SBC Union Workers to Stage Four-Day Strike

The union for 100,000 SBC Communications Inc. workers said Wednesday that it would stage a four-day strike this weekend to show its resolve on the wage, healthcare and job-security issues at the heart of stalled contract talks.

Members of the Communications Workers of America plan to walk off the job at 12:01 a.m. Friday and return to work at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. The work stoppage would mark the first strike at SBC since the Baby Bell became independent in the 1984 breakup of the then AT&T; Corp. monopoly. There have been strikes at Pacific Bell and other carriers SBC later acquired.

“We are making this limited job action right now to drive it home to SBC that our members are serious about securing their future at SBC,” said CWA President Morton Bahr.

SBC, the dominant local phone company in California and 12 other states, said it would rely on nonunion employees and managers to continue operations without interruption.

“After more than three months of negotiations ... we are disappointed that we still do not have closure on the very strong proposal we have on the table,” said SBC Chairman Edward E. Whitacre Jr.

San Antonio-based SBC has long prided itself on good relations with its unions. Nearly 60% of the company’s 170,000 employees belong to the CWA.

The two sides have been negotiating in Washington with the help of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. Its director, Peter J. Hurtgen, who oversaw mediation in the California supermarket strike and the CWA negotiations with Verizon Communications Inc., is supervising the SBC mediation process.

Much as grocery stores have lost ground to nonunion discounter Wal-Mart Stores Inc., SBC says it faces heavy competition from nonunion cable companies. The cable industry is poised to roll out telephone service using voice over Internet protocol technology, which sends voice over data lines much like e-mail is sent.

“That is our competition, and that’s why we’re looking to change our cost structure at the bargaining table,” said SBC spokesman Walt Sharp.

Union pay, on average, is 50% higher for similar jobs at cable firms, he said.

Veteran SBC operators earn $41,000 a year, customer service representatives more than $46,000 and technicians $56,000 to $59,000, according to company and union sources.

“There are two issues, pay and quality service,” said CWA spokeswoman Candice Johnson. “In a competitive industry, quality service provides the competitive edge and the low wages paid by a number of cable contractors -- some pay around $9 per hour -- have resulted in many unhappy customers.”

SBC released the details Wednesday of its latest five-year contract offer:

It would give a 4% lump-sum pay boost in the first year, then raises of 2.5% in each of the next two years and of 2.25% in each of the final two years. It would increase workers’ co-payments for medical care to 10% of total healthcare expenses, down from an earlier proposal of 12%, but still higher than the 4% to 7% members now pay. It also would guarantee jobs to employees should their current jobs no longer be needed.

The CWA said the lump-sum payment would save SBC $1 billion over the contract term and the company should use that money on health benefits, as Verizon did with a similar provision in its contract. Workers have long settled for lower wages in exchange for better medical benefits, Johnson said.

With 29,000 union jobs lost in three years, many to overseas companies providing customer service, the CWA wants its members moving into positions in the company’s growing businesses, including Internet data services, VOIP, broadband and other areas.

SBC earned a record $8.5 billion last year even as sales dropped for 13 straight quarters. Its shares fell 18 cents to $24.41 on the New York Stock Exchange.