GRIEVANCE REPORT/MEETING MINUTES
UPDATED 2/11/2019

ARCHIVES:

G23-10-16 Denial of previously approved vacation day trade
withdrawn without prejudice (11/2016)

G3-12-16: DENIAL OF OVERTIME PAY
withdrawn without prejudice (11/2016)

G23.2.16: Denial of Personal Days
Withdrawn without prejudice (11/2016)

G22-4-13: Member was given a written warning for mistreatment of customer during a conversation.
Withdrawn without prejudice

G11-1-15: Century link refuses to give pay increases to Division Clerk B Positions.
Withdrawn without prejudice

G2.1.18
Frontier Rhinelander
Management's Failure to Follow Past Practice on the Selection of Scheduled Days Off
Settled at the first step.

G2.2.18
Frontier
Company Not Soliciting Bids on Schedules for SST IIs by Reporting Location
Answer will be appealed to the District for further action.

G2.3.18
Frontier
Company Combining Various Report Locations for Scheduling and Vacation Selection Purposes
Answer will be appealed to the District for further action.

G3.1.18
Frontier
Company's Failure to Allow Early Starts for a Sales and Service Technician II on Forced Overtime Unsatisfactory top step answer.
Has been appealed to the American Arbitration Association.

G3.2.18
Frontier
Company's Failure to Allow Early Starts for a Sales and Service Technician II on Forced Overtime Unsatisfactory top step answer.
Has been appealed to the American Arbitration Association.

G3.3.18
Frontier
Company's Failure to Allow Early Starts for a Sales and Service Technician II on Forced Overtime Unsatisfactory top step answer.
Has been appealed to the American Arbitration Association.

G3.4.18
Frontier
Company's Failure to Allow Early Starts for a Sales and Service Technician II on Forced Overtime Unsatisfactory top step answer.
Has been appealed to the American Arbitration Association.

G3.5.18
Frontier
Company's Failure to Allow Early Starts for a Sales and Service Technician II on Forced Overtime Unsatisfactory top step answer.
Has been appealed to the American Arbitration Association.

G3.6.18
Frontier
Company's Failure to Allow Early Starts for a Sales and Service Technician II on Forced Overtime Unsatisfactory top step answer.
Has been appealed to the American Arbitration Association.

G3.7.18
Frontier
Company's Failure to Allow Early Starts for a Sales and Service Technician II on Forced Overtime Unsatisfactory top step answer.
Has been appealed to the American Arbitration Association.

G3.8.18
Frontier
Company Continuing to "Schedule" Overtime - Five or Six Ten Hour Days
Appeal pending at the top step.

G4.2.18
Frontier
Written Warning Received for Not Following a Procedure on which the SST II Was Not Trained
Has been referred back to the Issue Resolution Step for a meeting.

G4.3.18
Frontier
Written Warning Received for Not Following a Procedure on which the SST II Was Not Trained
Has been referred back to the Issue Resolution Step for a meeting.

G4.4.18
Frontier
Disciplinary Action Taken Against a Sales and Service Technician II Without Just Cause
Discipline has been rescinded. Closed satisfactorily.

G11.1.19
Frontier Rhinelander
Different Performance Standards Set for Retail Sales Specialists Performing the Same Work
Unsatisfactory answer received from the first step. Will be appealed to the second step

MEETING MINUTES

CWA Local 4671 Executive Board Meeting
Host Area: CenturyLink Area
Wednesday - February 06, 2019
Susters Arcade | 117 North Wall Street | Denmark, WI


Meeting was called to order by President Steve Kotel at 10:59 a.m. Those present: President Steve Kotel, Vice President Ann McNeary, Treasurer Sherry Gehring, Assignment Center Representative Dee Townsend (arrived at 11:07 a.m.), CenturyLink Representative Jonathan Stevens, North Area Representative Chris Loomis, and South Area Representative Ron Scott. Absent excused: Secretary Jane Vander Kooy.

