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and News
Archive:
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page items recently Archived: 06/17/2009
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Cobra
65% subsidy appeal process and IBM
loophole.
IBM Attorney's found
a loop hole denying some recently laid off workers from the 65%
COBRA Subsidy by classifying them as 'retired' and eligible to particiapte
in the IBM retiree group health Plan.
In many cases the IBM Group Health Plan
is a much higher cost than COBRA, especially if one does not have
a Future Health Account. The
65% COBRA Subsidy is managed by the Federal DOL.
The Federal DOL is aware of this loop hole and will be posting an
appeals form on their website: www.dol.gov/cobra.
They can also be reached at 866-444-3274.
Please file an appeal with the Federal DOL if you have been denied
the 65% COBRA Subsidy.
If a large group of former IBMers file an appeal,
the Federal DOL will process this as a group case against
IBM.
Please also contact your government representatives.
Let's raise our voices in Washington.
Contact:
Lee Conrad, National Coordinator,
Alliance@IBM
CWA Local 1701
Phone 607-729-4571
ibmunionalliance@gmail.com
Alliance@IBM Vice President Earl Mongeon to question IBM on Executive Compensation at IBM’s annual shareholder meeting in Miami, FL on April 28
Johnson
City, NY. - Earl Mongeon,
IBM Burlington employee and Alliance Vice President will attend the
IBM stockholder meeting
and speak to his stockholder proposal
on executive compensation and pension income.
“IBM employees are receiving pay cuts and job cuts while executives continue to enrich themselves. Executive greed and bloated compensation needs to be challenged,” said Earl Mongeon. Mongeon submitted a proposal on executive compensation that asks the board of directors to determine that pension income from any defined benefit plan will not be used as a factor in setting executive compensation.
Lee Conrad, National Coordinator of Alliance@IBM CWA, is calling on IBM shareholders to put pressure on IBM to stop shifting U.S. jobs to low cost countries. “At a time when the US economy is in recession and unemployment is rising, it is unconscionable for profitable companies like IBM to continue to move work offshore. The Alliance is urging elected officials, community leaders and citizens to call on IBM to halt this destruction of U.S. jobs. We also call on congress to refuse stimulus money to IBM if they continue to cut jobs here and shift work offshore.”
Tom Midgley, President of the Alliance@IBM CWA stated, “So far this year we have seen 10,000 of our co-workers terminated from IBM. IBM has been silent in reporting the full scope of these job cuts to employees, their communities and the Government. We strongly encourage IBM to be fully transparent in the number of jobs being cut in the US and the number of jobs sent off shore. "We challenge IBM to halt stock buybacks and dividend increases and instead use the money to retain jobs here in the U.S."
###
Alliance@IBM
CWA Local 1701
IBM Employee Advocate since 1999
Click &
Take action on job cuts and offshoring!"Starting next week several Hartford delivery teams will be working directly with fellow IBM team members from India to begin the second phase of our Global delivery solution planned for the Hartford account. The teams will be engaged in a multi-week effort to facilitate knowledge transfer to prepare for migration of specific work activities to global delivery counterparts later in 2009. Your continued support and leadership is critical to ensure our overall success and to ensure we continue to deliver high quality cost effective solutions that IBM committed to the Hartford. Please ensure you and your teams actively support this effort."
Job
Cut Alert!
Job cuts happening in IBM
US & Canada
GBS=462
GTS=181, CIO=411,
Services Delivery=985,
Application
Services=1674
Global BCRS, SWG,
STG,
General Business Services,
GBS Consulting Services,
Strategy and Business Development,
Internet Security Systems,
Infrastructure Services,
Maintenance and Technical Support,
& GTS Sales
Stay
Tuned....
send
information to:
|
Cheaper
and Cheaper
IBM eliminates payment of employee expenses
for home Internet access services worldwide.
This includes employee expense reimbursement and direct
pay
corporate managed and contracted
Internet access services.
Note: 40% of employees
work from home.
IBM
Home Internet
Service Policy Change
IBM
Internal Link here
Policy
overview
IBM is updating its home expense policy and is eliminating
payment of employee expenses for home Internet access services worldwide.
