The Company declared a surplus of 2055 members in Massachusetts and Rhode Island on February 26^th 2010. After negotiations between the IBEW , CWA and Verizon an agreement was reached that offered an added incentive beyond the contractual IPP offer. This incentive provided extra funds as well as expanded the cap on years of service. The October contractual pension band increase was pushed back to be included in this February offer. This allowed for an increase in the pensions for our members.

                When the dust settled the System Council T-6 had a total of 1451 volunteers who applied for this offer. After aligning these volunteers with the Company surplus, 1167 volunteers were accepted immediately and left the property on June 18^th. There were also volunteers who fell into two separate categories. Members who put in for this offer in a surplus job title, above and beyond the surplus declared in that title are called oversubscriptions. Members who volunteered from a title that was not declared surplus are considered non-surplus volunteers. There are 168 oversubscriptions and 116 non-surplus volunteers from this current IPP offer. These members have not been released yet. Negotiations between the T-6 and the Company continue on a process or procedure for their release. Since these members were not declared surplus, their jobs must be negotiated with the Union. We are looking for a commitment from the Company on backfills for these members.

                The Union and the Company continue to meet and are making progress towards resolving the issue of Oversubscriptions and Non-surplus volunteers. Understand that we will continue to do what is best for the members who volunteered to leave and the members who are staying. It is our job to maintain and increase our work to ensure continued employment and reduced surpluses. The Company declaring surpluses and offering IPP’s is a contractual way of downsizing. As they declare more of our members surplus, we will continue to make certain that work stays in the bargaining unit. Allowing members to retire with an incentive does not allow the Company to backfill with contractors. When an agreement is reached we will notify this membership immediately.

Fraternally,

David Keating

Business Manager