WE ARE PROUD UNION WORKERS AND MEMBERS. WE ARE IBEW 363!
WE WILL ALWAYS WORK HARD, DISPLAY A GOOD ATTITUDE AND WE WILL DEMONSTRATE OUR SOLIDARITY FROM NOW ON.
This blog will work in conjunction with our web site. It will be another tool for our brothers and sisters to communicate and express their ideas and viewpoints.
To start us off, here are some topics we can exchange ideas about or any other topic you would like to discuss. The items below are just suggestions.
1. Yearly Get together What, where and when
2. Times of union meetings
3. Topics and format of meetings
What color should the cover of the new contract be??
ReplyDeleteCrap brown.
ReplyDeleteI was going to say black but I like crap brown much better. Thanks for the laugh.
ReplyDeleteHey Darren- so what name were you posting under on the blog during the whole negotiations time? I'm sure someone at 363 will be more than happy to go back and proudly put your name on any of your posts. Just let them know. It's always easier to walk into the daylight after all is said and done, isn't it? BTW- there's a good reason to be afraid of management and posting real names. I guess you didn't hear about a 363 member whose relative wrote to maggie last year and the union person got suspended for 3 weeks unpaid. Yeah-you go right ahead and post under your name since we work for such a fair and upstanding company. let us know how that works out for you.
ReplyDeleteDarren, I love you to death buddy but let's use our heads here. You know for a fact that if we used our real names there would be retaliation from management over some of the comments that are placed on this blog. As true as those comments may be, management doesn't want it brought to their attention how slimey they can really be and some serious retalitation and spitefulness would be in order. Childish? Yes, unrealistic, No.
ReplyDeleteI thought that the old color of Yellow was quite befitting!
ReplyDeleteMr. Emmons, If We were working for a Company that supports the 1st Amendment and TRULY respects their Employees, We COULD Use our Names when Challenging Our Own Management Teams in Our areas- without having childish Vindictiveness and Evil shoved at Us. However, We actually work for an "Organization" patterned after Hitler and Hussein. To this Company, Respect is a ONE WAY STREET. On this Blog, the Anonymous Label allows Us to freely say what's on Our minds WITHOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF INDIVIDUAL WITCH HUNTS AND HARASSMENT FROM MANAGEMENT.
ReplyDeleteEven though it wasn't the best contract we ever got it was a great contract for the bad times we are in. Jobs are not out there. They make you fight to the death on everything. To get a raise for anybody was a miracle in these times. Thank you to our committee and local 363.
ReplyDeleteAlbert, that rep that was suspended received FULL monies restored during the arbitration process. Yes Maggie was wrong!
ReplyDeleteSomeone should put up a closed sign on this site it seems.
ReplyDeleteLooking at all this makes me think of many things. 1 thing I will say I work outside and If the inside people are not happy then I am not happy! My vote was NO! I did not like what was on there and I know this company would have stepped up if we walked out for a month. I know it is a hard thing but a little more is better then less. And I know customers would not want to talk to people that where not in the good old USA.. That is not good PR for a company. I do not like talking to people in another country so I change it if I can. Like I see befor with out all of us then there is no managers. And if you have a skill and do it well then there are other comp's out there that want to have you. I do not have a college degree but I have had many job offers. I might just start looking around my self. Maybe better maybe not never know till you look. And Thank you to all the people that went to fight for us on this. Merry Christmas!!!!! Keep a SMILE :)
ReplyDeleteSometimes we have to work with the hand we are given - everyone says how this was not a fair contract - but life isn't fair - those who thought it was a good enough contract to vote yes to had their reasons.. So those who voted no didn't come out on top... the only thing we can do now is start preparation for the next contract. We can complain until our faces turn blue but it will not change the outcome - so take the anger/frustration out on coming up with ideas to take to the table for the 2012 contract... To those who think Frontier is just a bunch of people that don’t have degrees or couldn't find anything better THAT IS UNFAIR... who are you to judge people that you don’t even know? Thank you bargaining team for doing what you could! No matter what you do people will always want more than what they can get – we are a greedy society – but sometimes you have to bite the bullet (not drink the kool-aid) and take what you can get even if that means it isn’t a GREAT contract… but it is as fair as our Bargaining group could get!