This includes elimination of employee expense reimbursement and direct-pay
corporate managed and contracted Internet access services.
For Tuesday March 31st
* Wear black and blue to signify the pain caused by job cuts.
* Take a 15 minute “silent” break at 1 pm EDT (Noon Central,
11 am Mountain and 10 am Pacific). No work, no sametime, no emails,
no meetings.
* Spouses of terminated employees e-mail or write to IBM CEO Sam Palmisano
detailing the effect that the job loss will have on their family.
IBM
CEO Sam Palmisano sam@us.ibm.com
New Orchard Road
Armonk, New York 10504
 |
Click &
Take Action!
News from the Communications
Workers of America
The Union for the Information Age
For Immediate Release
January 19, 2009
For More Information
Lee Conrad, National Coordinator, 607-729-4571
Allianceibmunion@gmail.com
or
Candice Johnson, CWA Communications
202-434-1347
Alliance@IBM CWA Local 1701 Presses IBM to
Save Jobs
and Stop the Off-shoring of US Jobs
IBM Corp. employees nationwide are anxiously waiting
for the company to publicly announce the number of job cuts likely
to take place in the United States.
“The Alliance is strongly urging IBM not to go forward with
a new round of job cuts and to stop the off-shoring of U.S. workers’
jobs,” said Lee Conrad, national coordinator of the Alliance
.
Alliance@IBM CWA Local 1701 outlined several steps IBM should take
to maintain quality jobs and service and address the company’s
financial picture:
* IBM must make every effort to save jobs.
* If cost cutting is needed, IBM should suspend its stock buyback
program – the company has spent $26 billion since 2007 -- instead
of terminating workers.
* If job cuts occur, IBM must divulge the number of job cuts, where
they are taking place and whether any of these affected jobs are being
shifted offshore.
* Executive positions should be eliminated in divisions where job
cuts occur.
* Pay, bonuses and perquisites for executives should be slashed.
* Work cannot be shifted from IBM workers in the United States to
offshore locations.
* Full disclosure of why individual jobs are being eliminated is essential.
* Before any new hires are added to the payroll, IBM must recall and
rehire employees terminated in past resource actions.
“There is a growing concern among employees that IBM will accelerate
the off-shoring of our jobs. To offshore U.S. jobs in the middle of
an economic crisis and rising unemployment is simply unacceptable,”
said Tom Midgley, Alliance president. “We will work with our
elected representatives to push for legislation that protects U.S.
jobs and calls for the full disclosure of IBM’s offshoring and
outsourcing of American jobs.”
To help break the secrecy of the IBM job cuts, the Alliance has a
section on its web page called Job Cut Comments.
Join
The Discussion for news, information and
stories from IBM employees swept up in job cuts.
IBM Australia strike called off Story here...
Job
Cuts are happening at the
IBM Essex Junction plant
in Burlington, VT
Update: 180 jobs cut in Essex Junction
-Membership Update-
New members for June: 14
Help fund the organizing campaign!
Is
IBM offshoring the IBM PAYROLL Help Desk
to
Manila, Philippines?
If
you have documentation please send to: Allianceibmunion@gmail.com
******
Job Cut Alert!!
Job cuts taking place in Software Group,
June 17
300
Employees Affected.
