My suggestion is that we never agree to not provide every member a hard copy of the contract within 30 days of ratification. That the company also agree to make it available online in a 'read only' format, accessible from any computer, in or outside the company network.  You shouldn't have to have secureID card or any other password to get to that document.  That CWA make it available on their website, in totality within 48 hrs of a tentative agreement, and then post and maintain the ratified contract and subsequent letters of agreement, Q letters, etc. so that any member and retiree can access the documents that impact the quality of their lives on and off the job. 

 

Once folks have the contract in hand, everyone should take the time to read it, cover to cover.  Don't just hit the highlights, read it all.  When you take statements out of context, you lose sight of what's really happening. You can't pick and choose a phrase or sentence, it's the whole section that matters.  Don't wait until you need it or a steward to protect you or save you on the job.  If, after reading this document, if you have questions, then bring them up to your steward, a local officer or gather a bunch of your friends and head on down the hall for the next general membership meeting and ask the questions there.  I'm willing to bet if you don't understand something or have a question, there are at least a dozen or more of your fellow compatriots who do as well.  Knowledge is power.  Your managers won't have half the opportunities that you do to find the answers to your questions. 

 

I believe that a copy of the CWA-Qwest contract can be found with a little digging on the Department of Labor's web site, as all labor contracts have to be filed with them.  So this isn't company confidential or proprietary if it can be posted there and read. (I found the previous contract there when researching the health insurance questions, all the health care, benefit and retirement plans are posted there as well.)

 

Hope one and all have a very happy holiday season.  May the new year be better than the last, may we all stay healthy, get healthier, keep our jobs, keep our sanity, keep our homes, and finish 2009 a little bit better off than where we are tonight!