ReplyDelete“No tree ever reaches the sky”-German proverb
I agree, yellow seems to be the color. This contract was not fair, if it was fair everyone would be happy, not a few. What happened was pathetic. All the talk, standing proud, where did that all disappear to? We have MONKEY Suits for outside Techs, never even negotiated.No mention of OSHA regs if the clothing is even safe. Hitler had it right, dress them all the same, take away thier diginity,take away thier pride, take away thier individuality, then they will obey without question.
ReplyDeletework like slaves. Anyone who voted yes should be ashamed of themselves
For the next contract- I simply think we should not vote on a proposal that is not fair to all union members. Period. We have to think of ourselves as a group- even a family. What isn't good for a particular section within our union is not good for any of us. Many vowed to vote for a fair contract for all. It simply wasn't that this time around.
ReplyDeleteWe need to go into the next contract as a united membership. My vote was "no" simply because some got more than others. And I am not part of the group that was rooked out of part of a raise. My "no" vote represented my feelings of solidarity with those workers that got less. from my point of view too many people voted against that group that received less and I think it's wrong and it isn't a fair contract.
We are all 363 and we need to have each other's backs in this membership- every one of them. I would have felt ashamed to vote "yes" knowing some were getting less. I feel that is what it means to have unity and solidarity with others in our membership.
If we say something we need to mean it and we need to follow through as one of the above posts states.
Food for thought for the next contract:
ReplyDelete"Solidarity is not a matter of sentiment but a fact, cold and impassive as the granite foundations of a skyscraper. If the basic elements, identity of interest, clarity of vision, honesty of intent, and oneness of purpose, or any of these is lacking, all sentimental pleas for solidarity, and all other efforts to achieve it will be barren of results."
Eugene Debbs
We failed to achieve solidarity this time around. Let's not fail next time.
This tech voted no as well as the other techs in my unit. Please don't generalize. You have no idea who voted yes or no but I would suspect you would be surprised at who voted yes in the end.
ReplyDelete"Albert, that rep that was suspended received FULL monies restored during the arbitration process. Yes Maggie was wrong!" it took over a year for that tech to be fully restored monitarily. no interest either. but with no union that tech would have been gone. this is why we need to stay together. no union and we're all siting ducks for pink slips at her majesty's whim. she doesn't even care what contracts say. she does as she pleases. this union needs to stay together and strong or we just become her play things. who knows what she'll do next.
ReplyDeleteDo we get paid for Overtime when it is less than 30 minutes??
ReplyDeleteYes. You get paid for any time you work past your scheduled tour.
ReplyDeleteThe new language of incidental OT of 30 minutes or less has to do with equilazation of overtime, NOT getting paid for OT.
I think a recount is in order. Seems to be alot of posts who voted NO
ReplyDeleteFYI on uniform laundering reimbursement from NYS Department of Labor:
ReplyDelete"Where the employer fails to launder or maintain required uniforms for any employee, he shall pay such employee in addition to the minimum wage prescribed herein:
$9.00 per week on and after July 24, 2009, if the employee works more than 30 hours weekly; $7.10 per week on and after July 24, 2009, if the employee works more than 20 but not more than 30 hours weekly; and $4.30 per week on and after July 24, 2009, if the employee works 20 hours or less weekly. "
http://www.labor.ny.gov/formsdocs/wp/PART137s.pdf
$7.00/week is below state minimum.
..Above post refers to restaurant industry. It would stand to reason that it would be the same across the board but I'll do some research.
ReplyDeleteTo the individual who keeps sending the below posting. Explain to me what posting was not posted.
ReplyDeleteHow do you expect us to keep solidarity if you censor our posts? I've commented on this blog under various different topics and they've never been posted. And dont say I didnt click "post comment" twice as you said we might have to do, because I did. They didnt contain any foul language either so whats up?
Please comment oin anything or start a conversation about anything, the topics on the home page are suggestions only.
ReplyDeleteWe do not need to keep the discussions about those only.
Here is a thought! Give yourself a raise! Place you disconnect order today! That will put more money in your pocket! Time Warner doesn't make their staff pay to work there. Quite the opposite, they get all services for free. Will this get posted?