Discussion held on scheduling upcoming meetings with a thought to trying to avoid the worst of the winter weather in Wisconsin (like today!). M/S/C to hold five General Membership Meetings per year geographically throughout the state, including one in Sun Prairie for the Assignment Center, with the dates/times/locations to be determined by the Executive Board. [In person Executive Board Meetings will be held in conjunction with these.] Next GMM is planned for Tomahawk in May with the North Area Representative serving as host.

This meeting will include nominations for the CWA National Convention to be held in Las Vegas at the end of July. The President is an automatic Delegate and M/S/C to send one additional Delegate. The Elections Committee will be notified and necessary arrangements will begin - need to get a Post Office Box, … There will be an election for Vice President of CWA District 4 as part of the Convention. The Board reiterated that when representing the Local at any meeting, conference, training, or convention, the attendee has a duty to be there and to give a report afterwards informing the membership of what was learned and/or what took place.

Also, to clarify the mileage policy, M/S/C that members attending Area and/or General Membership Meetings will be paid round trip mileage for all miles in excess of thirty. We did talk about the importance of documentation and vouchers being filled out completely (and on a timely basis). With the pay raise in the Frontier/CWA contract effective on 02/10/2019, the lost wage amount will be $32.58 per hour which is an increase from the current $31.95 per hour. [Found in Schedule Q.] The IRS also raised the mileage amount, effective 01/01/2019, to 58 cents per mile which is up from 54.5 cents per mile.

In addition, concerning lost time, it was reaffirmed that if someone is off work representing the Local, they will only be paid (1) if they are actually scheduled to work that day and (2) the number of hours paid are "capped" at eight since that would have been the number of hours scheduled. It needs to be understood that there are times when the meeting or assignment takes more than eight hours in one day or falls on a scheduled day off. It is hoped that members would not manipulate their schedules to cause more hours to be paid than necessary.

Both the North and the South areas are dealing with the "work expectations" document that has been circulating. Steve was on a conference call earlier today about this and will be going to Ohio in two weeks to discuss this with the other Locals affected. Work schedules and/or vacation schedules continue to be combined although not completely consistently. The Union is fighting this with the goal to be to return to a more logical and practical workgroup size based on location. Also scheduling, especially vacation days at a time and personal days, is really causing problems. In at least one area, NO Saturdays are available for nearly all of the year - which is not fair (and unworkable) for those routinely scheduled on Saturday. Essentially the only way to get a Saturday off is if you can get the entire week off for vacation - which is unlikely and not the best used of vacation time.

There also is the continuing problem of not being paid overtime for hours in excess of eighty per paycheck because of Frontier's interpretation of vacation days vs holidays. Anyone with pay stubs showing eighty plus hours, with no overtime paid, should get a copy to their Area Representative for further action. This issue needs to be addressed in our next bargaining with the Company.

Ron asked about the bridging of time when coming from or going to an area represented by IBEW - is there reciprocity? It doesn't seem to be consistently handled. Steve will contact IBEW Local 51 - which seems to send members our way - to further investigate. The feeling was that if it truly is reciprocal, then it is fine but possibly not all IBEW Locals will do the same thing with this issue. Also is the Local getting contractor reports? COE-I has just one employee left so most of their work is being done by contractors. Will any/all of those jobs be filled? Steve will check into this further.

Jon said that they still haven't been able to get a current CenturyLink seniority list and are not being notified about new hires and/or separations. The HR functions now go thru a centralized "pool", with no one directly being responsible for Wisconsin so requests seem to be ignored. A couple of people left and hopefully jobs will be backfilled. And possibly voluntary separation packages were offered but there seems to be some confusion on this - Company says yes they did make offers but members say no (there was no offer received by anyone). Organizing within CenturyLink was discussed and will be brought up at the General Membership Meeting this evening.

