The American Spectator

ncatty| 5.15.09 @ 12:11PM

I don't understand the "petition." If the union doesn't like the offer, go on strike.

Real American| 5.15.09 @ 12:21PM

wanting something for nothing is greed. All Unions want their employees to keep their jobs at someone else's expense regardless as to whether it is actually worth it. More Union Greed.

Roy| 5.15.09 @ 12:23PM

As good capitalists, of course unions think that if there is a bigger pie they should be able to demand more. I don't have any problem with that, or at least I wouldn't if the government stayed out.

Becky| 5.15.09 @ 2:44PM

The value of a healthy balance sheet, and having retained earnings are going over CWA's heads. How well is demanding all the profits be eaten up in labor costs working out for the UAW these days?

I guess labor unions (like the UAW) organized as 501 (c) tax exempt organizations confuse their business model with for profit businesses they get ALL their money from. I am willing to bet more non-profit entities have trouble managing their businesses than for profit mainly because so many think extra money in the bank is a bad thing.

Cp| 5.15.09 @ 4:04PM

Yet another news editorial that loves to twist facts to tell an incorrect story. So what is wrong with employees getting a raise in pay, or maintaining current benefits? The reality is that major corps are indeed making profits while the working employees get further and further behind the earnings/costs ratio. How would the sticholders like to take a few percentage points less in their dividends each quarter. As far as stock price, that is an investor's gamble - just as mine in GE, M'soft, FPL, Philip Morris have been.

MT| 5.15.09 @ 4:21PM

Everyone BUT the government and the unions are supposed to sacrifice for the good of the country because the Community Organizer in Chief said so.

Marc Jeric| 5.15.09 @ 4:32PM

There are two immutable laws applicable to all workers unions (also to most professional associations), namely:
1) given enough time all unions will end up in the hands of either the Mafia goons or marxist criminals;
2) show me a strong union and I will show you a dying or dead industry (steel, automobile, textile, electronics, apparel, education, etc.)
As for professional associations, such as those for lawyers, doctors, businessmen, engineers, etc., one law applies: those who know and work hard and successfully stay in their companies; those who don't the companies send to sit on the various committees of those professional associations. I should know - I was sending them to sit in on committees of the ASHRAE, ASME, ANS.

Daisy| 5.15.09 @ 10:03PM

Mr. Jeric, as usual, you are the man!!

mp| 5.16.09 @ 12:32AM

Union greed? I see most of you don't truly appreciate or undersand this issue. It's the company's executive board behaving greedily. The company made billions in PROFIT. That is to say revenue minus costs. Costs which include the payout of billions in dividend increases to shareholders. At&t just again increased the dividend to shareholders this past 1st quarter, amounting to additional billions in payouts! That would be a good place to implement cutbacks, huh?! Some of you seem to confuse profit with revenue. I have no problem with the shareholders or the executives getting paid handsomely, which they are. But for the company to compare itself to the auto industry which lost billions?! There's no comparison. At&t is just using the economy as a lame attempt to demand that each and every worker pay an additional $2000 to $6000 additional dollars towards healthcare costs out of their own pockets. At the same time the CEO and his execs have given themselves bonuses in the form of additional stock options and raises (but then issue a press release saying that they are not accepting cash bonuses this year). That's where the greed lies. The company is ridiculously profitable thanks to its employees and their employees should be able to reap the rewards of that profitability just like the shareholders and its executives. There would be no profit without its workers. Let's not forget that we are talking about a highly skilled trade. It's not like anybody can just walk in off the street and perform the jobs of these men and women. These men and women have earned their pay and benefits and there is no real justification for reducing workers' benefits. At&t is doing this just to make wall street happy by fattening the bottom line even more. How is that not greedy? Marc Jeric, your comment is particularily offensive and elitist. I laugh at how ignorant some of you are portraying unions as an evil entity. Unions are nothing more than a tool for workers to increase their bargaining power and speak with a louder voice. at&t has had union employees almost since its inception and both the company and the union have successfully negotiated in good faith with each other for over a century and in that time have been very profitable. Dead or dying industry? I think not.

Smitty| 5.16.09 @ 2:09AM

If unions are so wonderful why are you sneakily trying to slam CardCheck through congress? Union membership is in the toilet, and most Americans don't want it--that's why you fascist thugs have to use coercion to increase your numbers. Loser.

