NetNews Usenet Archive 1993 #3/NN_1993_3.iso/spool/misc/activism/progress/10288

Text File | 1993-01-24 | 8.2 KB | 210 lines

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From: New Liberation News Service <[e-mail]>
Subject: Friends of Sprint Workers
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Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1993 20:36:42 GMT
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/* Written 11:07 am  Jan 24, 1993 by [e-mail] in
igc:labor.announce */
/* ---------- "Friends of Sprint Workers" ---------- */
===================================================
FRIENDS OF SPRINT WORKERS BROCHURE
===================================================

FRIENDS OF SPRINT WORKERS
Communications Workers of America
501 Third Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001-2797
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

WE'RE SPRINT EMPLOYEES AND WE'RE FORMING A UNION.
WE'RE ASKING FOR YOUR SUPPORT. HERE'S WHY...

"I'm a single mother with a two-year-old daughter. My shift
changes every week so I can't keep her in a day care center.
Sometimes my sister watches her, sometimes I take her to
various neighbors. I know she needs more consistent care- but
what can I do?"
    Operator (Customer Agent), Kansas City, Mo.


WHO WE ARE

     We work for SPRINT Long Distance. We're men and women
living in communities all across America. We have diverse
backgrounds, lives, and dreams for the futureQbut we share
one thing in common: We want to make SPRINT a better place
to work.
     And we also want to make SPRINT a better service
provider for customers and a more successful corporation for
all of us who are stakeholders in SPRINT.
     We have many ideas for how to make SPRINT truly "world
class" in every respect. To do this, we need a collective voice.
That's why, with help from the Communications Workers of
America, we've formed the Sprint Employee Network.

THE TWO FACES OF SPRINT

     SPRINT spends hundreds of millions projecting an image of
a clean, progressive company. So clean, you can hear a pin
drop. So progressive even "Murphy Brown" wants you to use
SPRINT.

But the truth is a far cry from this image:

% Supervisors eavesdrop on us without our knowledge.
% They impose unrealistic work standards and constant work
speed-ups, causing continual employee burnout and high
turnover.
% They pay us many thousands of dollars less than the
industry standard for those jobs that are mostly held
by women.
% And they try to intimidate us and crush our unionization
efforts, trampling on our legal rights of free speech and
collective organization.

WORKER ABUSE HURTS CUSTOMERS...
AND THE CORPORATION, TOO

BIG BROTHER IS LISTENING IN...

     ...On customers as well as workers. Our supervisors secretly
monitor and tape our conversations with the public in what is
clearly a violation of the customers' right to privacy.
     Management claims this eavesdropping is to "ensure
service quality." But somehow SPRINT's giant competitor AT&T
as well as many of the regional Bell phone companies (all
unionized companies) are able to provide quality service
without secretly recording their workers and customers. These
companies have found that respect and fair pay, not secret
monitoring, are what motivate employee performance.

"One day I shared a personal story with a co-worker between
calls, and later I learned that my supervisor was secretly
listening in and heard everything."
    Operator (Customer Agent),

MANAGEMENT BY STRESS AND SPEED-UP.

     Remember the "I Love Lucy" episode in the chocolate
factory, as Lucy and Ethel race hysterically to deal with a
conveyor belt that keeps going faster and faster and faster?
Not so funny is the "electronic assembly line" that controls
SPRINT operators and customer service representatives every
moment of the workday. The job pressures are not only
stressful, they prevent us from providing the kind of customer
service we would like to offer. As soon as we achieve sales
quotas, management promptly raises them. The worker just
can't ever seem to get ahead.
     For the customer, it means short shrift when you need help
from the operator, and high-pressure sales tactics--per
management's instructions--from service representatives.
It also means the highest employee burn-out rate in the
industry. In fact, the turnover rate among SPRINT operators is
25 percent every year. Is this any way to run a service
company?

TURNING BACK THE CLOCK ON 'FAMILY VALUES.'

     The trend throughout society and American industry in
recent years has been to recognize the special needs of today's
families, which are often headed by two wage earners or by
single working mothers. Everywhere but at SPRINT, that is.
The chiefly female operator work force at SPRINT is subject to
a complete change of work schedule every week. Imagine
trying to balance work and child care when your hours get
shifted around weekly.
     And there's no flexibility in hoursQ even for emergencies
or child care problems. Arrive a few minutes late or leave
early six times in a year and you're out the door.

INEQUALITY FOR WOMEN.

     As for wages, SPRINT has seriously eroded progress that
women in telecommunications have made in winning parity
with male workers' pay. In fact, wages for operators and
service representatives at SPRINT are $6,000 to $7,000 a year
lower than at other companies throughout this mainly
unionized telephone industry. And the wage gap between
mainly male and female jobs at SPRINT is 25 percent wider
than at AT&T and the Bell companies.

MANAGEMENT INTIMIDATION.

     SPRINT management has institutionalized a policy of union-
busting and has all but stamped out free speech in the work
place.
     Supervisors are issued a "Union-Free Management Guide,"
and they practice such tactics as holding meetings where
attendance is mandatory and where only anti-union workers
can speak. In several locations, SPRINT has blocked the posting
and distribution of union leaflets, even in public areas outside
buildings.
     And the electronic monitoring supposedly measure "service
quality" helps identify union activists some of whom have
been fired without just cause.

LIFE OF A SPRINT TELEMARKETER

You must stay on the phone 6.7 hours per day. Each
conversation must be 150 to 210 seconds You have 10 seconds
between calls. You must make a sale every 3-1/2 minutes.

A REAL EMPLOYEE VOICE WILL HELP SPRINT

There's more than fairness and dignity at stake here. Winning
democracy on the job for workers will benefit SPRINT
customers and the company's line as well:
-- Our struggle for fair working conditions and decent pay will
reduce wasteful turnover and provide the stability of a trained
work force committed to SPRINT's growth and success.
-- Our struggle to end secret electronic monitoring will protect
customers' privacy rights.
-- Our struggle for reasonable work quotas will allow us to
provide the high level of quality service we all want.
-- Our struggle for equity for women at SPRINT will be a
victory for all working womenQand a positive step toward
enhancing SPRINT's reputation as a good corporate citizen.

PLEASE JOIN FRIEND OF SPRINT WORKERS

     You can help us in this struggle by joining the FRIEND OF
SPRINT WORKERS and lending your name along with the
thousands of other citizens and concerned organizations that
are declaring support for our right to organize and improve
our working lives.
     Simple complete and mail the post-paid card below. We'll
send you a brief report on the progress of our organizing drive
as well as information on the company's performance and
activities.
     Thank you for your help.

-- Yes, I want to join the campaign for dignity, decent working
conditions and quality of customer service at SPRINT. Count
me as a member of FRIENDS OF SPRINT WORKERS.
-- I'm also a SPRINT customer.
-- The organization I work for is a SPRINT customer.
-- I'm also a SPRINT shareholder.

NAME:
ORGANIZATION:
TITLE:
ADDRESS:
CITY/STATE/ZIP:
TELEPHONE:

Please indicate if this is an organizational endorsement.

-- Yes, this is an organizational endorsement.
-- Please list my organizational affiliation for identification
only.