******
For
Immediate Release Contact: Lee Conrad, National Coordinator, Alliance@IBM CWA
Local 1701, 607-729-4652 or Alliance@IBM
Members, Charlotte, N.C. – IBM Corp. employees, members of Communications Workers of America Local 1701, Alliance@IBM, will rally and set up an informational picket line outside the IBM annual meeting set for April 29. The group will focus on critical issues for employees and retirees, including executive compensation, the continued off shoring of jobs, employee pay cuts, and shrinking retiree pensions with no cost of living increases, among other issues. “While IBM employees face a decline in their standard of living and retirees see pension checks evaporate due to the lack of cost-of-living adjustments coupled with increases in medical retirement co-pay, our executives live the life of luxury. Executive greed and bloated compensation needs to be challenged,” said IBM employee and Alliance Vice President Earl Mongeon. Mongeon submitted Proposal No. 4 on Executive Compensation that asks the board of directors to determine that pension income from any defined benefit plan will not be used as a factor in setting executive compensation. Lee Conrad, National Coordinator of Alliance@IBM CWA, is calling on IBM to stop shifting U.S. jobs to low cost countries. “At a time when the US economy is in recession and unemployment is rising, it is unconscionable for companies like IBM to continue to move work offshore. The Alliance is urging elected officials, community leaders and citizens to call on IBM to halt this destruction of U.S. jobs.” “The Alliance@IBM CWA strongly encourages IBM to be fully transparent in the number of jobs being sent off shore and to detail how many U.S. jobs are lost because of IBM’s shifting this work to low cost countries,” said Linda Guyer, president of the Alliance@IBM CWA Local 1701. ### Alliance@IBM
CWA Local 1701 |
| |
|
Please
consider joining the Alliance@IBM
as a member for only $10 a month--the cost of a few Starbuck's coffees.
Your dues and involvement help the Alliance with the following: Organizing
employees and challenging IBM on policies and practices detrimental
to employees and retirees. Exposing job cuts. Helping employees to
deal with redeployment and replacement training.
World wide media source for IBM employee issues.
Legal references and current labor law information.
Political action on employee issues.
Stockholder proposals and actions.
Working with International IBM employee Unions to develop worldwide
responses to IBM employee issues.
Working with Federal, State, and Local officials to make sure IBM
employees, IBM retirees and communities find information and remedies
for toxic exposures from IBM sites.
Union privledges and benefits through Alliance@IBM's
membership that are offered
through the Union Plus /Privilege
program.
We also have the expense of keeping an office up and running: Rent,
Office supplies, fax, phones internet access and mailings of organizing
materials; such as newsletters, flyers and brochures.
We believe Alliance@IBM has, by its very exisitence; given IBM Corporate
Mgmt pause, during their anti-employee actions.
The bottom
line is that if we are NOT here, then IBM Corporate Management has
the field. There will be some who say that employees do not want representation
through an employee organization or a union.
Now is the time: Prove them wrong or prove them right.
Plan
Now! Make your voice heard Join us! IBM Stockholder Meeting Action April 29th Charlotte Convention Center Picket line at 8:30 am Rally at 12:30pm Send a message to IBM No pay cuts! No offshoring of IBM US Jobs! COLA for retirees now! if you plan on attending please contact us at: allianceibmunion@gmail.com |
| 24A & 06A! Sign the Petition to IBM Management: NO PAY CUTs! Link To Pay-Cut Petition Are you next? Join the fightback! Send us your name, home e-mail and location to: AllianceIBMUnion  Be sure to Join The Alliance! Say NO to pay cuts and job cuts! To the IBM "7600" Now is the time! Sign the petition! Join the Alliance! Roll back the pay cuts! The power is in your hands. Your Membership Counts. Let's keep building! |
 |
| ISC
Customer Fulfillment RA Job Cuts are happening now in the IGS, ITD, and STG groups |
Is this Damage control? Keep the Pressure on! Take a stand! SAY NO to Pay Cuts! |
Plan
Now! Make your voice heard at the IBM Stockholder meeting April 29th in Charlotte, North Carolina Details to follow... |
| To
our co-workers,
The recent announcement of pay cuts and re-classification from exempt to non-exempt has sparked outrage and anger among a large section of the IBM employee population. IBM over the years misclassified employees and did not pay them properly, was sued, lost, paid employees compensation and now is making pay cuts. IBM
is able to do this unilaterally because they can. There is no
union Now the question is what do we do about it? First:
If you are not yet a member of the Alliance we strongly encourage
you to do so. Membership gives you more protection legally as
we go forward and it helps build an organization that can take
on IBM management. We have 3 categories: Second:: Our message should be loud and clear to IBM executives--NO PAY CUT! Third: Getting our message out and organizing around it. We
need IBM employees to step up to the plate and be vocal and
public. We
would also like to hear your suggestions on how we wage this
fight. Sincerely, Alliance@IBM |
| Alliance@IBM
Poll:
POLL RESULTS: |
| TO - Network Services DIV Employees impacted by the transfer to AT&T: Please contact us at: Endicott_Alliance YEAR
END Job Cuts are taking place!
|
The
Membership drive ends November 28! To
those that have joined, We Thank You!