Tired of it| 5.16.09 @ 8:03AM

The only thing the union can fall back on is the $12 Billion in profit and the dividends the stock holders receive.

I'm not denying there is some corporate greed in any company but on paper AT&T is not one of them. They haven't been giving out huge balloon payments to Execs that have lost the company money, all Managers did not receive a pay raise this year because our growth is down and if you look at Stephenson he also went without a bonus this year. Of course I know he'll be fine because he's already been well compensated by AT&T.

Maybe I'm wrong on this but doesn't the company fund 401K's and pensions with company stock so the dividends from that stock goes right back to the employee. As an employee we are all stockholders in one way or another. If you convert your stock to something else, don't blame AT&T for not giving you a dividend.

If the union is so certain the company will crumble by going on strike then please go. If the union is out for 3 weeks the lost wages alone will more than make up the health care costs to the company over the course of a 3 year contract. Does the average union member really want to walk and guarantee they lose wages or do they want to accept this deal and POSSIBLY have to pay something out of pocket for health care?

If you smoke you pay more for life insurance, if you drive recklessly or have speeding tickets you pay more for auto insurance so why if you spend a lot more time on medical shouldn't you kick in a little more.

The point of having to shift some of the costs to the union member's isn't to not provide health care to the employee but to make the employee think twice about what they are about to have done. Will some people get legitimately screwed over on this because of honest health care problems that they can't do anything about, absolutely! But the majority of the people affected by this will really see no major impact on their lives.

I don't know why I bother venting on this I just want the union to put up or shut up. If your so valuable please leave. Yes there are plenty of managers that will struggle with doing your jobs but there are also a lot of us who won't.

Person of Choler| 5.16.09 @ 12:38PM

Becky asked, "How well is demanding all the profits be eaten up in labor costs working out for the UAW these days? "

Well, over the long run, the UAW ended up with 55% of Chrysler Corporation by the same sort of demands.

mp| 5.16.09 @ 12:42PM

Smitty, what are you? Age 9? Resorting to simple name-calling just shows your ignorance. Nothing wrong with having an honest debate but using simple terms like "fascist thug" "mafia" "loser" just tells me you have a lack of understanding probably due to spending too much time in front of the tv.

Just to clarify, I am a capitalist and firmly believe in capitalism, not socialism. Unions are part of that capitalist fabric. It's not welfare or socialism like many of you want to maintain. They are not asking for something for nothing, they are not asking for free handouts. They simply want to negotiate what they feel they are worth, including a bigger slice of the profits that they generate. That's part of capitalism too, folks: contract negotiations. We all do it, whether as an individual or a group. What I disagree with is the simplistic portrayal of unions on this board. I sense many of you view unions as un-american, criminal entities. They're not. Unions ARE the workers themselves. Of course unions are not perfect and there's things about unions that I do not like. And of course, we all know the Jimmy Hoffa and mafia stories but anyone who still thinks the unions today are like the unions of the early 20th century or what's portrayed in the movies hasn't been keeping up with current events. At&t and Randall Stephenson himself has repeatedly said it is proud of its union workforce and has acknowledged that it has a central role in providing highly trained and skilled employees to the industry. Again, at&t and the union have a proud history together, reaching milestones by working together on fair contracts to both. If you want to view unions as "evil" than at least view them as a necessary evil. Capitalism is great but there obviously needs to be checks and balances otherwise greed runs rampant on both sides. It's just human nature. Workers deserve a voice and unions are the most effective way for them to be heard. At&t is not a victim here.