Dee reported that there has been quite an uproar in the Assignment Center which is being addressed. The extreme weather has caused a number of problems - no time off being approved even though the local, county, and state government operations in Dane County shut down for a number of days. There has to be a remedy to this besides "flex time" - which really isn't always practical and isn't contractual. There will be a grievance filed about upgrades not being approved for those in the Center performing Facilities Assigner/Cutter work (Schedule L in the contract). Also, since this upgrade involves more pay, the work should be offered by seniority. And scheduling, between those upstairs and downstairs, continues to be an issue. Those with less seniority (upstairs) are getting better schedules than those downstairs - earlier starts, fewer Saturdays, … In addition, the day at a time vacation/personal holidays scheduling is way behind so people are not able to make plans.

Sherry handed out the financial reports for December and January and changed the format just a bit to indicate the money that was shifting into savings from the checking account. The audit for 2016/2017 was finally done in January. Those auditing the records were concerned that a number of receipts were missing or vouchers didn't include sufficient information to understand why an expense was paid. So, in addition to the other clarifications talked about earlier in the meeting, it was reinforced that ALL expenses need to have a receipt and that vouchers need to clearly indicate the date and reason for the expense. And they need to be submitted on a timely basis - for the Executive Board, that should be once a month. Anyone else should NOT wait for months to request payment. Sixty days was suggested as a limit. Chris and Sherry will be meeting at the office on Saturday so Chris can look over the Rhinelander materials stored there.

The grievance report was thoroughly discussed and the updated version will be posted as per usual. Ann asked about ordering clothing/items for members this year. The plan is to do something thru the website - with an e-mail being sent - rather than getting the handwritten or scanned order forms and the Assignment Center will have a revised sign up form. Please think about possible designs or things to purchase for the members. She was on the nationwide conference call about Frontier and its many service problems. Unfortunately, based on legislation that was passed some time ago (which AT&T really pushed), Wisconsin does NOT have good consumer protections anymore on service standards. We do have someone from the School for Workers to do a four-hour FMLA training for the Local so now need to schedule a date. It will most likely be a Saturday and will possibly be held in the Dells again, which seemed to work alright for getting people in from across the state. We also want to provide localized information for the various companies on how the application process actually works internally - where do I get the form to fill out, who handles it, …

Steve discussed the conference call he was on this morning about the new work expectations being rolled out. He will be going to Ohio to discuss this further and the Presidents will plan a strategy to address this. The Rhinelander contract is up soon and proofing/printing of the contract will be discussed during bargaining. What was finally recently received seems to have some discrepancies and there are no signatures on the document. On the call, they also discussed "buzz" service - calling the customer, changes to "Take the Lead", and new dispatch systems for scheduling among other things.

M/S/C to adjourn at 5:41 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Ann M. McNeary (temporary notetaker)

December Executive Board Meeting Minutes
Meeting held on December 3, 2018 via Conference Call
Board Members present on the call were Steve Kotel, Ann McNeary, Sherry Gehring, Jane Vander Kooy, Chris Loomis, Ron Scott, Jon Stevens, Dee Wilson-Townsend
President Steve Kotel called meeting to order at 5:30pm

Treasurer Sherry Gehring discussed the checking account and there was concern with fraud charges on the account. Sherry will be contacting Summit Credit Union to discuss the removal of the fraud charges and what additional steps can be taken to further secure the checking account.
Steve Kotel brought up fraud that happened to other Local’s accounts throughout the country where the Local’s had lost thousands of dollars due to fraud. The Board discussed moving $50,000 to a Summit Credit Union savings account that is not associated with the checking account. Sherry will be going to Summit Credit Union on Tuesday to discuss ways to keep the Local’s accounts secured and funds protected.

