Contact: Yonah Diamond, Organizer
Communication Workers of America Local 9415

Phone: (510) 834-9415
Email: ydiamond@cwa9415.org
Web Site: www.cwa9415.org

SBC Workers March and Rally on Day of Contract Expiration

OAKLAND, CA- Employees of SBC Communications Inc., members of the Communication Workers of America (CWA) Local 9415, are planning a mass rally and march through downtown Oakland for the date their contract expires, Thursday, April 1st. Contracts covering over 100,000 employees of SBC, the Texas-based telecommunications giant, are due to expire the first week in April. The contract for SBC-West, formerly Pacific Bell, covering over 30,000 of those workers, expires April 1st.

CWA members and community supporters, including local politicians, will assemble at 2150 Webster St. in Oakland, SBC’s district office, at 5:00 pm on April 1st. They will then march through downtown to 1587 Franklin St., SBC’s Central Office, and then return to 2150 Webster St. for a rally.

Health care and job security are the issues at the top of the agenda for SBC’s employees. SBC recently made an extensive proposal on health care that called for major retrogressions, including imposing premium costs on employees. These demands would result in hundreds of millions of dollars each year in cost shifting to employees and future retirees. Union negotiators have pointed out that SBC is well equipped to maintain and extend health care benefits for active and retired employees, since they made $7.4 billion in profits for 2003.

Moreover, in an effort to fight the wave of outsourcing and subcontracting that threatens so many jobs in corporate America, CWA has stressed the importance of keeping good hometown jobs and further proposed that members have the opportunity to perform work in all SBC businesses, including new and future technologies. CWA further proposed that training opportunities for members be expanded to enable workers to master the skills needed for the new work.

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