The structure of the now-global telecommunications industry continues The to shift and change with the current major trend toward mergers and acquisitions among national and international telecom giants.

Future Is The restructuring of the U.S. telecommuni- Branch is focusing on opportunities to cations industry began with the 1981 breakup increase job and membership growth for the Looking of AT&T and has continued with the 1996 union. Whereas industry developments of the Telecommunications Act, designed to spur 1980s brought the loss of thousands of jobs competition in the industry [See “Telecommu- and much uncertainty for union members, the nications: A Break in the Turmoil?” IBEW Jour- mergers now taking place could translate into nal, September 1998]. Now, the competitive opportunities to organize currently unrepre- drive involves the race to provide customers with a range of “bundled” communication services, Telecommunications including local, long-dis- Technician George Kesaji tance and wireless phone of Local 1357 in Television Operating Center of GTE service as well as cable Hawaiian Tel. TV and high-speed links to the Internet. In order The news in the to be able to provide this broad range of services, media about the the industry players are consolidating. With their competitors telecommunications growing in size, more and more telecom com- industry focuses panies are seeking to become ever larger in sented telecom industry employees, including order to have the resources to compete in the those in subsidiaries owned by the corporate on mergers. international economy. Two European telecom giants.. When nonunion businesses merge companies—Germany’s Deutsche Telekom AG with unionized companies, the employee base and Italy’s Telecom Italia SpA—recently grows and with it the potential for thousands The IBEW reads announced a proposed merger that would cre- of new workers to secure the benefits of union ate the world’s second-largest telecommunica- membership. As another key part of the equa- between the lines tions company (Japan’s Nippon Telephone & tion, the IBEW is committed to an increased Telegraph is the largest). The Wall Street Jour- emphasis on education and training opportu- and sees potential nal reported that if this merger takes place, it nities that will allow telecom members to would be one of the biggest in history and is acquire the portable, high-tech skills that are “intended to create a European telecommuni- the only basis of job security in the ever- job growth and cations powerhouse to counter the might of changing industry. U.S. phone giants aggressively expanding Four major telecommunications industry organizing. overseas.” mergers (three in the United States and one in In this climate of mergers and global com- Canada) that directly affect IBEW members petition, the IBEW Telecommunications are:

10 IBEW JOURNAL, JUNE 1999 AT&T Corp.—Tele-Communications Inc. chaired by Telecommunications Department (TCI) Director William Davis and Special Projects GTE Corp.—Bell Atlantic Corp. Director Gary Heald. IBEW Districts are in the BC TELECOM Inc.—TELUS Corp. process of assigning local unions to each TCI Ameritech—SBC Communications Inc. work site location to assist in the campaign, and International President J. J. Barry indicated AT&T Acquisition of that he has already “sent a letter to AT&T Cable TV Company TCI requesting bargaining for our TCI members under System Council T-3.” President Barry A merger with major significance for the said, “ It will take all of us working together, Below, Operators Lori IBEW is that of long-distance giant AT&T and Okamoto (front) and cable television company Tele-Communica- (Continued on next page) Lei Kama, members of Local 1357 at GTE Hawaiian Tel .

tions Inc. (TCI). Earlier this year, AT&T closed its $48 billion purchase of Colorado-based TCI, the country’s second largest cable services provider. With this acquisition, AT&T is posi- tioning itself to offer a full range of services, including local telephone service, in major markets throughout the United States. This merger provides a major organizing opportunity for the IBEW—given the fact that some 25,000 nonunion workers previously with TCI are now AT&T employees. Approxi- mately 90 percent of 54,000 union eligible workers at AT&T are union members, while only about 3 percent of TCI employees were represented by a union. To meet this challenge, the IBEW is con- ducting a national organizing campaign co- CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING

IBEW JOURNAL, JUNE 1999 11 The Future Is Looking

Members of Local 824, Tampa, Florida, at work for GTE are left to right, Mike Wells, (Continued from previous page) has limited union membership to Qubit “Bubba” Jackson, Wayne Butler, about 5 percent of eligible workers, Mike Mc Leod and John Newman. including membership involvement, to but with the success of organizing crack this tough nut.” side the United States, the company campaigns, union membership in the The foresight of the IBEW in negotiat- serves more than 8 million customers. cable industry could increase exponen- ing a neutrality clause in organizing cam- The GTE—Bell Atlantic merger— tially in the future. paigns as part of the 1998 collective which will provide Bell Atlantic with an bargaining agreement with AT&T may entrance to the long-distance market in make that nut easier to crack. As GTE—Bell Atlantic Merger the GTE areas—is another in a series of reported previously in the IBEW Journal, In July 1998, GTE Corp. and Bell industry transactions that will transform the 1998 AT&T four-year contract agree- Atlantic Corp. agreed to a $53 billion the way telecom companies market com- ment with the IBEW and CWA provides stock-swap deal in a proposed merger munications services, from Internet for “immediate consent elections over- that would create one of the world’s access to local phone service. seen by an impartial umpire for unorga- largest telephone companies. The trans- In 1998, the IBEW and the Communi- nized units at AT&T Wireless, Solutions action is expected to be completed in cations Workers of America (CWA) and all future acquisitions, including the second half of 1999. entered a unique and innovative work- Teleport and TCI.…” [See previously Bell Atlantic (itself the product of a ing partnership with GTE, the intent of cited Journal article of September 1998]. merger with Nynex) is the largest local which is to increase IBEW and CWA par- Employer neutrality in campaigns to phone company in the United States. It ticipation in GTE’s decision-making organize the cable side of AT&T would dominates local telephone services from process. The parties are continuing the be in sharp contrast to TCI’s virulent Maine to Virginia and has 40 million program at the former GTE properties, resistance to organizing when it was a phone lines in 13 states in the Northeast but it is still unclear how the partnership separate company. and mid-Atlantic regions. The company will be implemented at the Bell Atlantic In a related development, the media provides wireline and wireless communi- work sites. have reported that AT&T offered a sur- cations and information services. prise $58 billion bid to buy another GTE provides both long-distance and In Canada BCTEL cable TV giant, MediaOne Group Inc. local service throughout the United States. The acquisition of MediaOne (the It sells long-distance service in all 50 U.S. and TELUS Merge nation’s fourth largest cable company) states. It is the third largest local provider Another industry development of would give AT&T a presence in nearly in the United States, after Bell Atlantic and immense importance for the IBEW is a every major consumer telecommunica- SBC Communications. Its 21 million local telecom merger now underway in tions segment: cable TV, wireless and customers in 28 states are mostly in less- Canada. Alberta-based TELUS Corp., long-distance phone service and high- populated rural and suburban areas. GTE Canada’s third largest telecommunica- speed links to the Internet. also provides cellular service, Internet tions company, is in the process of a The IBEW is optimistic that the AT&T access, government and defense commu- merger with British Columbia-based BC pact and the merger could provide nications systems and equipment, aircraft TELECOM Inc. (BCTEL), the country’s important entry into the lightly unionized passenger telecommunications, and second largest telecom company. cable sector. Thus far, the cable industry directory and information services. Out- (Continued on page 17)