Vice President Ann McNeary reviewed the grievance report and discussion was held on the grievances. Area Reps and Steve Kotel provided updates to the grievances.
-Ann discussed politics on the State level and what is happening at the capital. Ann encouraged all Board Members to contact their representatives to express their concerns as to what is happening on the State level by limiting what Tony Evers can do once he enters office.
-CWA Local wristbands have been ordered for the members.
-There are still a few t shirts, sweatshirts and other CWA Local 4671 items left for members. Discussed was possibly placing another order of CWA Local items next year.

Secretary Jane Vander Kooy discussed the pocket calendars have been sent to the Area Rep to distribute to their members. Wall calendars should be arriving shortly and will be sent to the Area Reps to pass out to the members.
-Fellowship funds were discussed, area reps need to get a list of their members to Jane so only members in good standing will be included for the Fellowship funds.

CenturyLink Area Rep Jon Stevens had questions regarding the Local apparel give away.
-Jon is setting up his area meetings when it works for the members in those areas, by doing this there is a better turn out for his meetings.
-1st quarter Board Meeting will be held in a CenturyLink area somewhere in the state. Jon will let the Board know and it will be posted for the membership advising where the meeting will be held and the time.
-Jon discussed the distribution of the Fellowship Fund and will get Jane the CenturyLink list of members so only members in good standing will be entitled to Fellowship Funds.

Assignment Center Area Rep Dee Wilson Townsend discussed Center issues. Dee is working with Manager Yvonne Lovicott regarding any issues that come up in the Center.
-Dee will be handing out wall calendars to the members in the Center when Jane receives them from the vendor.

North Area Rep Chris Loomis discussed payment to the Treasurer for the Local apparel that was ordered.
-Rhinelander contract update was discussed, Steve advised the contract has been sent to Monica at the District level.
-Discussion of members on long term disability was discussed and how long can a member be on LTD. Steve Kotel will be looking into it and will advise the Board.
-Chris discussed adding additional job stewards in the North area.
-There was an interest of employees from another non union company interested in possibly joining CWA Local 4671, Chris will work with Steve and keep the Board updated.

South Area Rep Ron Scott discussed Frontier refuses to pay an employee overtime pay when they are entitled to the pay. Discussion by the Board was held and Steve will be addressing this with the NLRB.
-2 union members faced retaliation by additional work added to their workload for being involved in the union business, both members have positions with the Local representing our membership. Steve will be working with Ron to get this issue resolved.
-There is Manager in Ron’s area that is not following the grievance procedure properly, Steve will be looking into this and will be discussing with Ron.
-Ron held his area meeting in Montello and there were 5 members from the Assignment Center that attended. Ron and Dee Wilson-Townsend are trying to get their members to attend the others meetings to unite all members.

Motion was made by Ron Scott to adjourn and 2nd by Dee Wilson-Townsend.
Meeting ended at 8:20pm

Minutes respectfully submitted by Secretary Jane Vander Kooy

Executive Board Meeting was held via conference call on Monday November 12, 2018.
Members present on call: Steve Kotel, Ann McNeary, Sherry Gehring, Jane Vander Kooy, Jon Stevens, Dee Wilson-Townsend, Ron Scott, Chris Loomis

Meeting was called to order at 5:30pm by President Steve Kotel

-VICE PRESIDENT Ann McNeary presented the grievance report and discussion was held and all grievances were discussed.
-Ann advised the AFL-CIO Conference will be held this Spring but the conference details will be brought to the Board at an upcoming meeting.
-Discussion on wristbands that state Stronger Together, bands are 50 cents each and Board members agreed to order wristbands for the members. Steve Kotel made the motion to order 500 wristbands to be handed out to our members, motion was 2nd by Sherry Gehring. Steve called for discussion and vote and the Board did all vote to order the wristbands. Motion passed.
-Ann will be ordering another CWA 4671 banner to replace the banner that was stolen from a Board Members vehicle.
-Ann is checking with a local printer on ordering wall calendars and what the price would be, vendor we have for calendars now advised Secretary Jane Vander Kooy that they are unable to fulfill our order.
-CWA Local 4671 business cards will be ordered for Board Members requesting the cards and also generic cards without Board members name. Order will be 2200 cards that will cost $127.40, A motion was made by Dee Wilson-Townsend to order CWA Local 4671 business cards and 2nd by Steve Kotel. Discuss was held on the card and the Board did vote to order the cards. Motion passed.
-Discussion on incorrect seniority dates and Area Reps will look into incorrect dates.
-Ann is requesting Sherry send the cost of the Steward training and the clothing cost be sent to the Board Members.
-Contractor reports were discussed and Steve Kotel advised he is getting the reports from Frontier but not from Century Link.
-Auditing the Locals records was discussed and Sherry Gehring will set up the audit and get two member to audit.
-WI Election races were briefly brought up
-Phil Neuenfeldt has passed away, Phil was with the WI AFL-CIO