Unfortunately our membership drive has not produced the results
we need. To those who visit this web site please consider joining
the Alliance as a full member for only $10 a month or as an
associate member for $5 a month. If
the advocacy work that
Alliance@IBM
is doing, is important to you -
Please support us by becoming a member
- Membership is open to Retirees,
Vendors, Contractors, Temps, and Active Employees and
former IBM employees. Thank
you for your support.
|
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|
|
Membership
Drive Fall 2007 IBM
employees and retirees continue to face pressure on their
livelihood. From the pension freeze and lack of adequate pay
raises to rising co-pay on health care, employees are finding
their standard of living decrease. Job insecurity increases
as off-shoring and LEAN take a toll on employee jobs. The
new corporate mantra of a global worklife integration instead
of worklife balance will have an adverse affect on employees
and their families and simply enslaves them to the job 24/7.
IBM, Corporate America and their allies are
well funded—we are not. |
|
Job
Cuts Happening Now
Software Group Tivoli Send all
information to: |
The
IBM France workers describe themselves as "pawns of in a game
in a dehuminized world". According to one union member "We
do not even know about the timing of these transfers, or all of the
staff concerned."
After the annoncement of forced transfers, the trade unions have stated
that they will oppose by all means these transfers. Unions involved
CFDT, CFE CGC, CGT, FO, SNA, UNSA.
| From:
UNIglobalunion
One month after a virtual protest staged in Second Life with almost 2000 avatars demonstrating on IBM islands, a new contract with IBM Italy has been signed. The new agreement, which still needs to be approved by the IBM Italy workforce, reinstates the performance bonus that was cut unilaterally by IBM Italy management. Read more.. |
|
Update
on Virtual strike in support of 10/24/2007 Following the historical protest against IBM Italy in Second Life, on 27th September, some important developments have taken place:
* Mr Andrea Pontremoli, IBM Italy’s CEO (who personally
received all of your petitions by email) has resigned.
|
| IBM Second Life Protest a success 1850 people from 30 Countries participate.
From
UNI: More than 1850 -real- people protested behind their
computers in over 30 countries to show solidarity with IBM Italy
workers. It was reported that Second Life was having some technical difficulties, which is why we believe we could have reached an even higher number of participants. IBM
did not officially react to our protest so far. The
media coverage for this event was impressive. More information about this historical protest will come in the next days. ---------------
SIGN PETITION --------------
-------------------
BLOG ----------------------- |
| IBM
Italy Union calls for |
| Legal
Complaint Filed For IBM Sales Reps On Lack Of Overtime Pay On February 6, 2007, the Law Offices of Erik H. Langeland, P.C. filed a nationwide complaint in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Massachusetts seeking to recover unpaid overtime on behalf of all IBM Sales Representatives who worked more than 40 hours per week, but were not paid overtime. Plaintiffs allege that they are owed money damages for IBM’s failure to properly pay them for their extensive overtime hours as required by federal law. The basis of Plaintiffs’ claims is that IBM required its Sales Representatives to work extensive overtime to meet their sales requirements, failed to keep accurate time records and failed to properly compensate Sales Representatives who worked more than 40 hours per week. Plaintiffs are continuing to investigate the case and are preparing to file a motion with the Court requesting that notice be sent to all “similarly situated” IBM Sales Representatives throughout the United States . Plaintiffs believe that the case may involve hundreds or even thousands of its current and former Sales Representatives. Plaintiffs’ objectives are to: 1) recover unpaid overtime and other damages for all IBM Sales Representatives who worked more than 40 hours per week, but were not paid overtime; 2) require that IBM change its time keeping system to accurately record all hours worked by its Sales Representatives; and, 3) require that IBM revise its compensation policies so that Sales Representatives are paid for all overtime hours worked. Contact: Erik H. Langeland 500 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1610 New York, NY 10110 (212) 354-6270 (212) 898-9086 (Fax) elangeland@langelandlaw.com |
| Globalization and its Discontents: A new opening for Labor? A Financial Times/Harris poll released last week registers broad popular discontent with globalization and the direction of the economies in the rich countries of the world. Among the findings of the survey taken in six countries—the US, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and the UK are:
