| SNET Retiree As...'s profileSRA Telephone Retiree W...PhotosBlogLists |  Tools  Help |
|
June 26 GRATITUDE CAMPAIGN
This is pretty neat.....(30 second video)... Have you ever seen one of our military people walking past you and wanted to convey to them your thanks, but weren't sure how or it felt awkward? June 13 Indicator the economy is badIndicator the economy is bad - If the bank returns a check marked as "insufficient funds". you have to call them and ask if they meant you or them. June 09 Ex-AT&T CEO chairman of new GMEdward Whitacre will take over the restructured automaker, which filed for bankruptcy on June 1, later this summer. See artilce at http://money.cnn.com/2009/06/09/autos/gm_chariman.reut/index.htm?postversion=2009060911May 28 Great News For The Blind!The contact lens that can help the blind see again.By Fiona Macrae The groundbreaking operation brought significant improvements in vision within a matter of weeks. The procedure uses a person's own cells to heal damage to the cornea - the transparent outermost layer of the eye. It is carried out under local anaesthetic, with patients returning home within two hours of surgery, removing the need for expensive hospital stays. The three patients treated so far had very poor vision caused by corneal disease - the fourth most common form of blindness, affecting around 10million worldwide. See article at www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1188967/The-contact-lens-make-blind-again.html?ITO=1490 May 20 The Pension Benefit Guaranty CorpPension guarantor: unprecedented deficitPension Benefit Guaranty Corp. faces $33.5 billion deficit. Congressional Committee for Aging investigates causes, including former director's relationship with big banks.
Read at http://money.cnn.com/2009/05/20/news/economy/PBGC/index.htm?postversion=2009052010 May 04 Days of Your Youth If you have a extra minute visit this web site that has easy listening music plus an occasional trivia note about almost anything. You can even add a comment youself if you like. Go here http://compass360at.blogspot.com/ Copy and paste it into your browser address window. May 01 Taxpayers to get rude surprise!Millions of couples, retirees may have to repay some of Obama tax credit
Millions of Americans enjoying their small windfall from President Barack Obama's "Making Work Pay" tax credit are in for an unpleasant surprise next spring.
The government is going to want some of that money back. The tax credit is supposed to provide up to $400 to individuals and $800 to married couples as part of the massive economic recovery package enacted in February. Most workers started receiving the credit through small increases in their paychecks in the past month. But new tax withholding tables issued by the IRS could cause millions of taxpayers to get hundreds of dollars more than they are entitled to under the credit, money that will have to be repaid at tax time. At-risk taxpayers include a broad swath of the public: married couples in which both spouses work; workers with more than one job; retirees who have federal income taxes withheld from their pension payments and Social Security recipients with jobs that provide taxable income. The Internal Revenue Service acknowledges problems with the withholding tables but has done little to warn average taxpayers. "They need to get the Goodyear blimp out there on this," said Tom Ochsenschlager, vice president of taxation for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. See http://finance.yahoo.com/news/INSIDE-WASHINGTON-Rude-apf-15091434.html?.v=1 April 27 Q & AQ: What is the most common remark made by 50+ year olds when they enter antique stores?