TREASURER Sherry Gehring presented the Treasurers Report.
Brought up to the Board for discussion was the T & T Conference being held in San Antonio TX this Spring. Discussion was how many Board members to send and it was determined the budget would support sending 3 members. Steve Kotel, Dee Wilson-Townsend and Ron Scott all showed interest in going. A motion was made by Sherry Gehring to send the 3 board members to the T & T Conference in San Antonio TX, it was 2nd by Dee Wilson-Townsend. Steve called for discussion and the Board did all vote to send the 3 members to the T & T Conference. Motion passed.
-Sherry advised she did complete the insurance audit.

-PRESIDENT Steve Kotel discussed Frontier job posting and filling of the new positions.
-Frontier did clarify the steps of discipline: 1st is coaching, verbal warning, written letter, suspension and last step termination

-CENTURYLINK AREA REP Jon Stevens discussed scheduling issues with end of the year vacations and 2019 schedule picks.
-Jon is working on finalizing area meeting dates for the CenturyLink members in his area. Meeting dates will be posted on the website.
-3rd quarter earnings with CenturyLink was discussed and at this time there are no lay off talks.

-ASSIGNMENT CENTER AREA REP Dee Wilson-Townsend gave an update on the Center and the quarterly review, things are going good at this time. There will be hiring in January for more assigners in the Sun Prairie Office. All assigners will be on one schedule, both upstairs and the assigners on the main floor.
-No assigners in Sun Prairie received a survey to explain their job.
-There will be a job fair held in Sun Prairie for the additional assigner jobs.

-NORTHERN AREA REP Chris Loomis discuss scheduling issues. Steve Kotel, Ron Scott and Chris Loomis will set up a meeting time to discuss scheduling.
-There is a union/company partnership meeting that will be coming up, Local President wants a list of issues he can bring up with Management.

-SOUTHERN AREA REP Ron Scott discussed discipline meetings and verbal warnings in the East Area.
-Discussion was the procedure for techs returning jobs at the end of the day, there needs to be a one on one conversation with the Manager at the end of the day.
-Ron discussed meetings he had with Local Managers, these were IRS meetings.

SECRETARY JANE VANDER KOOY discussed ordering the wall calendars and the vendor we have been using can not supply the wall calendars this year.
-Pocket calendars did arrive and will be sent to Area Reps to get to their members.
-Area Reps need to keep advising Jane when there are bereavements in their area so the Local can send a bereavement gift.
-Area Reps need to continue to have new members sign union cards if the want to be a member in good standing.

Dee Wilson-Townsend made a motion to Adjourn
Jane Vander Kooy did 2nd the motion.
Motion passed.

Meeting ended at 8:20pm on November 12, 2018
Minutes respectfully submitted by Secretary Jane Vander Kooy

Executive Board Meeting Held in Plymouth WI on October 6, 2018.

Board Member present: Steve Kotel, Ann McNeary, Sherry Gehring, Jane Vander Kooy, Jon Stevens, Chris Loomis, Dee Wilson Townsend, Ron Scott
Guest present were: Pearl Haynes Des Ratliff

Meeting was called to order at 9:45am by President Steve Kotel.

