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| SBC
Layoffs To Hit October 1, 2002 More than 750 IBEW jobs are possible casualties of SBC Communications Inc.s Friday announcement that wireless competition and falling market share would force it to cut 11,000 jobs nationwide. The news is an unwelcome milestone in the history of Local 21: the layoffs will be the first ever at the Downers Grove, Illinois-based local. Unions at SBC expect approximately one-third of the layoffs will come from management employees and the remaining from non-management positions across the 13 states served by SBC. The move will reduce the companys work force by 6 percent. SBC also plans to reduce its capital spending budget up to $6 million. Within the IBEW Local 21 jurisdiction in Illinois and Indiana, the targeted SBC/Ameritech jobs include cable splicers, systems technicians, plant technicians as well as those in maintenance, field support and administration. Local 21 Business Manager Ronald Kastner said in meetings scheduled throughout the week with the company the local will fight to save as many of the jobs as possible. "We do have some good contract language on layoff but its never been tested," said Kastner, who leads former System Council T-4, which combined fives locals into Local 21 in 1995. "Were going to look at every avenue we can." Kastner said the local hopes to rely on the bargaining agreement to argue for the companys removal of a subcontractor. They will also likely negotiate for a reduced work week, job retraining and early retirement incentives. In the telecommunications industry, local telephone companies have been hit hard by the rising popularity of wireless telephones and high-speed Internet lines, neither of which require traditional landlines.
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