A: 'Gosh, I remember these. April 20 Cell Phones for Soldiers
With Earth Day only days away, AT&T* and Cell Phones For Soldiers (CPFS) are celebrating a new milestone: With the help of thousands of wireless customers across the country, AT&T and the charity have recycled more than 2.5 million wireless devices since Earth Day 2008, beating their Earth Day 2009 goal by more than 700,000 phones. CPFS recycles used cell phones and uses the proceeds to buy free phone cards for U.S. troops overseas. Last Earth Day, AT&T and CPFS invited wireless customers to help the charity collect at least 1.8 million phones by Earth Day 2009 — that’s twice the number of devices the charity had collected in the same time period the year before. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, only 10 percent of all cell phones that are discarded are actually recycled. CPFS’s recycling partner, ReCellular, estimates that recycling 2.5 million phones has prevented more than 153 tons of e-waste from entering landfills, the environmental equivalent of:
AT&T offers two ways for consumers to donate phones. Wireless customers of any carrier can drop off used cell phones and accessories at any of the 2,000-plus AT&T stores across the U.S. Or, they can download free shipping labels from www.att.com/recyclewireless.** April 13 CWA AT&T CONTRACT UPDATEHere is the latest from the CWA on the expired contract. www.unionvoice.org/ct/Nd1-je41BqKM/UnityATT If you cannot click on the link than copy and paste it into a new browser address bar. April 06 AT&T UPDATE
West contract between AT&T and CWA expires without work stoppage Dallas, Texas, April 5, 2009 April 5 (2 a.m. CDT) – AT&T Inc. and Communications Workers of America (CWA) Core wireline contracts in the West expired at 11:59 p.m. PDT on Saturday, April 4. The West is the last of the Core contracts set to expire in this round of negotiations. Union-represented employees covered by these contracts will work under the expired contracts March 27 AT&T UPDATEWorkers at AT&T Midwest, Five Other AT&T Companies Authorize Strike by a Wide Majority, Pacts Expire Early April CLEVELAND, March 25, 2009 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ ----Members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA:) in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin have voted by a wide majority to authorize a strike against AT&T if current contract talks fail to produce an acceptable agreement. The parties have been in bargaining since early this year to renew agreements with six AT&T companies nationwide. Approximately 20,000 of the 125,000 covered workers are in the five-Midwest states comprising CWA's 4th District. Most of those workers are employed by AT&T Midwest (formerly Ameritech). "AT&T employees in the Midwest have played a large part in helping AT&T be a successful company, even in these tough times. AT&T can afford to do the right thing and work with their employees to solve problems like health care, rather than try to shift the problem from them to us. AT&T can do the right thing for America too, by assuring that middle class jobs are maintained in communities throughout the Midwest," declared District 4 Vice President Seth Rosen. He pointed out that executives and stockholders have shared in the current prosperity, "but to date, the workers have been left out." Despite the downturn of the U.S. economy, AT&T's profits have been healthy. Last year, the company reported $12.9 billion in profits and AT&T executives predict continued healthy growth in the current year. Negotiations are taking place at separate tables for the six agreements, five of which expire on April 4th: AT&T East (formerly SNET), AT&T Southeast (formerly Bell South), AT&T Midwest, AT&T West (formerly PacBell) in Pleasanton, CA, and AT&T Legacy, a nationwide unit. The agreement for AT&T Southeast expires on April 6. Overall, 88 percent of AT&T members voted in favor of strike authorization in balloting conducted by individual CWA local unions whose members are covered by six separate contracts. A strike by any or all of the AT&T operations would not take place unless the union's executive board authorizes that action and sets a strike date. SOURCE CWA District 4 March 23 SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION Read JoAnn's article concerning important vote questions at this April 2009 AT&T Stockholder Meeing. Go to http://www.snetretirees.org/newspage.html March 15 AT&T hopes to gain concessions from unionsBy PETER SVENSSON
NEW YORK (AP) - AT&T Inc. (ATT), the largest employer of union labor in the country, is renegotiating contracts that cover 112,500 workers and looks set to take advantage of the recession to reduce its health care costs.
Five regional union contracts expire on April 4. A sixth that expires a few months later is being negotiated at the same time.
The last time this batch of contracts was up for negotiation, five years ago, there was a four-day strike that was seen as a minor victory for the Communications Workers of America. But this time, the economic meltdown has shifted the balance of power decidedly toward the employer.
"This is not the time to get involved in a strike. It's incredibly bad timing," said Gary Chaison, a professor of industrial relations at Clark University.
Dallas-based AT&T wants concessions on health benefits, saying the wireline workers pay far fewer of their health care costs than employees on the mobile phone side. Retirees' health benefits are also likely to be affected.
After talking to management, UBS analyst John Hodulik wrote last week that a strike is likely, but that the company would come out on top. Management employees have received extensive training to keep the company running if there is a strike, he said, and AT&T could reap large savings on its health care costs. AT&T spends $5.5 billion a year on health care; its 2008 revenue was $124 billion.
At the Communications Workers of America, spokeswoman Candice Johnson said the analyst's report was "way premature" since talks have just started.
"We are focused on productive talks," she said. "We're not talking publicly about issues at this time, but AT&T is doing well financially, even in these economic times. AT&T should be a leader in maintaining quality jobs and quality benefits."
Chaison said the CWA has been attuned to the health of employers in the industry and is likely "realistic" about what it can get out of AT&T.
"It's a militant bargainer, but it also understands that you can't push too far. You could end up winning the battle but losing the war, very easily," he said.