Vice President Ann McNeary discussed the distribution of the CWA Local 4671 hats, totes and apparel. There was discussion of an additional order of these items for a 2019. The dress code for outside techs was brought up and techs do need to follow their dress code.
CWA Banners were ordered and they were handed out to the Area Reps to bring to meetings, rallies and other events.
Grievance report was reviewed and updated.
Area Reps will be responsible for updating the web site for their local meetings.
Seniority list will be going on the web site.
Accidental Insurance information will be sent out to members, Secretary Jane Vander Kooy will be mailing out and the members address will not be provided to any outside vendor.
Discussion for new business cards with Weingarten Rights that can be distributed to members. Discussion was held and a motion was made by Ron Scott to order 1000 cards and 2nd by Steve Kotel. Motion passed by the Board. Ann will have Wells Printing print the cards.

Treasurer Sherry Gehring presented the new 2018 – 2019 Budget. Discussion was held and Dee Wilson Townsend made a motion to pass the Budget and it was 2nd by Chris Loomis. Budget was approved by Executive Board. Budget will be presented at the General Membership Meeting in Plymouth that will be held after the Board Meeting.

South Area Rep Ron Scott brought up the AFL-CIO Conference he attended and discussed the conference agenda.
Frontier CO Techs that were bumped and where the techs are now was discussed.

Century Link Area Rep Jon Stevens discussed programs the Company has such as Link to Success and Buzz. Discussion was held on how this programs will effect the techs, Jon will keep the Board updated as these programs process.

North Area Rep Chris Loomis brought up Contractors Frontier is still using in areas and there was a lengthy discussion regarding the Contractors. Steve Kotel will be discussing with Management and checking into the Contractor status and getting back with the Board Members who can relay to the membership.
Members are being questioned about their residence for field tech members that live over 35 miles from work location.
Still waiting on Rhinelander Contractors, President Steve Kotel will check into it.

President Steve Kotel discussed workshops he attended at the D4 conference and protecting union funds.
There is open enrollment for health care with Century Link coming up from 10/31/18 to 11/16/18.
Networth will be going around the state to meet with members to discuss any questions they have regarding pension, retirements and any other questions they may have. The first meeting will be in Rice Lake on 11/1/18.
There will be a meeting on December 5th with Management, HR and Union Officers for issues to be brought up, there will be about 15 members attending.
Conferences for 2019 was brought up and Steve and Ann will compile a list of meetings and conferences.

Assignment Area Rep Dee Wilson Townsend discussed peer to peer new generation, which attempts to get new members involved in the Union.
There are still Assignment Center jobs overseas, anywhere from 47 to 63, unsure of the exact number.
Holiday time pay was discussed regarding getting paid before and after the holiday if a member takes off before or after the holiday.
The upstairs Assignment Center members are being disciplined without union representation.

Secretary Jane Vander Kooy advised she will be ordering calendars for 2019, Area Reps provided number for the calendars.
Area Reps will need to get their membership list to the Secretary so Fellowship Funds can be distributed to the Area Reps.
Scholarships winners were discussed and our Local will continue to have the drawing in 2019 for 6 members.

Our next 2 meetings for 2018 will be conference calls in November and December. The next face to face Board Meeting and General Membership meeting will be held in the western area of the state hosted by Jon Stevens.

Motion made by Dee Wilson Townsend to adjoin meeting, 2nd by Ron Scott. Motion passed.

Minutes respectfully submitted by Secretary Jane Vander Kooy.

CWA Local 4671 Executive Board Meeting
Monday - July 23, 2018
Nitty Gritty | 315 East Linnerud Drive | Sun Prairie


Meeting was called to order by President Steve Kotel at 9:30 a.m. Those present: President Steve Kotel, Vice President Ann McNeary, Treasurer Sherry Gehring, Assignment Center Representative Dee Townsend, CenturyLink Representative Jonathan Stevens, North Area Representative Chris Loomis, South Area Representative Ron Scott, and (observer) Beth Kopfhamer. Absent excused: Secretary Jane Vander Kooy.