ReplyDeleteThe idea behind taking a strike vote and going in with some steam behind us was a good idea but I believe we needed to follow it up. Even if we had nothing to gain by going back to negotiations we could have sent a clear message to the company that we weren't happy with the offer.
ReplyDeleteI see many people here commenting that in these econimic times this was the best we could do. But think about what caused many of the economic problems in the first place- greedy CEO's lining their pockets while the workers and middle class people got screwed. I think the company banked on people being scared by the economy adn they were right. Yes many jobs at Frontier can be done with minimal training, but not all. It wouldn't have taken very long for the comapnyt o have its back against the wall and PSC penalties piling up.
If people do't go out on a limb and risk alittle to make changes, then those changes will never come. We've handed the greedy CEO another victory which means we've taken steps back. How do we ever hope to reverse the damage in 24 months?
Posts the posts that were sent in with links provided to the NYS Department of Labor on harassment.
ReplyDeleteNo one deserves to be intimidated, threatened, cornered, etc. in the workplace by supervisors or fellow employees. People need to know what workplace harassment means in terms of labor laws. Someone asked to have it clarified and the posts never made it to publishing.
If the union has been reading the blog and had seen all the posts about supervisors intimidating employees during negotiations then the union needed to get info out ASAP about how employees can define harassment and do something about it.
No one, especialy union members, should be putting up with being harassed on the job. The union is supposed to be here to protect our rights as workers.
What's the average pay over at Time-Warner though? I'm sure that Frontier would just love to have us all making what TW makes (they might even throw in the free monthly services, although I doubt it).
ReplyDeleteDoesn't anyone ever try to "organize" Time Warner or Deland?
Tough to find average pay for other companies. You can try Glassdoor.com but I'm not sure how accurate those sites are. I believe about 10 years ago there was a vote to have/not have CWA union representation at TW in some areas. Don't know how that went off hand.
ReplyDeleteIn response to the December 9, 2010 10:54 AM
ReplyDeletepost, $14.00/hr and they are not pushed to sell or threatened with firing if they don't.
How can we get offline back here in NY. I really believe we can do a better job than Deland. I would even do it for their cost.
ReplyDelete363 United
ReplyDeleteThere are apparently sevelal posters and multiple posts that did not get published. While I can't remember them at this time, they were each under my usual pseudonym. One of my posts was complaining that my posts were not being published, which never got published!
Unfortunately we will never reverse the damange as long as there are only 159 of us (and I am also NOT WAH or Collections) and 299 of them. 299 people took the easy route because they themselves were first and foremost in their own minds. They didn't think about the people who were forced to give up thousands of dollars over the past few years because the company lied to them and then blindsided them. 299 people did not give a thought to the fact that it very possibly may be them next who is forced to take a pay cut. Who will stand up for them?
ReplyDeleteNY WAH Rep.....Are you crazy. We will never do our job for the pay Deland gets. Talk like that is partially to blame for the mess we are in now. As a WAH rep I am pissed at this garbage contract. Every exspense I have has increase dramatically. However, thanks to the gutless wonders that boasted such solidarity before the vote, I still make less than I did 4 years ago. I want to puke when I read that this is a fair contract. Just one of you stupid ignorant cowardly people that voted yes to this contract should sit in a WAH rep job. Lets see how fair you think this garbage contract is. It makes me so angry. I know a lot of people voted no for this. Every person I spoke to regarding this has said they voted no because it is not a fair contract for EVERYONE. Our union reps are good people and fought hard to get us a fair contract, and your right, this isn't a bad contract, but it sure the hell is not fair to WAH. And not to mention, let the games increase with sales, sales, sales, sales. Oh, did I mention that gates have not been met for months and the base pay is just over $16.00 an hour. ALL YOU PEOPLE THAT VOTED YES, HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO WORK FOR THAT KIND OF MONEY? What I make now makes Time Warner look great. Frontier and the majority of its employess suck, the ones that voted yes, you had to problem screwing me, I can't wait to see when it is your turn.
ReplyDeleteNo one should have voted yes to a contract that was not fair for all 363 members.
ReplyDeleteJust to clarify what the anonymous person said at 11:15pm on December 9th.