a.. Less than 20% of people in
the UK, France, Spain, and the US think |
IBM
Workers
International Solidarity Conference June 25 to 28, 2007 Paris, France
Lee
Conrad Send
us your comments: |
| July
30th 2007 This
is an email from Mike Cadigan Michael
J. Cadigan General Manager, Team, I’m writing to inform you that today IBM has announced a resource action that affects approximately 450 positions in the U.S, with a majority coming from within the semiconductor solutions organization, particularly at our Burlington and East Fishkill sites. If you reside at those locations, it is possible that you will hear about this in the local media, which is why I chose to contact you immediately and directly. Making job reductions is a difficult but necessary step to improve our operations. We are taking today's action to further streamline our business and improve our position in a highly-competitive industry. We have been benchmarking all of our semiconductors operations and know that today's action is required to improve our competitiveness. I realize that any resource action, large or small in number, can cause concern and uncertainty about the future but the long-term prospects for our organization remain very positive. This action will help ensure that we can maintain this position. We will continue to innovate, while meeting our clients’ needs, and achieve our development and manufacturing targets. Thank you for your understanding, dedication and continued focus. Send your comments to: |
Read the
THINK Twice!
Newsletter
(in adobe pdf format)
| New
Collective Agreement ratified at Canadian IBM Global Services
firm.
Regina,
Saskatchewan, Canada The 240 members of Local 911, the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada voted 85% in favor of accepting an eleventh - hour contract offer from ISM Information Systems Management Canada on June 21, 2007. Seven days earlier this group of ISM Canada (IBM Global Services) employees had voted 75% in favor of striking after having rejected the employer's initial offer. The workers accepted a new two - year contract with wage increases of 4% retroactive to December 29, 2006. An additional 4% increase will occur at the end of 2007 and improvements to benefits will become effective immediately. "This was an unusual round of bargaining," said Gary Schoenfeldt, CEP Local 911 President. "Timing was definitely a factor. Western Canada's already booming oil and gas industry has really taken off in the past three or four months, creating a red hot economy in the [Canadian] Province of Saskatchewan." He added, "The resulting increases in housing and other costs has put upward pressure on wage demands across all industries at the same time as the available pool of skilled workers began to dry up. Our members felt that it was time to reap the benefits of this economic upturn and I think that they made wise choices in that respect." CEP Local 911 is an established bargaining unit that has represented Saskatchewan IT workers since 1973. It is one of two bargaining units at ISM Canada, a wholly - owned subsidiary of IBM Canada. The other group is represented in the Province of British Columbia by the BC Government and General Employees Union. |
|
News
from the
Communication Workers of America The
Union for the Information Age Jean-Claude
Vilespy, or Candice
Johnson, Alliance@IBM
CWA Local 1701 Endicott, N.Y. -- In response to job cuts, job shifting to low cost countries and declining working conditions at IBM Corp., (NYSE:IBM), employee representatives, IBM union officials, IBM Works Council representatives and members of the International Labor Federations will hold an emergency meeting in Paris. This
historic meeting will be attended by IBM employee representatives
from 12 countries. Lee Conrad, National Coordinator of the Alliance@IBM, a local of the Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO, said, “IBM workers in many countries are facing a serious decline in working conditions, job security and salary. IBM Corporate management is aggressively reshaping the company to the detriment of employees and customers. There is also a serious concern for employees with collective bargaining agreements that IBM will use job shifting to low cost countries as a hammer to demand concessions. If that happens all employees suffer.” IWIS Coordinator Jean-Claude Vilespy said, “This meeting is a unique opportunity for IBM unionists to get together to discuss how we can best meet this crisis and develop action plans to protect the interests of our members and employees at IBM.” Other issues of concern that will be discussed are: *
Human impact of work overload |
UK union backs IBM virtual strike 