Please visit  the NEWS column the situation regarding the Vice Chairman position is referenced.

In recent weeks I have had a number of conversations with Vice Chair Brian Grant. Throughout his absence he has remained committed to service to the membership, interested in developing situations. He has numerous times been a very helpful source of information and help on various issues as much as his absence permits.

Brian has related to me that his current treatment and recovery may well extend throughout the remainder of his term. In a clear expression of concern for providing the best possible service to the membership, he has decided to resign his position and allow another member to fill in for the next few months.

Brian will remain one of our most experienced shop stewards and a most valued member of the safety committee.

I wish to say, personally, that I greatly appreciate this gesture to the membership and look forward to Brian’s future contributions. I’m sure we all wish Brian a speedy and complete recovery.

Message from John Schreiner (Chairperson 503.1)  11/2/07:

We would like to extend our sympathies to the family and friends of Mark Lawrence who passed away this week after a courageous struggle against cancer.

There is a Native American adage that proposes that the tribe’s greatness is measured by the fierceness of its opponents. I did not know Mark as well as many of you, but in my few dealings with him I found him to be just such an opponent. What I have heard from many of the members confirms this. His staunch advocacy of his positions has made us better defenders of ours.

We wish his family peace as they continue through what must be a very trying time in all of their lives.

If things seem a little bizarre to you on the company’s side recently, I agree. Actually I would say: You don’t know the half of it.

The steward body and executive committee have shown a great willingness to get involved in serving the membership and I greatly appreciate this. I have grown to count on them a great deal and have seen some impressive work recently. Please don’t hesitate to come to them with your concerns as I have seen that they do not hesitate to pass them along.

Message from John Schreiner (Chairperson 503.1)  10/17/07:

If things seem a little erratic in our operations in the next week or so, it’s because they probably will be. This is because I will be attempting to function without our Recorder. 

Lisa DeStefano is getting married this Friday, October 19.  I’m sure many of you will join me in wishing Lisa and Julio a great wedding day, a fine week in Puerto Rico, and much happiness thereafter.

We continue to receive a long list of excuses from the company regarding their failure to provide payments negotiated in the current contract.

I would like to remind all of you that you received less than desirable pay increases as well as a significant increase in your benefit premiums in this contract. We were all remained of how much of this would be offset by the bonus payment. 

These payments are required to be made twice a year. We are almost in November. The contract has been ratified for six months. You have received NOTHING.

We are told that there have been administrative problems with processing these payments. I have noticed there were no delays in rolling out their latest TTL plan, or their latest “How are we doin’?” survey.

The company expects you to function daily under the collective bargaining agreement.

We expect them to do the same.

The collective bargaining agreement is just that: an agreement between the parties.

We expect the company to hold up their end.

Keep in touch with your stewards for further developments.

Message from John Schreiner (Chairperson 503.1)  8/24/07:

Once again my thanks to all the members who turned out for the last union meeting. There were a number of upcoming issues that were discussed (see Current News) and we got some great ideas from the members. That many different viewpoints absolutely affected how we presented these issues to the company.

We really appreciate the willingness members have shown to approach us with ideas and concerns. We take this as a show of some level of confidence that we will at least address your concerns. Personally, I can say that I have been forced to say, “That’s a good question” more often than I thought I would.

We have in place a very diverse and very dedicated group of officers, stewards and committee members. I assure you I have gotten a “You’ve got to be kidding” look or comment from a number of them already. This is extremely helpful and exactly what we need. Please don’t hesitate to go to them with your concerns.

Message from Lisa De Stefano (Recorder 503.1) 7/31/07:

EDIT 8/24/07 (Update Weblink)

I would like to thank Jason Hermann for his work on the main page of www.ibew503.org.  Please visit Jason's Website at www.jasonhermannphotography.com to view more our his work.  Thanks Again Jay!

Message from John Schreiner (Chairperson 503.1)  7/24/07:

I would like to extend my personal thanks to everyone who volunteered their services to fill the recent steward and executive committee vacancies.

It would be an understatement to say that we gain a wealth of experience and technical diversity from the members who have accepted appointments.  As one of the relative “newbies” around here, this comes as a great relief.

It is also a great compliment to us that members have readily come forward with concerns and issues.  I would like to think that this indicates some level of confidence that we might be able to address these matters.  Our purpose here is simple, to serve the membership.  We will probably not make everything alright, but we are committed to defending your rights under the contract and corresponding labor law.

Things have been busy already and new issues seem to arise daily.  I don’t expect this to abate much as we all have a hint of some of the important corporate decisions that may await us.

We plan to keep you all involved and informed as this only benefits us all.

Once again, thanks for your support.

Message from Lisa De Stefano (Recorder 503.1) 7/23/07:

Thank you to everyone that has provided feedback to this website.  If there is something you would like to see on this site, please email me and let me know. 

Message from John Schreiner (Chairperson 503.1) 6/23/07:

First off, I want to thank all the members who attended the last Union meeting. We had a great group of people from across a number of disciplines and a lot of very constructive ideas were thrown around. Thanks again.

Notices have gone up on the Union bulletin boards for the vacant Executive Committee and Steward positions. We hope to fill most of these positions in the next week or so. Once again, if you’re interested, please let us know ASAP.

I urge every member to become familiar with their rights under the Weingarten decision. There is a link on the homepage of this site that goes into some detail.

Basically it comes down to this:

If management approaches you on ANY matter that could POSSIBLY result in a disciplinary action being taken against you, you have the right to have a Union representative present AT THAT TIME.

If management approaches you with any request and your refusal to comply with that request could POSSIBLY result in disciplinary action being taken against you, you have a right to have a Union representative present AT THAT TIME.

The National Labor Relations Board SPECIFICALLY prohibits an employer from taking any action against an employee who exercises this right.

If you have any doubt about how all of this works, please see Lisa, Brian or myself. We’ll be glad to talk to you about it.

There are a number of very serious issues open at this time. Because they are open and thus unresolved, we are, for the most part unable to comment on them. This is mostly in the interest of protecting the employees involved. I cannot say at this point how much, if any, information will ultimately be made “public”. But as I said, because these matters remain very unresolved at this time, we are largely unable to comment. We appreciate your patience.

On a personal note: I have had many frank and constructive exchanges with a number of members. You begin to give me a lot to live up to here, and I appreciate it.

Message from John Schreiner (Chairperson 503.1) 6/6/07:

     I’ve had the privilege to be appointed to serve out the remaining eleven months of the current term as your Chairman.  Hopefully I can represent you as well as you deserve.  Lisa De Stefano has accepted the appointment to serve as Recorder.  Along with the many projects you may have seen her involved in, she has been the driving force behind this website, and an integral part of the Telecom Bill effort.  I think you can be confident that the Recorder’s position is in very competent hands.  Brian Grant remains as the Vice Chair.  We continue to wish him well in his recovery from his recent illness and hope to have him back at full duty soon.

     Subsequent to the recent contract negotiations, a number of our members have left the business.  We wish them and their family’s well.  Among these members were Lori and Liz.  Their contributions to the day-to-day operation of this Local will be greatly missed.  On a personal note, I won’t soon forget when Lori silenced the company negotiating team with the words: “You know who these people are.  Shame on you.  Shame on all of you.”  Eloquent.

     Their absence leaves a number of voids.  As Lisa moves up, a position opens up on the Executive Committee.  However we also lose two valuable representatives of our “inside” forces.  We hope to address all of this over the next few weeks.  If you like, speak to one of the Executive Committee members to find out what they do.  It’s a great concept, one I never encountered in any of the other locals I belonged to.