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Retire on Friday, back to work on Monday. Sound familiar? Several of our members plan on retiring in the near future. Our pensions being what they are, and the demand for experienced telecommunications people being so high, now does seem to be the time to make the big move.
Double dipping is a great concept. To have a trained, knowledgeable contractor working side-by-side with us would be a dream come true in today's environment. They would know the network, know the processes, and you would already know them because you went to their retirement party last Friday night.
There is a down side to this happy picture. With every contractor who comes to the job site, our ability to bargain for better wages and conditions, our ability to maintain what we currently have is diminished.
As long as telecommunications companies and other employers can bypass the bargaining agreements they have with their employees and hire other firms to do our work, they don't need us, or as many of us. When an employer uses contractors they are no longer liable for their health and wellness benefits, savings plans, retirement accounts, and all the taxes. I would venture a guess to say that those benefits are equivalent to approximately 25-30% of the wages that we see each payday. By hiring contractors, our employees who have studied hard, worked even harder and believed that they had an opportunity for something other than an entry level job, have their chances for an upgrade and transfer diminished exponentially.
Contractors can be hired to take up the load when the workload is heavy, peak vacation time is upon us. Overtime - and many of our members want it - is and can be cut dramatically.
What's the answer? Organizing all telecommunications technicians, regardless of their employers, would be the ultimate dream. We would strive for parity across the industry and work toward a stable, trained and qualified work force that would provide quality service across the larger network.
This organizing effort would include all contracting companies as well. The overtime, health and wellness benefits, grievance process, and other taken-for-granted benefits of union membership would/could be in place in those companies and made part of any contract they sign with larger businesses; e.g., U.S. West, AT&T, etc.
But what can we as individuals do?
Think about retirement, seriously. If you're going to come back and work on Monday at your same desk or at the same pedestal splicing away on that cable transfer you left on Friday, consider the long range consequences of that action. If it's necessary for you to do so, please sign up as a retired CWA member.
Be a union member as a contractor. During an organizing drive, card check may be all that we need. If you are working for an organized company and there is a job action, support it. Remember, you can only be disciplined by your contracting company.
What do you think? Talk about it on the Equalitarian Discussion Forums.
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