See http://apnews.excite.com/article/20090313/D96TD3J80.html March 11 AT&T will spend $565 million on alternative-fuel vehicles
WASHINGTON--AT&T is making the largest ever commitment by an American company to purchase alternative-fuel vehicles, CEO Randall Stephenson told the Economic Club of Washington on Wednesday. "My No. 1 job is long-term growth," he said. "I only know of one way to do that and that's by investing in areas that drive sustainable growth." Companies like AT&T, Stephenson said, have an obligation to make investments that will drive the nation's economic growth and productivity, as well as to invest in America's workforce.
AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson says that his company will embrace alternative-fuel vehicles.(Credit: Stephanie Condon/CNET)
Stephenson commended President Obama's emphasis on expanding communications infrastructure, as well has his commitment to health care. He and other AT&T executives, however, cautioned against regulations on broadband funding that could stifle private investment, as well as further union reforms in the Employee Free Choice Act. "Less regulation results in more investment," he said. The company plans to make two investments amounting to $565 million to increase the number of alternative-fuel vehicles it uses from 100 to 15,000 by 2020. Over the next five years, AT&T will spend $350 million to purchase 8,000 vehicles that run on compressed natural gas. The new vehicles AT&T will buy will be built by the U.S. auto industry and should produce 25 percent less greenhouse gas emissions than traditional vehicles, Stephenson said. AT&T will also spend $215 million to replace nearly all of its 7,100 passenger vehicles over the next 10 years with alternative-fuel vehicles, starting with electric hybrids. March 10 AT&T to add 3,000 jobsThe telecommunications company plans to invest $17 to $18 billion in 2009 capital spending.
By Julianne Pepitone, CNNMoney.com contributing writer
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- AT&T plans to add 3,000 jobs in 2009 as part of a multibillion-dollar capital-spending plan, the telecommunications company said Tuesday. In a press release, AT&T said it would spend $17 billion to $18 billion this year, with two-thirds of the funds pledged to build up its wireless and broadband networks to provide more coverage. As part of its expansion plan, the company will add almost 3,000 jobs in 2009 to support increased customer demand for wireless, broadband and video. AT&T said its data traffic has grown, on average, more than 50% year-over-year. "Demand for broadband continues to grow as new applications emerge and customers embrace them," said Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and chief executive said in the release. "We expect demand will only escalate when the larger economy rebounds." Despite the job additions in its wireless and broadband units, AT&T expects to proceed with the nearly 12,000 job cuts it announced in December due to economic pressures, restructuring and consumers' shift from wired voice services to wireless and broadband. AT&T also said it will expand its high-speed wireless service to 20 new markets this year, in addition to creating 2,100 new cell sites across the country. Find this article at: http://money.cnn.com/2009/03/10/news/economy/att_adds_jobs/index.htm?postversion=2009031016 March 09 Safety Or Not?Local 1298 I&R Technicians on loan to U-Verse in Hartford take a stand against U-verse Management
Contrary to a long standing policy of two person dispatches in high crime areas, AT&T U-Verse management has decided to take safety into their own hands. These same management people have failed to acknowledge a safety policy that goes far beyond "Core Rules" and "Appendix F". Safety is safety regardless of which department you work in. 
One I&R technician felt his safety was threatened and because of this refused to work alone in a recognized two person area. This technician was suspended for 30 days. Twenty eight technicians took a stand and wore their red shirts in U-Verse in a act of solidarity, all twenty eight technicians were sent home for the day. Local 1298 has filed grievances on this issue and on behalf of all members impacted. The only provisions I&R technicians are required to follow while on loan to U-Verse are "branded apparel, work schedules, and home garaging." These members are to be commended for their united display of solidarity and support of their union brother. Reprint from www.cwa1298.org March 04 The Adventures of Old GuyThis is this frist day of a new comic strip about the life of a retiree. Click on the picture to see the whole strip.
 February 22 Have Books, Will TradeWhile listening to the radio today; News Radio 880 from New York City they mentioned a web site that trades books. It seems you give yourself a User ID and Password and list the books you want to trade. And the books you would like to read. If someone wants a book you own you send it to them and another person somewhere then gets a message and they then send you a book on your request list. Here is the link http://www.bookins.com/how-online-book-trade-works to the web site for you to check it out. If you try it, let us know how it worked out for you. |
|
|