Bridge Tap| 5.16.09 @ 3:05PM

As a long time employee of Pacific Telephone-Pacific Bell-SBC-AT&T it seems as though it's going to get down to a planned 4-5 day work stoppage exercised by the CWA. The company expects that option and for the first time in my 30+ years, has done extensive management training or should I say “pounded their chest”. Kind of the same thing with the ridiculous “last, best, final offer” Ridiculous because former CEO, Eddie Whitacre tried that five years ago (while negotiations were continuing) It led to a 4 day work stoppage and or course caused the anticipated effect: New Service orders are not issued and current ones are held with install dates pushed out weeks. Only essential services are repaired. This “best, last and final” shouldn’t come as a surprise, it the same mentality that delivered the stiffing of the team award 3 months back. “Zero percent team award” Zero percent from a company that saw increased revenues and 12.8B in profit. At&t of course had the right to refuse a team award then just as CWA has the right to refuse this pathetic offer now. At&t is attempting to regress the health care of the very people who build the profits for this company. We are the ones who climb poles, crawl houses, trouble shoot data and voice circuits at ever increasing productivity demands while being tracked by an array of GPS equipment every minute of the day. We build out and maintain the network that has enabled at&t to deploy its flagship products uverse, dsl, and many others. No amount of training will give management the expertise to run this network and resolve issues. Candidly, they will be the first to admit it. They are also the first to tell you they hope for a good contract as what goes around - comes around. Management will suffer even further concessions if we are hit. They are suffering now. Forced to put their lives on hold throughout this process. Forced to cancel and not schedule vacations. Forced to stay 14 hours a day. This standby mode is wearing management thin. Does at&t care? Not really. That's the sad point.

TW| 5.16.09 @ 3:19PM

Tired of It - You are so very correct. What the union doesn't want the public to know is that workers still get a funded pension plan and 401(k) matches. If the ignorant workers are not taking care of THAT free money, that is THEIR problem.

If the workers have to shell out a little cash for health care, maybe they will think twice about having lap band surgery and boob jobs on the company dime. And when I say company dime......that includes the paid for time the company gives them for illnesses when they have committed fraud to have their "illnesses" covered.

ATT has gone above and beyond the law on FMLA coverages. It's time for ATT to pull back on that and stop the abuse. Then, maybe they wouldn't have to hire 2 bodies for every 1 needed to cover absences.

mp| 5.16.09 @ 4:19PM

"If the workers have to shell out a little cash for health care, maybe they will think twice about having lap band surgery and boob jobs on the company dime."

Now you're just making stuff up TW. The workers' health care doesn't cover boob jobs or other "elective procedures". Their plan is a typical health care coverage plan except they currently enjoy not having to pay high deductibles because of past successful bargaining. A benefit of being unionized.

"workers still get a funded pension plan and 401(k) matches. If the ignorant workers are not taking care of THAT free money, that is THEIR problem"

So your logic is that because they get a 401k match and pension plan they should pay more into health care? One has nothing to do with the other. Did you know that the union proposed a long-term solution to at&t that will reduce the company's health care costs AND allow workers to keep their current benefits and the company flatly said no?

"paid for time the company gives them for illnesses when they have committed fraud to have their "illnesses" covered....It's time for ATT to pull back on that and stop the abuse."

Ah, so now at&t employees are crooks and scam artists I guess. Let's not get carried away. The company "gives" nothing. All the benefits workers currently enjoy are a result of successful contract bargaining with the company. I can see I'm just talking to idealogues who insist on painting at&t as a hapless victim of union bullying.

I don't have the numbers but I'd sure like to know how much at&t has spent in the last two years training all of its managers, sending them to all the technical schools across the country, putting them up in hotels for weeks. That's money that should have been spent training employees that actually do the work. Now that's waste , fraud, and abuse. These managers will have attended the schools but won't have any experience and won't be able to pull it off. All for what will likely amount to nothing more than a 4 or 5 day strike.

Hey, if at&t no longer wants to negotiate in good faith with the union let them do a lockout and just hire new employees or contract the work out. I'd love to see them try to fill those technical jobs and replace all of that experience. Then we'll see how profitable at&t remains.

TW| 5.16.09 @ 5:29PM

MP - you are sooo very wrong.....I have managed those employees who have abused the company health care system and attendance policy. Due to the company's very conservative approach to disciplinine of firing the abusers...the abuse continues.

And, I AM one of those managers that has been trained. While it gives me a heightened appreciation for th workers in the field...if I can climb a pole and strap in...what's YOUR beef!

BTW..if the CWA is so concerned about the workers why aren't they offering to chip in a smidgeon on the $5.5B..yes, billion...ATT spends on health care every year?

