Representing workers at AT&T, AVAYA, BellSouth Telecommunications, BellSouth Utilities, BellSouth Internet Group,  BellSouth Advertising and Publishing, BellSouth Affiliate Services Corporation, BellSouth Long Distance, Cingular, Consolidated Press, Exopack, SBC Telecom and Verizon.

INTELICOAT MEMBERS

NEWS YOU CAN USE

First, let's start with the Negotiating Timeline. Back on February 19th of this year, Ken Dellinger and I met with Tommy Thurston from IUE (International Union of Electricians). The meeting went on for 5 hours. This meeting was a getting to know you meeting. We talked about where we came from, where we are now and where we want to go from here. Near the end of the meeting Tommy had us read a 2-page "Letter of Inquiry" information letter. Tommy was going to mail the letter to Intelicoat Technologies - Matthews Plant Management Team to gather all the requested information the next day. The letter was actually mailed about a week later. "Letter of Inquiry" information letters usually take a minimum of 2 months to complete. I've talked to Tommy; he hasn't received the letter yet. Once he does we'll go from there.

Second, I'm going to talk about the CWA Convention in New Orleans. Ken Dellinger and I went to New Orleans on March 20th and came back on March 23rd. We arrived on Saturday (20th). We had to register to be part of the Meeting and Workshops. Sunday the meeting started at 9:30am. It was one committee after another informing every one of the yearly happenings. We broke for lunch at 12:30pm. At 1:30pm the Workshops began. Ken Dellinger and I went to the IUE workshop. The workshop was lead by Hugh Wolfe. Many of you met Hugh at the Union Organizing Cookout and the CWA Headquarters in Charlotte. Hugh talked to us about the strategies and realities of today's business climate. The workshop lasted till 5:00pm.

Monday the 22nd the meeting started at 9:30am. This meeting was one guest speaker after another. 4 of which I'm going to mention are Morton (Morty) Bahr - President/ Communications Workers of America, Jimmy Smith - Vice President, District 3/ Communications Workers of America, Jimmy Gurganus - Vice President/ Telecommunications and the Honorable Mitch Landrieu - Lieutenant Governor State of Louisiana.

v   Morty Bahr is an older gentleman from the old school. It's easy to see why he's the President. He's sly, cunning and real smart.

v   Jimmy Smith, our District 3 Vice President is liked by all. He's a Southern gentleman who's very polished when speaking.

v   Jimmy Gurganus is a fantastic speaker. He grabs you from the beginning and doesn't let go until he's through.

v   Mitch is young, energetic and going places. The State of Louisiana is very pro union. I could tell by his speech that he's got bigger plans for his own future.

We broke for lunch at 12:45pm. At 1:30pm the 2 afternoon workshops began. The 1st workshop we attended started at 1:30pm and was over at 3:15pm. This workshop was titled "Internal Organizing". Hugh Wolfe, Liz Roberson and Booker Lester taught us how to organize the unsigned people within our own plant. The meeting was interesting.

The 2nd meeting was titled "Get Out the Vote". Mike Grace, Administrative Assistant to the President led this workshop. In a nutshell, it was about the History of Voting in America. Why it's so very important to vote for our elected officials. All in all, it was a very informative weekend. I can say that Ken and I learned a lot.

Third, let’s talk about negotiating our Contract. There's going to be things you dislike about this Contract. There'll also be things you'll really like about this Contract. We want to get everything we want on this Contract. It's our 1st Contract and it takes time to get the things we want. I can tell you right now, we can't do any worse than where we are at. We've got to have patience and understanding of negotiating fairly. It might take over a year before we have a Contract. Then again it might not take long at all. It all depends if both sides are listening and bargaining fairly.

Two of the bigger stumbling blocks will be Healthcare costs and negotiating one Contract for all three U.S. plants. If we can get one Contract for all three plants, then Intelicoat's Management Teams can't use one plant location against another. When the Contract ends, it ends for all three plants. One Voice, standing together for the same cause. Let me say this, you can have local issues pertaining to your local plant only (such as pay) under one Contract. There's power with numbers. The more people you have the better off you are.

Thanks

Mick Clark

CWA Vice President—Intelicoat
SOLID TO THE CORE IN 2004!