Bargaining Update - Sprint/United Telephone - Pennsylvania (Oct. 28, 2005)

October 31, 2005

The Union and the Company met today October 28, 2005 in Cranberry, PA. Today is the fourth day of five scheduled bargaining dates through next Monday, October 31, 2005.

The Union made consolidated moves on a number of proposals yesterday including:

ò Holidays
ò Call Out Time
ò Recall language
ò Subcontracting
ò Attrition Replacement
ò Cross Jurisdictional Assignments
ò Training for Jobs of the Future
ò Flex Care
ò Sprint Shared Account
ò Pension Improvements

The Union made two counter proposals and an initial proposal today. They include:

ò A counter on the Paid Sick Leave (STD) that would eliminate the Company proposed waiting period for STD, compensated with PTO or Personal Holidays and the proposed reset of sick benefits, in exchange for a reduced sick pay schedule based seniority.

ò A counter on 401-(k) that would maintain the current percentage match for two years, reduced to by 50% in the third years of the CBA.

ò An initial proposal on yearly wage improvements.

The Company responded to the Union's proposals verbally near the end of the day by characterizing our position as being "very far" from the Company's demands. The Union argued that the Company had not made any substantial moves toward settlement and that they were not taking the Union's good faith bargaining seriously.

The Company maintains proposals that would result in the:

ò Slashing of Paid Sick Leave benefits and benefits reset
ò Conversion of Vacation and Personal Holidays to Paid Time Off (PTO)
ò Requirement to use PTO time to compensate the first five days of an injury or illness
ò Reduction of the company match to the Employee Savings Plan
ò Reduction of the double time Sunday premium

The National Union has a coordinated campaign to urge the Public Utility Commission, in the various Sprint Local Service areas, to scrutinize the spin off of the Local service of Sprint.

We will return to the bargaining table Monday morning at 8:30 A.M. and we'll send out another update Monday evening. We have prepared and will be distributing the strike duty schedule over the weekend. When you receive your assignment let your Picket Captain know of any conflicts you may have with your strike duty. The strike signs have been received and we will keep you notified of our progress at the bargaining table. For workers that operate Company vehicles, please prepare to remove all personal items from your vehicles prior to the contract expiration midnight Monday before Tuesday's work tour. We'll provide a phone contact number on Monday for last minute instructions.

Submitted by: Unit 101 Bargaining Committee