Tebra| 5.16.09 @ 7:30PM

There are no bood jobs, no electives coverered under our current healthcare plan. I have to pay for my children's vaccines because they are not even covered. You are flat out lying about our benefits. We do not pay monthly premimums but we pay up the wazoo to use our healthcare in co-pays and deductibles. The only people who do not pay are those who do not use the healthcare. We are willing to pay more, just not half of our annual income if someone in our family becomes ill like the company is suggesting. We also do not want to see the seniors who spent a lifetime working for this company lose everything. We are just middle class families struggling like everyone else to provide for our families. We work hard, we give our best to our customers and we are just asking to keep what we have, not for gains. We work for a very profitable company who makes money from our labor. To demonize and demoralize us for this is just anti American and pro corporate greed. I'm glad we have a union fightig for us, listening to you guys talk about us the way you do just proves how badly the union is needed.

Smitty| 5.16.09 @ 9:12PM

Now you're trying to say that union thugs don't exist. Okay, liberal liar--you're all just a bunch of boy scouts; squeaky clean to be sure. Man, now I've heard everything. I notice you didn't mention the sneaky way you're trying to cram CardCheck through congress--convenient. If you weren't a bunch of thugs you would be transparent and not dishonest dirtbags. Go blow your lying smoke elsewhere.

Smitty| 5.16.09 @ 9:16PM

Interesting that mp brought up the mafia in relation to unions. You'd know that if anyone did, right union goon?

hard working Mom| 5.16.09 @ 9:56PM

It is pretty sick that anybody takes such glee in the idea of cutting living wages and affordable health care from families today who are struggling in an economic collapse caused by corporate greed. To devalue the work of so many people who work so hard, to demonize them and want to hurt them is just so much what the conservative wing has become all about. I've always been a Republican, but I voted for Obama this time because my party has forgotten me and my family. I've never been particularly a big union person even though I work for at&t but right now I'm really glad I have them to protect me from you greedy idiots who want to throw me and my kids under the bus.

Patriot| 5.16.09 @ 10:56PM

Everyone works hard, moron--who protects us from the selfish greedy thieves like you? You've thrown your country over for thirty pieces of silver. No one is demonizing the average DECENT people trying to make a living. The corrupt union leadership thugs, who have a corrupt fellow thug in the White House, are the ones we despise. Get a brain.

tip n ringer| 5.17.09 @ 12:41AM

you call at&t's AVERAGE union wages of $25/hour with fully paid -for benefits and a company-match savings plan 'living wages'? do me a favor and go blow your smoke up someone else's poop-chute.

MT| 5.17.09 @ 1:43AM

The economic collapse was caused by corrupt liberal politicians and their fascist liberal social engineering policies. ACORN, Barney Frank, Chris Dodd and Fannie/Freddie, et al. So many stupids in our country, no wonder we're going down the drain.

hard working Mom| 5.17.09 @ 10:05AM

I pay over half of what my doctor charges everytime I go in for an office visit. My daughter's last ear infection cost me $300. I put $3,500 into a flexible spending account every year for my family's medical expenses but it is never enough. I do not know where you guys got the idea that we do not pay anything for medical. My co-pays and deductibles are higher than anyone I know. I do not make $25 dollars and hour. I am not a theif. I am an American who gets up everyday, goes to work and gives my all to my customer. I do not understand why the Republican party turned into the party of hate, hate your fellow American, it is really sad that this has happened. I feel really good about the fact that I can wish you all well, I hope for all Americans to have access to affordable health care and living wage jobs. I know that I have had to make some tough choices when it comes to voting, but I am really glad I have seperated myself from this hate kind of hate stuff. It feels really good to not be a part of it.

NO 401K AND NO PENSION| 5.17.09 @ 10:37AM

" ...TW| 5.16.09 @ 3:19PM
What the union doesn't want the public to know is that workers still get a funded pension plan and 401(k) matches..."
....................................................
So wrong...

What the COMPANY doesn't want anyone to know is that it is phasing out all of the job positions that are currently unionized, and replacing them with new non-union Premise Tech positions, AND THOSE NEW PREMISES TECH POSITIONS GET PAID LESS THAN $15 PER HOUR, WITH "NO 401K MATCHES", AND ARE "SPECIFICALLY DENIED A PENSION PLAN.".... PLUS THEY HAVE TO PAY 32% OF THEIR MEDICAL COSTS........... ?????

