Report from the Business Manager

June 2008

Welcome to Summer 2008!

We have officially been FairPoint employees for almost three months and let me assure you, we have been busy. One of our biggest issues has been a lack of corporate structure. The IBEW came to FairPoint as a complete unit -- everybody already in place ready to continue with the day to day issues. FairPoint , on the other hand, took over on April 1, 2008 without having a complete management team in place. We have watched as they hired people to work with us, waited for these people to find office space, get furniture, and install phone lines just to get started. It have been slow but we have remained focuses and on point in demanding policy and change that will improve our members lives. We have dealt with management new hires, inexperienced with unions and labor contracts, and have struggled for weeks to get FairPoint to release staffing numbers for going forward. FairPoint loves to have meetings and they are always in Portland or Manchester which requires us to commute 3 - 4 hours each way to participate. These days, with gas prices so high, I am starting to question my sanity over having a truck that gets 12 miles per gallon.

We are now starting to move things along. In Vermont, we will see about 70 bids. In Vermont, we have secured 15 toll assignor jobs and 5 Adminstrative Assistant jobs for our new circuit provisioning center in S. Burlington. I am extremely proud of our work to secure these primo jobs for Vermont. This will help make us an anchor in the big plan of FairPoint. Our other big catch is the training center in White River Junction. This will help anchor the southern part of the state with an essential function for FairPoint. We are currently working on ways to use bargained for employees in this school. Other big steps taken include a new pre-test/next step coordinator being selected for the 3 northern states.

I chose Dana Eastman from St. Johnsbury for this job due to his years of service to the membership as our pre-test trainer. Dana has been working to get ready for the increased load of pre-test training requisitions once the bids open. Management has offered Dana the assistance of Debra Rocheleau who has jumped in a made a great contribution to the project. To both Dana and Deb -- Thank you.

We also have had some work with regard to the Work/Family program. Our committee member is Lorrie Fundis from Hinesburg Rd. Lorrie will serve on the overview committee. If you have questions or concerns for the committee, please contact Lorrie at work at 802 658 7501, or leave a message at the union office. Our thanks to Lorrie for making this commitment -- driving to Portland for meetings is not always enjoyable.

We also have done work on our rating system. The exam will stay as it is today with improvements in the study material and job shadowing on certain functions to get a hands on feel for aspect of the job you don't do every day. Also, books will be created for EI as study guides.

Under our Training Advisory Board, we are creating quite a variety of choices for personal and professional growth. Certificate programs for IP/Broadband will be offered. For personal growth, online courses in a wide variety of subjects including language and computer skills will be available.

If you have any ideas on courses you would like to see, please let us know. We will be sending out a survey to gauge interest in different programs -- please respond. Let's try to shape the future for our benefit. One of the latest things we are trying is a conference call every Tuesday to bring up issues in a common interest forum: union, second and third line along with VP's and Peter Nixon. Issues like benefits, organizing, staffing, grievances, savings plans, job descriptions for management, etc. are all on the table. This is a tool Verizon never tried, but I believe IF everyone remains committed, it can yield good results.

We've also been working on the steel toe boot replacement issue, we may be close to an agreement that both sides can live with. I will meet with Labor Relations on July 10 to go through our grievances, so any steward who has anything not filed with the union office should get it in to be addressed.

All members, please keep giving your feedback to us. The only way to serve the membership correctly is to hear from you what you need and want. This is without a doubt the hardest and most demanding job I have ever had and I do love it. Having the opportunity helps my sisters and brothers is an honor and I want to hear from you. Your thoughts and suggestions are important.

Today, with FairPoint, the IBEW is THE path to success for the corporation. We have the knowledge and the skills need to run this company and FairPoint knows it. So, be proud and stand tall for we are the IBEW telephone workers. A brotherhood created by us, for us, delivering communications across this great land for over 100 years and counting.

Be Proud -- We're Union!

Thank you.

Mike

Office/Eboard
Business Mgr