Solidarity=Success

February 1, 2004

Every time I sit in front of my keyboard, I'm reminded of a funny that goes something like this: A little first grader arrived home from completion of his first week of school. He flopped down in front of his mom and defiantly said, "I'm not going back to that school." "And why?" asked his mom. "Because I can't read, I can't write and they sure won't let me talk." Hopefully that young man grows up to become a union member. He will never have to fear not being able to voice an opinion with that career choice.

What leads me down this avenue of thought was during my surfing of the web pages of our CWA affiliates. Our union members are speaking out. There are some astonishing articles among these current web pages. The writers are doing an earnest job of alerting their members to the very certain need for solidarity.

Solidarity at Sprint has to be attained if we, as a force, are to stop this company from reckless abandonment of our benefits and decent working conditions. Bob Campbell, President, Local 3176, shed a great deal of light on what we are losing and why we are losing ground to this company. Local 3682's web page painted a good picture of our need to solidify our members. The commentary of Ron Knight, President, Local 3681, was a blueprint of how we may end up if we continue to allow the non-members to keep riding our coattails. Our Tennessee Local 3871 appears strong at 98% organized and Hickory, NC Local 3672 stands at 98%, but we still have problems with our members standing united.

The last contract negotiations posed a strike possibility. A few members of our local had the audacity to claim they wouldn't strike. We also had the fence straddlers. This situation reflects on what Glenda Turnbo, President, Local 6174, eludes to her members, "we are not mom and pop local telephone services anymore like Mid-Tex, Centel or Carolina Tel." We are dealing with a ruthless company and we need to be as focused on our mission to succeed in strength.

Solidarity has to be built on a solid foundation; it can't be an emotional foray into people's lives. Let's strive to get our membership cohesive. Let's make a genuine effort to bring our lost sheep back into the fold. Then we can work on our internal problems.

By Gary Barlow, Local 3672