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Be sure to support your local Sprint-Nextel strikers! If you are from the Tri-Cities and a few other areas on the East Coast, you might have heard that Sprint workers have gone on strike. I want everyone to not misunderstand the situation. Don’t think that these workers are lazy or just want to cause problems; these hard-working people are just the opposite. These employees have worked hard everyday for this billion-dollar corporation. After their labor and dedication, the company decides that the employees do not deserve the benefits that they have worked so hard for and was included in the contract that just expired. The union of workers, however, do not want the contract changed at all; they don’t want anything extra. Sprint, on the other hand, wants to replace retiring workers with contractors, cut contributions to 401(k) retirement plans, eliminate extra pay for work on Sundays, and shorten the length of short-term disability. Myself, I think these are benefits that should be expected from any company! These employees deserve respect for their hard work; they shouldn’t have to bargain away what they have rightfully earned! My mother happens to work for Sprint and has done so for around 30 years. I know first hand that this disrespect from Sprint is not a sudden occurrence; for years, the company has been treating their employees with dishonor. Every three years that the contract has to be renewed, the union is always on the verge of striking before a last minute deal falls through. These employees, however, continue to work hard despite the disrespect that they have been receiving for a few years now. The company has become more focused on profits and less on customer and employee satisfaction. If you see a Sprint employee on strike, support them in any way that you can. All they are doing is trying to gain the respect that they have spent many years working hard to earn. And if you are a contractor, please don’t cross the picket line; respect them and their cause. If you would like to send a message of support, you can contact the CWA at jmiller(at)cwa-union(dot)org. To send a message to Sprint-Nextel, investorrelations.sprintcom@mail.sprint.com. If you would like to help with the strike, you are more welcome to join them at the picket line; I did last weekend. (story here, union info here, Sprint-Nextel here)

This entry was posted on Friday, November 4th, 2005 at 12:04 pm and is filed under Bristol, Business, Johnson City, Kingsport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.