National Reports
Canada Ann Newman, CEP Local 50, President
I work for Bell Canada, which is the parent company of Bell Northern, the Research and Development of Bell Telecommunications in Canada. A majority of jobs at Northern have moved south of the border to Right to Work states such as Georgia, resulting in massive layoffs at Northern in Canada.
In Ontario, after having a Social Democratic government, the voters have elected a right wing reactionary government headed by Mike Harris and his TORY Party. The government is reeking havoc on the citizens of Ontario by cutting social programs and by launching an all out attack on working people. However, because of some of the unpopular policies implemented by the Social Democratic Party, a government that was supposed to be worker friendly, there is a split in the trade union movement in Canada.
Canadian unions are no longer united in the way they should be, in order to promote solidarity amongst their membership. It is felt by many of the rank and file that we are paying the price for this split. There appears to be division between the private sector and the public sector unions. This gives an overall feeling of a lack of solidarity amongst workers at a time when we need to be united.
However, a positive aspect that has come out of all attacks being placed on workers by an unfriendly TORY government, is the realization that labour can no longer work in isolation. In order to fight an unfriendly government, we need the support of all the citizens of Ontario. Hence, a great deal of emphasis is being placed on forming coalitions with various community groups.
There is a feeling that the leadership does not share information with the rank and file and a strong feeling that the leadership is out of touch with what's going on in the Locals.
It is very difficult at this time for the Local leadership to fulfill its role and effectively represent its membership in these hard times. A lot of unions are involved in various TEAM programs. This means that in a lot of cases, Locals are being run by management and as a result, our membership does not have a true picture of what is really happening in their Locals or why Local executives sometimes make decisions that the members do not always agree with.
WHAT'S HAPPENING AT BELL CANADA
In May 1995, Bell Canada, announced that they were downsizing by 10,000 workers, due to surplus. This goal was to be reached by the end of 1997.
They announced that they had implemented a Business Transformation Team to get to where they wanted to be at the end of 1997. The 10,000 workers would be made up of management and nonmanagement. In order to qualify for the package, a person should had signed by September 30 deadline or their package would be reduced by 50%. However, in operator Services, the workers were told to sign by August 30, 1995.
Around the same time Bell announced the closure of 37 Operator Services offices in Ontario and Quebec. This was after the deadline had passed to sign for the separation package. A large number of Operators signed the separation to leave the company in 1997 hoping they would be safe until that time. However, with the announcement of the closure of 37 offices, tremendous pressure was put on the Operators to depart by December 31, 1995. The company threat was that if they did not leave by this date, they would go on a reserve list and their package might not be approved for 1997.
In October of 1995, the union CEP and Bell entered bargaining. In December, Bell announced that it had a surplus of 1,300 technicians. The employer informed the union that it was contracting out its installation and repair services. It stated that it was no longer making a profit on this service. They had the nerve to make this statement after the company went to the CRTC, the government regulatory body, to gain permission to charge $91.00 per hour for this service. After pricing themselves out of the market, they wanted to dump the workers along with the work.
The union approached a labour solidarity fund located in Quebec and worked out a deal to purchase the company installation and repair department.
This was after the September 30, date that would enable workers to get 100% of the separation package offered. There is a lot of animosity amongst the senior employees, who did not sign up for the package. Especially when they see less senior workers taking the package and transferring to the NEWCO, Entourage and earning a wage of $17.00 an hour or more.
There are lots of problems with the NEWCO. Bell is still using contractors. There is no clear demarcation line and some times you have three people showing up for the same job. Bell, Entourage and an outside contractor. Consumers in some cases are refusing to let Entourage in. They think they are scabs.
The employer informed the union in April, 1996 that they are planning to outsource Directory Assistance. In fact, the company they are looking at contracting out to is EXCEL, located in Arizona.
When I attended the first TIE conference two years ago, my Local had 700 members, since, it has been reduced to 370 members. This is down from 1,600 in 1980.
There are major Safety and Health problems in the Local. The majority of the health problems are RSI related. To properly address these issues, there is a real need for a change in job design.
As a Local, we have begun to work with women's groups and community groups. For instance, in June there was a TREK across Canada. The group started in Vancouver, BC, in May and ended the march in June in Ottawa.
At this time, in Ontario, the Operators are involved in the "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH" campaign. On August 20, the Operators took to the street to publicly protest Bell Canada's practices, and the way they are treating their employees. We developed a leaflet, put the president's phone number on leaflet, encouraged the public to write letters and dial "0" and asked to be connected directly to the president. The response has been tremendous. There is a lot of support from the public. People want these jobs to stay in Canada. To date we have over 10,000 signatures on petitions. We are continuing to collect signatures.
I want to wrap up on a really up beat positive note. Today, hopefully Toronto is at a standstill. This is in protest to the Harris government cut backs. There will be no public transit and hopefully all public offices will be closed. Hopefully there will be 250,000 people taking part in the march. We hope this will eventually evolve into a one day General Strike. Perhaps one day we can ignore borders and have a general strike of workers regardless of where we live.