Discussion held on scheduling upcoming meetings. Next Executive Board Meeting will be held via conference call at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, August 29th. Next in person Executive Board Meeting and Membership Meeting will be held on Saturday, October 6th, somewhere in the eastern area of the state. Ron will make arrangements for this. And then there will be a conference call Executive Board Meeting on Wednesday, November 7th, at 5:30 p.m. The plan is to have an in person Executive Board Meeting and Membership Meeting in early December in the western area of the state (with Jonathan making arrangements). If you have dates to suggest or avoid in December, please let Jonathan know.

Next an abbreviated financial report was discussed. [With the all-day stewards' training in June, there were many checks written and the full report became too much/too many pages for the printer.] Our balance at the end of June was $84,047.32. There were still a few outstanding expenses from the training - that were paid in early July - so Sherry will give a full accounting of the training within the next month. We also discussed the importance of having minutes to back up any authorizations made by either the Executive Board or the membership. Any dues money being spent needs to have approval clearly noted. In addition, it is critical that our membership records be continually updated with any changes - retirements, new hires, change in status, … M/S/C to direct the Local President to not authorize any additional absences for 2018 for the Local Secretary.

It was decided that minutes will now be posted on our website. Ann with work with Webmaster Cathy Nelson to make that happen. [A new tab will be created.] We have been invited to participate in American Income Life's $1,000 group AD&D benefit program. AIL will not get members' information from us but rather they will only contact a member if that member returns a postcard to them. The plan is for the Local to do the mailing - with costs covered by AIL. Members should know that if they sign up, they most likely will get "solicited" to purchase additional products but they can decline that and still have the $1,000 AD&D coverage - which is free! We would like to include a few other pieces in that mailing as well.

Ann handed out order forms for items the Local will be giving to members - red t-shirt, black fist t-shirt, red sweatshirt, tote bag, or a baseball cap. Each member in good standing will get one item for free. Any additional items will be $15 each and must be paid for in advance. Orders will be due on August 20th. The logistics of getting items ordered and distributed will rely heavily on the Area Representatives, Chief Stewards, and Stewards. A special order form was created for the Assignment Center - since they are consolidated under one roof. The grievance report was updated and new grievances discussed. [See the July grievance log for details.]

Jon reported that unfortunately two retirees recently died - Gaylin West and Mark Graf. Both had had serious health problems. There also is a member dealing with a Workers' Compensation injury that may lead to long term disability. Ann will send info to Jon for a free consultation with an attorney about his situation. There are a number of (underperforming) contractors working in the CenturyLink area. And poor locating is causing problems as well with cut cables. The Company is trying to arrange some training with the technical college for employees who could be brought in on a temporary basis. The Local will be looking into other possibilities - perhaps OSHA confined spaces training or something similar. There are members who would like some financial planning assistance and Steve will work on coordinating that with NettWorth. The CenturyLink contract books have arrived.

Dee talked about issues in the Assignment Center - parking lot is in disrepair and people are injuring themselves and trying to create more consistency between treatment of members working upstairs and downstairs. M/S/C to donate $500 from the Local to Dan Ableman who lost everything in a fire recently. Dee and Steve will be working on getting two members pay for time they lost at work - total of twelve hours - due to the gas explosion in Sun Prairie. There still is confusion about FMLA and the differences between the state law (with three distinct categories) and the federal law (just a block of twelve weeks). Really need additional training on this. Ann will check this out with the School for Workers.