ReplyDeleteYes WAH did lose approx $3.00 per hour in 2006 when they closed your building. But you were able to work from home, whereas us in collections took no pay increase at all we were frozen and only received 1000.00 lump sums.
with this new contract your wah pay will be increased above 17.00 per hour not just a little over 16.
Look:
Old pay
16.85 18.10(silver) 19.10 (gold)
2010 Pay
17.19 18.69(silver) 19,94 (gold)
2011 Pay
17.58 19.33 (silver) 20.58 (gold)
In year two of the contract collections will be paid 19.77 per hour and work at home silver will be 19.33 an hour. Is that fair that you dont have any expenses for work when us collections have to travel to and from work. work at home will be above where they were in 2006 at silver. i beg to differ that this was fair to wah. the only people that lost was collections one.
But we all need to end this and come together so we have a chance in 2012.
instead of koolaid and lemonade, lets have collections and work at home invent our own drink and lets have all the members drink our FRUIT PUNCH !!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR AND A MERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL
AND YES YOU ARE RIGHT OUR NEGOTIATORS DID DO A GOOD JOB FOR US, EVEN THOUGH WE WANTED MORE MONEY, 3.5% OR 4 % WOULD OF BEEN A FAIR CONTRACT FOR WHAT WE LOST.
To the poster at December 9, 2010 11:15 PM:
ReplyDeleteFirst, you did not take a pay 4 years ago. Your position was ELIMINATED and you accepted a NEW one at a lower rate of pay. You did not have to take it - you could have accepted the severence instead.
Second, 299 reasonable people voted in favor of this contract. 159 members did not. The simple math says that the MINORITY of members did not think the contract met their expectations - TOUGH SHIT! That's how votes work.
Third, from the beginning all I heard was how everyone wanted a fair contract to vote on - well we got one.
wah stand for just waht is sounds like waaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh.. You all lost your jobs. The we're rehired as work at home reps for less money. YOU DID NOT TAKE A PAY CUT!!!! YOU WE"RE LAID OFF! The people here have the majority in any and all decisions. Get over it and move on.
ReplyDeleteSomebody needs to call a WAAAAAAHHH-MBULANCE!
ReplyDeleteGet it - WAH.
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!
I am not a WAH rep but I stick by them in their fight for more money. You may all think they dont have to travel to and from work however they do have higher utility bills because they're home during the day with the heat on instead of lowering it like we do while we're at the office. They are doing the functions of a Sales Rep, Repair Rep & a Collections Rep. Both Repair Reps & Collection Reps (where thats their only function) make more more than a WAH rep and thats not fair. Personally the contact was ok for me but I still voted NO for the WAH reps. That's what UNITY means! What if next time the company doesnt want to give NOC or I/R a raise, then what?! You think our WAH reps are going to have YOUR back now, I think NOT. Way to stick by your Sisters & Brothers you jackasses! They may not be BLOOD relatives but you should start thinking of them as such. If your blood relative was working as a WAH rep and you saw they were getting screwed, would your vote have been different? If you were watching them lose their home to forclosue or if you were constantly loaning them money to put food on the table for their kids maybe, just maybe, your vote would have been NO. For those that this contract didnt effect and voted YES you should feel ashamed.
ReplyDeleteGil, for you to quote to the paper that this was a fair contract for the economic times, SERIOUSLY? Maybe you've drinking the Kool Aid! The company is adding new VPs left and right! How can they afford their salary yet still not give a decent GWI to thier loyal workers?! They have so many damn VPs that at this point I'm surprised there isnt one for the damn restrooms!
So when will there be another "request" for furlough hours from Maggie? Interesting Motley Fool article saying NTELOS is doing a spin off and it could have Maggie sniffing around. Ducky.
ReplyDeleteits the holidays i have no intention of going to a union meeting this month. Whats the point of scheduling one the same week of xmas. Hello.
ReplyDeleteTo the Post of Dec 9th at 7:03am, regarding Uniform Laundering Reimbursement: NYS Labor Law ALWAYS TRUMPS ANY CONTRACT LANGUAGE. Although We all work for a VERY RICH COMPANY, You wouldn't know It by Their ACTIONS OF COMPENSATION.