And this, by a company that is not losing money, but, in fact, is seeing increased profits every quarter thanks to the new "U-VERSE" tv/internet/phone service that THESE NEW NON-UNION PREMISES TECHS ARE INSTALLING...

Net result, AT&T is making money hand over foot, while increasing the workload of it's employees, while cutting their salaries, and reducing their pay and benefits....

DON'T be fool enough to think that a 2% per year raise is not a SALARY REDUCTION GIVEN THE MASSIVELY INCREASED COST OF LIVING, AND CURRENT INFLATION RATE....

32years-AT&T Retiree| 5.17.09 @ 11:22AM

You say Union Greed? To bad people don't see the AT&T retirees side of things. The union is our only hope to keep our health benefits. The reason why AT&T is seemingly giving the raises propsed is because in this contract retirees would lose a good percentage of health benefits. This would put thousands of people in need of assistance. I thank the union for not selling us out. Without the unions this country would be in worse shape than it already is. Thousands more people would be without health care and in need of assistance. The things that were fought for would be in vain. Have people forgotten what this country was like before the unions? Maybe a little history lesson would help the people who are against the unions understand why they came about in the first place. No unions=No guarantees for fair wages,health care,40 hour work weeks,overtime pay,safe conditions and the list goes on.

TW| 5.17.09 @ 2:30PM

Since when are Premise Technicians the center of the universe! NOT! This company employees 300,000 employees, worldwide.

I fail to see why we should all be kowtowing to Prem Techs when the CHOSE to apply and accept the job they have and CHOOSE to stay in the job they have.

I heard a rumor that Bell South went to the union in advance offering to have their PTs covered by the union. Union declined....didn't want to be bothered. Now that the union see's the NUMBER of PTs hired, they suddenly want them unionized. BellSouth PTs have declined unionization...perfectly happy with the way things are and CHOOSE to work non-union.

Could just be a rumor but I heard it from a PT manager.

MT| 5.17.09 @ 11:14PM

We're not talking about the rank and file--we're talking about union leadership. They are damned corrupt, and will be even more so with Obama as president. Weak, selfish Americans have destroyed our country. It takes integrity to keep a successful democracy, and we have lost our integrity and our country. You foolish people just don't realize what you've lost--your freedom. Stupidity has a huge price tag--and we will pay big. Fools.

mp| 5.18.09 @ 12:22AM

When did we stop being Americans and instead just view each other as conservatives and liberals? Life isn't so black and white and until we stop labeling each other we'll never solve problems. I served my country honorably in the military for a decade, live an honest life, and give back to the community but am labeled a thug, a liar, a liberal, and a fascist because I support the right for workers to organize in order to bargain for better wages and benefits ? ! Labeling each other only serves further division. This is my last visit to this board as I see most here do not want to engage in honest discussions ; just serve their own small-minded prejudices and spew hatred and intolerance. For the record, I left the republican party in favor of independent and voted for obama as the folks on this board are a good sampling of what Lincoln's party has been reduced to. It's attitudes like on this board that will continue to cost the republican party members and votes. Use some common sense instead of ignorance and blind hatred.

Smitty| 5.18.09 @ 3:00AM

mp are you deliberately ignoring what we are saying or are you just stupid? We're upset about Union LEADERSHIP; many of them are corrupt and we are worried that they are destroying our country. You're just a fascist liberal--admit it, thug. The blind hatred and violence are all yours. Please keep your promise and leave--we have enough lying trolls on this site.

Hammer| 6.6.09 @ 2:34AM

I love the comments about managment not being able to handle the business. They don't need to handle the business. The customers will blame the union for going on strike and will be gratefull for the managment that are trying to help. Managment, like myself, have done every job from operator to ET. I have climbed poles, crawled through dog crap under houses, slept in manholes during cuts, spliced cable, hung drop, run jumpers on the frame, worked on carrier and DLC, and have more experience than most of the craft in the field. I want the craft to get a good contract but stop telling me that I can't do a job that I probably know better than you. I have also been around long enough to know that if there is a strike, the union officials know exactly how long they have to stay out to save enough money to get what they want. The contract will get signed and the membership will say "look what our union got for us". They will never figure out that they will lose in the long run. Oh and by the way, I was on strike in 84 as craft. I never made up the difference.

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