B. United States Madelyn Elder, CWA Local 7901
For the past three years, I've been SecretaryTreasurer of my local in Portland. We represent workers at US West. In the U.S., the years 1994 to 1996 have been marked by mergers, competition, and layoffs.
In 1994, most companies were in the midst of reengineering. Thousands of telephone workers were given the boot or moved to a totally unfamiliar job or city. Centralized systems were decentralized and viceversa. Operator centers were moved out of town and state. The result was poor service quality.
In the larger world, the demand for telephone lines rises. Portland has economic growth which leads to increased population. Rural areas are becoming citified. There's been total mismanagement. You are seeing increased use of temporary workers, deskilling, and increased demand. Wealthier neighborhoods get served before poor ones. Large business gets fiber optics; small business has to wait days just to get phones. The CEO of US West claimed to have "forgot" the details of a deal with Times Warner.
I can tell you however that the results have been first off, unemployment. This leads laid off workers to seek jobs at nonunion contractors who are then contracted by the company. The dislocated worker center is busier now than when it opened a year ago. The union has negotiated good benefits for laidoff workers, but unemployed workers have run out of severance pay.
A second effect has been overtime for those still on payroll. This means 10 to 12hour days, 60hour weeks are typical. This had a devastating effect on families.
Third, there's been speed up, production is measured, goals are raised to impossible heights. At AT&T, goals are raised when workers approach them. A suit was won regarding people getting back pay at AT&T who had worked extra hours without getting paid at the overtime rate. Supervisors' goal is to have 25% on a disciplinary plan: three strikes and you're out. First, there's a warning/discussion, second, there's a written warning and discussion and a third offense leads to dismissal.
Fourth, safety has become the lowest priority. Workers suffer from fatigue, too much pressure to perform, the desire to "go home finally." There's been a record number of accidents. Whiz kids replace managers. All they know is how to discipline and how to push workers to the maximum.
Fifth, competition has had a negative impact on solidarity among workers, there's no time to talk to each other.
The CWA has been involved in national legislative activities siding with regional Bell companies to favor fair competition and it has also backed any democrat regardless of labor vote, NAFTA, affirmative action, or welfare reform.
Second, regarding quality circles, joint committees, etc., the CWA still participates, despite layoffs, speed up and disciplinary zealotry. If this is the work place of the future, I'm going to fight it, not argue over what color to paint it. Management holds the power and withholds the information. The union is helpless and hopeless budding heads against managers smiling that they feel our pain.
Third, the union adopted an organizing resolution at the 1996 Convention. This specifies that 10% of the budget will go for organizing. The national will spend 10% of its budget on organizing and encourages each local to do the same. Each local is to hire one local rep to organize the unorganized after working 60 hours a week. However, there is no direction from the national. They say, "Do what you want." District 7 has one fulltime organizer for 14 states. A few locals do have their own organizers. The Portland local is hiring an organizer to put together an organizing structure and begin external organizing.
The chaotic nature of the reform may work. There are not enough bureaucrats in the west to smother the more militant and creative types. The key is if information is the future of work, shouldn't we be in there organizing? We need to scream loudly to get the support of the national office. There are exceptions, but the vast majority of the staff are political appointees who hob nob with management and have forgotten what it's like to actually work for a living under the contract they negotiate. There is an old guard mentality. Barbara Sterling, the Secretary/Treasurer of the CWA ran against the Sweeny/Trumka slate.
The companies need us more than we need them. They need highlyskilled workers so that we can actually get phone service to people. At US West, phone service happens because we know someone who owes us a favor. If we went through the actual system, no one would get phone service. All management has is a Master degree in business and stock options.
CWA can be democratic and its members have a militant streak in them when aroused. Pressure can be put on the national to walk the talk. There has emerged a caucus of "Activists for a Better CWA." The caucus has called for direct referendum election of top officers, formation of a labor party, and moving elections to a year after contract negotiations. There is a minority caucus. Sometimes it rises to the occasion, despite coaptation. Who gets laid off? Women and people of color. The company rehired 150 people only 5 are women, 5 people of color. We need communityworker coalitions to save universal service and oppose corporate deregulation.
We did succeed in promoting regional hearings, protesting bad service, which led to the hiring of 150 technicians. There needs to be militant action to any announcement of layoffs, closure, and contractingout, with outreach to all other locals for support. It did happen in the VirginiaD.C. area. Workers took the street. We need to make the union part of the community coalition. We need to organize the unorganized. We need worker coops, worker centers, outreach to minimum wage workers and subcontractors, crossborder organizing and awareness.
The CWA has participated in the American Institute for Fair Labor Development (AIFLD), which was sponsored by the CIA and always support "non communist" unions against indigenous unions. This has to end.
The world is smaller and it's full of possibilities.
C. Mexico Rosario Ortiz, Secretaría de Trabajo, STRM
By government design, AT&T, MCI, and Sprint are entering in alliance with Mexican capital and it will probably have an important economic impact. First, the competition is being introduced in different cities at different times. In Monterrey, Indetel enters and in a week there's a decline of 3,000 longdistance calls. Next month, Guadalajara enters into competition. Querétaro, one month later and in November 1997, Mexico City.
