Qwest doesn't force our members again to make such a choice."
Qwest didn't immediately respond to a question about the rationale of mandatory overtime.
Wages, health care benefits and job security provisions also could be contract stoppers. Qwest hadn't made a wage offer as of early Thursday but had requested that union employees pay 20 percent of their health care premiums.
A number of scenarios could avoid a strike or lockout, including a tentative agreement, a contract extension or an agreement by the union to work temporarily without a new contract. The district and national CWA office would be involved in any strike decision.
For its part, the nearly 3,000 CWA Local 7777 members in the Denver area know what they want to do, Local President Duncan Harrington said.
"The membership has made it quite clear that they want a tentative agreement or they're ready to strike," Harrington said.
He said the Local is finalizing picket duty schedules.
Qwest's labor issues at a glance
Issues of contention between Qwest and its unions:
• Wages: Union workers accepted a wage freeze two years ago and want an increase of around 3 percent a year this time.
• Health care benefits: Company wants union employees to pay part of their premiums.
• Job security: Union wants to curb outsourcing.
• Mandatory overtime: Union is bristling at company attempts to increase caps from eight to 16 hours a week.
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smithje@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-5155
That's where I am.. Columbus. There's quite a few from here in Columbus that will be shuttled to certain spots to fill striking positions in the event of a strike (Denver, Portland, Des Moines, etc).
16 hours a week in forced overtime?
Quest = telcom sweatshop...yes? No?
(Let'r rip)
Well, if the company requires 16 hours a week overtime there's always the option of working somewhere else? But I am approaching this from a right wing non-union member, non-union supporter mentality.
I'm not a fan of collective bargaining and I never will be...this isn't "depression era" America.
Perhaps not. But that presupposes that the American worker, post WW2, wasn't industrious enough to get by without collective bargaining.
Still, you make a good point and I'm not disagreeing that unions did serve a purpose -- during a specific era.
Currently though, I'm more than a little suspicious of Unions and their motives. Here's some statistics from Linda Chavez's book about Unions:
10% of Private sector employees are Union
40% of Public sector employees are Union
50% of Union membership nationwide are public sector employees
I can deduce from that Unions have a stranglehold on Government jobs and that their weight in the competitive private sector is pretty much nil, in 2005. I think that's a plus because I definitely believe in one motivated individual, competing in the marketplace with their own talent above the group 'collective bargaining' practices and ethics. That's just a personal opinion though, I like to be in charge of my own destiny.
My only demand is that Quest turn off that hideous blue sign on their skyscraper in Denver. It pretty much turns the whole downtown Denver city view into a billboard for them.
Likewise..I'm going to need good luck this weekend if they do strike.
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