12 IBEW JOURNAL, JUNE 1999 (Continued from page 12) “Winning will not be easy,” President trality provisions in the contracts with BCTEL is the largest provider of local Barry said, “but if the IBEW succeeds in SBC and Ameritech should provide both and long-distance services in British gaining the vote, the Brotherhood will the IBEW and the CWA with opportuni- Columbia and offers wireless, high- increase its membership by 11,000 and ties to organize unrepresented units at speed data, Internet access and com- become the dominant telecom union in the new company without undue man- puter support systems. TELUS provides western Canada.” agement interference. Albertans with local and long-distance Local 21, Downers Grove, Illinois, phone service, wireless, data and Inter- Ameritech—SBC Merger represents telecommunications workers net access, and multimedia and advertis- In May 1998, Chicago-based Ameri- at Ameritech. Consisting of the locals ing services. tech and Texas-based SBC Communica- that previously formed IBEW System IBEW Local 348 in Calgary, Alberta, tions Inc. proposed a merger that would Council T-4, Local 21 was chartered in represents 6,175 workers at TELUS create a combined national and local September 1998 and is the fourth largest Corp., which constitutes the vast majority phone company serving the top 50 mar- IBEW local in the United States. Its of the work force. But the 10,500 union kets in the United States. Both Ameritech 14,000 members are chiefly employed in workers at BCTEL are represented and SBC are Regional Bell Operating telecommunications and cable TV in Illi- mostly by the unaffiliated Telecommuni- Companies. The $62 billion deal is nois and Northwestern Indiana. As cations Workers Union (TWU). The expected to be completed this year. reported previously, Local 21 is aggres- Canada Labour Relations Board (CLRB) Ameritech provides communications sively organizing Ameritech subsidiaries is expected to order a representation and information services to U.S. cus- in Illinois. election for the employees of the newly tomers in the Midwest and to customers The picture emerging from this array merged company to allow the workers overseas. SBC provides telecom services of mergers, then, is one that fosters opti- to select a union to represent them. throughout the United States and holds mism for the future of the IBEW in Telecommunications Department investments in telecom businesses in ten telecommunications. As President Barry Director Davis said, “The IBEW and countries. In October 1998 SBC merged told the delegates to the 1999 Telecom- Local 348 are in a battle to keep the peo- with Southern New England Telecommu- munications Conference in Savannah, ple we represent at TELUS and gain rep- nications Corp. Through its subsidiaries, Georgia, on May 5: “It will take time and resentation of the 17,800 employees of SBC offers local and long-distance phone resources, but most of all it will take a the combined companies.” The represen- service, wireless communications, Inter- united IBEW working toward the com- tation election is expected to take place net access, telecommunications equip- mon goal of resurgence in this industry. within the year. ment, and directory publishing. SBC If we organize, continue to increase our International President Barry has indi- previously bought Pacific Bell, another voice in the workplace, and stress train- cated that “the merger and the organizing regional carrier, and this Ameritech-SBC ing and education, we will be a force to campaign are a major focus for the IBEW. merger would create the largest Regional be reckoned with in the world of 1 The bottom line is we will end up with Bell Operating Company. Employer neu- telecommunications.” 15,000 to 17,000 telecommunications members at the new company, or lose our current members at the TELUS unit.” Significantly, BCTEL is a subsidiary of GTE. Therefore, the IBEW’S partnership Beth Lewis of Local 824 at with GTE in the United States could be GTE Public Access Division in Florida. of help in protecting the interests of IBEW members affected by the merger of TELUS and BCTEL. From the IBEW First District, Interna- tional Reps Christine Pynaker and Wayne Brazeau are coordinating strategic plan- ning meetings for the organizing cam- paign, and all the IBEW locals in the region are assisting. Committing resources and manpower to assist Local 348 Business Manager Mike Semeniuk in the effort are the following large western IBEW local unions: Locals 213 and 258, Vancouver, BC; Local 424, Edmonton, AB; and Local 254, Calgary, AB.

IBEW JOURNAL, JUNE 1999 17