There has been very strong competition for skilled telephone workers. 50 of the virtual network of technicians asked and received better salaries at other companies, but without guaranteed positions. Construction and line workers however, do not have the economic benefits that we have and they are organized in rat unions. This is the form in which competition has been introduced. The results are not yet visible, but we feel we are being cheated. For the last two years our union leadership has lobbied to create a national industrial union, but the CTM of Fidel Velázquez has fought against it, given that both the CTM and the STRM have contracts in the industry. The other unions are also competing strongly.
Internally, STRM has gone through an eight year change process in the leadership. This change has had an impact on the policies of the union as well as on the union as a whole. Due to pressures by management initiatives, the union structure has become more dynamic and open to different points of view.
We have been involved in a very intense process of reengineering in the last two years. That has been the focus of our attention. The union has seen the need to grow in order to be able to keep up and to have a new vision that may create alternatives to save jobs. Employment uncertainty has brought fear to people and they feel disempowered and hopeless. The projected loss of 6,000 positions due to competition, has made people willing to accept concessions. The workload is much more intense.
This situation is heightened by reengineering. There are transfers in all areas of employment, as the results of reengineering create new areas of work. The company is merging operator and clerical work, we have service centers or areas of attention to clients which focus on business customers; technicians are also being affected. Management policy is to give preference to clients with large incomes.
We encourage worker involvement in union activities to redesign job positions. One needs to ask what is public telephone service; Instead of universal service, current policy favors those of higher incomes, such as the industrial zones, the great financial consortiums.
The training we get is selective; The company also provides only the necessary training, thus the level of skill of the workers has declined.
Another issue is the new labor culture. What is the culture that we want? Management's proposal is that we buy into the company's plans. What we have to do is to create our own agenda, and form conditions favorable to workers.
How does one restructure the union in a way that members can participate more in discussions? There is no participation from workers on union proposals, which is something we are trying to change. And above all, we are trying to preserve job positions. The labor culture needs not be management culture, but rather the union can create its own labor culture.
Right now, we're facing many transfers from administrative posts, warehousing, and auto repair. Some 1,000 workers have been transferred to outside plants. Regarding parallel seniority scales, these transfers generate conflict between seniority rights and labor flexibility. The union faces the same dilemma with schedules, shifts, work material, training. It is fundamental that seniority be respected. We thought inplant workers were not going to be touched, but they too, have been moved.
Reengineering has affected jobs. It is hard for us to keep up. When the company introduces a proposal we don't go into negotiations with clear proposals of our own and this affects us a lot.
We have been successful in working with the research personnel, despite our union weaknesses. In some areas, we have been able to seize from management an important source of strength, but have not succeeded in all areas.
We know that we are in the midst of a reengineering process which affect positions and job losses. And we have not reached the end. How it ends depends on how the union responds, but unfortunately, I'm pessimistic. The problem of reengineering has not been adequately confronted. What happens depends on whether the workers are ready or not.
Management has imposed its agenda in a series of courses entitled "Introduction to Change." It gives one a complete loss of perspective. The worker is no longer important, but rather the worker is depersonalized in order to better attend to the client. It is a contradictory process. However, there is not a complete acceptance of all these management concepts. Workers do not believe in them completely.
D. FRANCE _ Francine Bavay, SUD
I am member of the SUD, which stands for Solidarite, Unite Democratique. We became a separate independent group in 1989. In France, there are 4 union confederations. We were part of the CFDT but were thrown out because the union opposed the coordination of workers from all four federations during strikes and mobilization. We believe in focusing our work amongst the rank and file. We have three primary goals 1) clarity in the organization, 2) worker empowerment through organization, and 3) unity amongst unions and in action.
In France, there is a problem of competition between unions and union confederations. The unionization rate is lower than in the U.S. France Telecom is 15% unionized. Nationally, there is 8% unionization. However, those who are in the union are union activists. France Telecom has stock in Telmex and Sprint. Part of a strategic alliance. We need both regional and international solidarity.
Regarding deregulation and privatization, the situation in Western Europe is similar to North America. Deregulation was first exported from the U.S. to the European Community in 1987, in 1990, they aimed at the telephone service, in 1996, the telephone industry was opened to competition and privatization.
The union argued that privatization was unnecessary. The goal of privatization was not competition but to fire people. We struggled against privatization for 20 years. During the last 3 years, we've given it up, we lost the struggle, but it was not a total loss. Workers will keep state employee benefits. The early retirement plan aims at getting 20% of the work force out of the job.
The French government introduced a plan to reduce unemployment by hiring young people. But they're using temporary work contracts, lower wages, no protection. The December 1995 strike was fought against changes to the retirement plan. The government wanted to increase the number of years of service required from 37.5 years to 40 years. Because of the strike last year, we kept the 37.5 hours.
In France Telecom, there has been a drive to reengineer the company into 5 subgroups, including residential telephone, companies, networks, and resources. Consumers have been the main victims of reengineering. The idea of universal service was to help consumers who had more difficulties. In France, there was the idea of solidarity among all consumers. Now, there are higher rates; this is a struggle we have lost.
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