ReplyDeleteI'll send this in again- maybe it'll get posted this time around.
ReplyDelete29 people have short memories. 299 people basically bent over and told the company it was ok that we were lied to last year about furlough hour money "helping" the company that was in a bad way fiscally.
At the very least this contract should have been voted down as a way to send a message to maggie that we aren't going to roll over again and believe lies. there are rumors that she's hot on some NTELOS lines now. Are you 299 people going to let her pull another one over on you? You basically told her that what she did was ok and that you would take anything they threw at us.
Sorry, but 299 people voted with no spine and no forthought to what is going to happen in 2 years when it comes time to negotiate again.
The majority wasn't thinking is what happened with this vote. you voted from apathy or short memories.
299 people better keep their mouths shut and not complain for the duration of this contract. You got what you asked for and you sent a clear signal to Stamford that they can do whatever they like. She'll be reaching into your pockets for more soon and you have no one to blame but yourselves.
ReplyDeleteI am hurt and offended. Why? because it took no time at all for all departments to turn against WAH. I read the post on 12-10 at 3:59 and basically what I am hearing is your are calling us cry babies. I am a WAH rep that would have walked for any one of the other departments. I would have stood next to you for anything you thought was not fair in this contract. I am hurt that stones would be thrown at us this way. Yes I feel we did not get what we deserve. We are harassed on a daily basis. We spend our days cleaning up messes from deland and then are told how much better Deland is than we are. We get yelled and screamed at constantly. This contract passed so we all have to live with that and accept it. I was ready to do that the minute I saw it passed. What I am not ready for is my co-workers to call my department cry babies because we complain. We have valid complaints. All departments have issues and I understand that. What I don't understand are the mean harsh words being used at WAH because we need to vent about our thoughts. I am not saying the Negotiating Team did a bad job...quite the opposite. I think they did a great job and got the best they could for us considering what company we are dealing with. But please all I can ask...for myself and all other WAH reps...the company beats us down enough every day...please don't add to it. We need our union brothers and sisters to support us. Not kick us while we are down.
ReplyDeletePLEASE TRY TO STAY UNITED ON THE BLOG IT SHOWS WE ARE NOT UNITED LETS GET POSTIVE FOR 2012 AND TO THOSE WHO WERE NOT INVOLVED STEP UP WE ALL CAN USE THE SUPPORT. NO MATTER WHAT DEPARTMENT OR LOCATION YOU ARE AT
ReplyDeleteBe specific, fair in what way? Exactly what does WAH consider a fair contract? Does WAH expect a $14/hr. raise to match Charelston , WV? Not going to happen. Does WAH expect to get furlough money back? It went to arbitration....not going to happen. So exactly and specifically what would have to have been in the new contract for WAH to consider a contract fair for them?
ReplyDeleteyou work at home reps were all laid off and rehired at a lower wage. no one made you stay and you all voted yes to that contract. Your right about one thing... The company will be doing away with all your jobs. Why do you think they keep opening centers and adding reps everywhere but here. yeah 12 reps this year....big deal they can fire them to. If you can't pay your mortgage or put food on the table,it's not frontiers fault. get a 2nd job. apply for a tech position. your all capable. If the grass is so much greener on the other side of the fence...hop on over and STOP telling us your sob stories!
ReplyDeleteResponding to the post at 7:03pm what would WAH have considered a fair contract? We would like to have gotten some of the money back we have lost. We took a $3.00 per hour pay cut when our center was closed just to keep our jobs. Then they started routing calls to other centers and having take the leads and telemarketers offering products so we lost sales too. Now we have not only lost the $3.00 per hour but we have lost our commissions...and then we also had to take the furlough time. So we got hit 3 times with pay cuts. I know other depts had furlough too so that I almost can't dispute because we all suffered with that. But the hourly wage decrease and the loss of sales commissions hurts. The cards are stacked against us and the routing of the calls is designed to keep us at a low wage. Add to that we took on 2 additional job functions when we started taking collections and repair and we are actually being paid less to do more work. Yes I will make due with this contract...I don't have a choice. But fair...no I don't think so.
