CWA - Missing in Action?

Okay, missing in action may be a little harsh for my Communication Workers of America.  I was in a grievance meeting this morning, over AT&T not calling me in on my “off” day.  I didn’t know the meeting was happening, the steward only knew five minutes ahead of time and didn’t have a copy of the grievance.  Thank goodness he had already agreed with management the day before,  that there was absolutely no contract violations or we would have been in real trouble-lol.

Since the union and company have agreed they did nothing wrong and since I agree to disagree(it is still America), here is the problem.  Last year, the company established a group called “first mile” at our work center in Chelsea, Alabama.  This group was originally(we were told) going to work defective cable sections where Uverse had problems.  It’s seventeen member facility technician crew would be working construction and engineering jobs all over the Jefferson/Shelby county area.  They have since been tasked with working repair in the demand load each day, mostly in the Birmingham area.

The frustration we installation/repair technicians at Chelsea have,  is that they work in our repair load and on our “off” days, we are not invited to participate.  Past practice with the union contract entitled “off” day technicians, “penalty pay” for not being invited, when others enter your working area.  The three grievances I had, plus the ones filed by others were thrown out this morning.  We just want to understand how things have changed.

The “first mile” group doesn’t have MSOC numbers to contend with.  No GPS on trucks, no “out the gate time” to worry with.  They enjoy a monday through friday 7:00a-3:30p schedule with almost a guaranteed weekend call-out.  They refer cable troubles back to us if they want to, with no “referral penalty”, like we have.  About twenty technicians were surplused recently and “bumping lower seniority technicians within 35 miles” has started.  “First mile” has been excluded from any surpluses and from other surplused technician bumping them.  They are like the “super posse” in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  Can’t be stopped, can’t touch them, excluded from normal rules, and financially well backed.

Our first level meeting this morning was taken over by the visiting second level.  He advised us that they were a flex force.  Go anywhere, do anything, in any area and we basically didn’t have any room to complain.

Now, I’m probably telling you more than I should, but I’ve always heard that once the Union was done with a grievance, it was ok to ask elsewhere.  So, I’m asking elsewhere.  I know that even veteran managers can make mistakes.  Union people can be mislead.  There are “true and Intent” meanings in the union contract that only real experts can explain.  I’m sure that there are interpretations of “equalization of overtime” that could read like a novel.  “Past practice” grievances are also interpretative challenging.  Hey, if it was easy, there wouldn’t be grievances nor arbitrators.
I know there are union people in our 22 state area who have come across this issue.  I just want to know what you did and how was it solved.  Is there something we’re missing here?  If this group has fallen into the contract loophole zone and have become true Jedi, able to wield amazing powers… then I just want to be one.  Thanks in advance for any email or comments.  It may be the little help you give here, will also solve the mystery elsewhere.  I’m even ok with bad news, I’ve gotten a good bit of that lately.

I like CWA Local 3317′s quote from an Asian proverb, “An army of sheep led by a lion will always defeat an army of Lions led by a sheep”.  But I’ll leave you with a Bible verse.  1 Timothy 5:18 comes to mind…”For the Scripture says, Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain, and the worker deserves his wages.”