Please take the time to read update #8 on DTV below.
It is noteworthy to see that we will now have an opportunity to not only bargain for additional monies for DTV work but also bargain as much work as we possibly can for those in the premises technician titles. This is extremely important considering the company is migrating from the Uverse platform to the DTV platform for video services. While it might be easy to criticize some of the points below, let it not be so narrow viewed that we might forget we only have this opportunity because we are UNION and have a collective bargaining agreement.
Together we are union, divided we are not. There is no doubt we will not be able to meet everyone’s expectations in any final agreement over the DTV issue but, we will move our members forward in securing additional monies; monies that count toward overtime, vacation pay, personal day pay and many other economic payouts, and work for the future.
No progress is made without a fight! The local will keep you updated as this issue develops and as you can see below it has many intricate moving parts. Check our news or download the CWA Local 4900 app to keep up with the latest.
In Solidarity,
Tim Strong
Below is the communication sent out to local presidents from District:
TO: CWA District 4 Local Presidents – AT&T
As some of you are aware from the T&T Conference, I asked President Shelton for the ability to try to negotiate in the Midwest over the DBS and the twenty cents per hour for PremTechs, as we believe was negotiated in District 3. Since this issue was still at his level, the President asked me to clear it with the other Telecom VPs.
The Telecom VPs had a call Tuesday. Among other issues, we discussed the twenty cents. The other VPs are in agreement with it. Based on that, we have sent a demand to bargain in the Midwest. We fully expect the Company will initially not agree to bargain over just that narrow issue in the PremTech scope. As you know from previous updates, the Company has already offered the twenty cents if we drop the fiber drop issue we have in some locations, and our right to grieve the scope in the future. We expect the only way the Company will agree to negotiate is over the whole scope, since they believe they already have the right to assign DBS work to PremTechs.
The second issue somewhat ties into this. It appears we are getting close to a national agreement on the unit size for the whole card-check process. As you know, at least in the Midwest, we are still pushing to get that work in core Appendix F, and also trying to get the work done with current PremTechs — not contractors — at least where we have PremTechs.
I know you are getting hammered, as evidenced by the many emails that are sent to the website. I wish there was a way I could make it easy for you and others to explain the situation and all the moving parts. Unfortunately, there isn’t. All we can do is continue to educate our members. We know it’s difficult for them to understand that even if DBS is put into the scope, as it is in other districts, it does not automatically bring the work currently done by DTV contractors in-house. The result of negotiations would simply be, as we believe it is in District 3, the placement of a dish should be worth an increase in base pay. Our primary goal now is to attempt to get the twenty cents, but we will not sacrifice our right to grieve other unrelated issues in the scope. The other major goal is to get as much of that work as possible into our core contracts performed by our members, and not into a different contract or performed by non-bargained for people.
I will update you again with any further developments.
Linda L. Hinton
Vice President
CWA District 4