ReplyDeleteI am not wah but I voted no. It was not fair for all members therefore everyone should of voted no.everyone should of gotten the same percentage of 2.5 not less. Then that would of been fair in my opinion. But it is what it is. Time to focus on 2012. Big changes r coming. Be prepared
ReplyDeletegood post at December 13, 2010 7:03 PM. - fair questions.
ReplyDeleteThere is no reason for anyone to tell the people that voted in favor of this contract to be "ashamed" or "way to stick it to your co-workers"
I voted for this contract because it was a fair contract - we didn't lose anything. Anyone who doesn't believe that isn't being true to themselves or their coworkers - they are just spreading their animosity.
You are upset about the furlough? Well we had our opportunity to tell them to shove it when we voted on the MOA - and didn't.
You are upset about the decrease in pay from the call center to WAH? Well you could have told them to shove it - and didn't.
YOU CAN'T FIGHT THE THE BATTLES OF THE PAST IN THE PRESENT.
This contract was not about the furlough or a $14/hour raise for WAH - It was about maintaining the pay and benefits we currently have.
Hopefully, more people WAH will get involved now and stand together to the company on the gates and sales requirements now..A few can not do it the need is for 55 to stand up and be heard on what you want.. lets all attend a meeting and demand our concerns be heard and met.
ReplyDeleteTo: December 14, 2010 10:58 AM
ReplyDeleteYou didn't take a pay cut. You took a new position at a lesser pay rate. If you did it to stay off "The System", I applaud your integrity. That was 4 yrs. ago, it's time to move on. I personally did'nt see any "take aways" with this contract. Could it have been better? Absolutely. Can you go down the road in any of the counties within the bargaining districts and make the same money/benefits? I thnk not.
As for call routing. The company has been lying to the union about this for as long as I've worked for this company. If calls were distributed randomly, you would not be asked to push this number or that. You would hear please hold for the next available. It is not however, a contractual item. The union can't tell the company how to run the business.
I know it's hard to leave a position that you have become "comfortable" with, but with all the unhappiness maybe it would send a strong message to Maggie if some moved on to greener pastures.
I apologize if this sounds harsh.
Some of you folks don't understand that the way this vote went down sent a clear message to Stamford that they can do whatever they please. They pulled a smoke and mirrors routine with the T'giving and Sunday premium threats. They would have pushed that much harder if they thought they really needed to change those two items. They didn't. Those two items were "threats" dangled so that anything they did eventually offer would look good.
ReplyDeleteThis vote set a bad precedent for 2012. Riled up with a strike vote and then a push over of 2:1 on the vote. We basically gave Stamford the green light to offer zero on raises next time AND raise the health premium and possibly go after the day after T'giving, etc.
No one should be happy with "maintaining" a pay scale. 2% is barely a cost of living increase- for those that actually will be getting 2%.
Too many people peed their panties and believed the garbage from management once again. And once again we sent a clear message to Stamford to go ahead and do what they like because we'll just take it.
Frontier keeps opening call centers elsewhere because they can do it without having to deal with unions. DUH! Get a clue folks. Maggie is a union buster and you are going to see it up close and personal in 2012. like another post said- be prepared. You haven't seen anything yet. maintaining the pay level? don't you know what this company is paying out in dividends and in VP pay and ceo compensation? This company could have afforded much more in pay raises. They just don't want to because it will cut into their compensation and/or keep them from scooping up more lines. Now if you are a Maggie rah-rah person then I can see where you think maintaining the pay level is ok. Some of us see the corporate corruption going on right here and right now. So 299 of you rolled over because your spines gave out. You better be all frontier for the next 2 years because no one wants to hear complaints now that you agreed to this garbage.
ReplyDelete2 e-mails from cecelia yesterday...made me want to puke. Wanna know what would make my holidays a little brighter? I would love Cecelia and Maggie and Catherine to take their holiday cheer e-mails and shove them. Let us have a little peace.
ReplyDeleteAre the number of overtime hours that a craft employee works supposed to be posted within a department?
ReplyDeleteIn response to the post regarding harassment dated December 9, 2010 10:19 AM. I want to thank the individual who took the time to post the information. It turned out to be very helpful. However apparently some supervisors (at least one in particular) didn't bother to read it or maybe just didn't understand it. Thank you again.
ReplyDelete