M/S/C to send President Steve Kotel and South Area Representative Ron Scott to the WI State AFL-CIO Biennial Convention in Milwaukee from September 24th thru September 26th and to pay the necessary expenses and registration fee. M/S/C to send up to two people, one being President Steve Kotel, to the CWA District 4 Conference in Indianapolis from September 18th thru the 20th and to pay associated costs. M/S/C to extend the deadline for the scholarships to Friday, August 31st. The Local gives out six $500 scholarships so everyone is encouraged to apply! So far we only have one application. Area Representatives should be thinking about the upcoming calendar order and decide what they want - pocket and/or wall calendars and how many. Jane will be placing the order well before the end of the year.

Ron reported that late notice on "required" overtime is a problem. They are supposed to be notified in advance, by contract, but the Company is not following the rules. He also noted that some supervisors are placing their own interpretation on the rules for standby so they need to be reminded to follow the contract. Scheduling is not being handled the same, especially late shifts, and the Company still won't let members start work early or not take an hour lunch when there is mandatory overtime. The Company not backfilling vacant positions - inside and outside - is causing many of the problems.

Chris reported many similar scheduling issues and the inability to take personal days. He is going to have a call with all his stewards so everyone hears the same story and it is consistent. Contractors are a problem in the north area as well and jobs are not being filled. We need trained Frontier employees, our members, doing this work. Frontier just "won" two contracts in Milwaukee and Wisconsin Dells, for school districts, but it looks like all that work will be done by contractors.

M/S/C to adjourn at 5:11 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Ann M. McNeary (temporary notetaker)

Meeting was called to order by President Steve Kotel at 5:39 p.m. Executive Board Members in attendance were: President Steve Kotel, Vice President Ann McNeary, Treasurer Sherry Gehring, Assignment Center Representative Dee Townsend, CenturyLink Representative Jonathan Stevens, North Area Representative Chris Loomis, and South Area Representative Ron Scott. In addition, eight members from the Assignment Center were there.

The financial report was given. Our ending balance for June was $84,047.32. The grievance report was discussed. The version updated earlier today will be sent to the Board and placed on the website shortly after this meeting. Steve discussed upcoming meetings where the Local will be represented - the CWA District 4 Conference in Indianapolis from September 18th thru the 20th and the WI State AFL-CIO Biennial Convention in Milwaukee from September 24th thru September 26th.

Ann noted the election flyer available at the back table and encourage everyone to vote in the primary election on August 14th. Also, the Local will be giving items to members - a red t-shirt, a black fist t-shirt, a red sweatshirt, a tote bag, or a baseball cap. Each member in good standing will get one item for free. Any additional items will be $15 each and must be paid for in advance. Orders will be due on August 20th. The logistics of getting items ordered and distributed will rely heavily on the Area Representatives, Chief Stewards, and Stewards. A special order form was created for the Assignment Center - since they are consolidated under one roof.

Provided the details can be worked out, the Local will be participating in American Income Life's $1,000 group AD&D benefit program. AIL will not get members' information from us but rather they will only contact a member if that member returns a postcard to them. The plan is for the Local to do the mailing - with costs covered by AIL. Members should know that if they sign up, they most likely will get "solicited" to purchase additional products but they can decline that and still have the $1,000 AD&D coverage - which is free! The deadline for the scholarships has been extended to Friday, August 31st. Steve will contact NettWorth about holding some financial planning/info sessions in various areas across the state. There is no cost to the Local.

Dee talked about issues in the Assignment Center - parking lot is in disrepair, causing injuries. Trying to create more consistency in the treatment of members working upstairs and downstairs - scheduling, the dress code and related enforcement, absenteeism/tardiness, … There was a spirited discussion about (preferential) scheduling and what might work better - thirteen weeks vs. four weeks vs. one week. Members would like the flexibility but also need to be able to plan ahead and make doctor's appointments and meet other commitments. It seems like a matter of respect - getting schedule in advance and being treated as adults. There was at least one mention of wanting to try four tens in the Center. And the "virtualization" of the Centers is causing ongoing issues. Bottom line was we must organize to gain power!

M/S/C to adjourn at 7:25 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Ann M. McNeary (temporary notetaker)