Dex One Corporation

Karen Gowdy’s Report

June 2010

May has been a very active month for your union.  The Market Assignment Policy was completed and has just been released.  This was a concerted effort on behalf of the union and the company.  Although I think it’s safe to say we didn’t, and still don’t agree on every business practice or interpretation, for the 1st time in many years the process was an amicable collaboration.

Denver Union stewards Sanjia Hopkins and Andrew Thompson met with a class of new hires in to introduce them to your union.  There were a total of 31 new sales reps in the class; 17 of which are in IBEW territory.  Membership cards were signed by 14 of the 17.  I have sent the names of all new hires to the Chief Stewards in the respective offices.  Please be sure to welcome everyone into this great union family of ours.  Thanks again to Sanjia and Andrew for their dedicated efforts.

Assistant Business Manager Casey Lewis and I just spent time in Tucson with the membership.  We continued to be concerned about the mismanagement that is occurring in that office.  Morale is at an all-time low as local management continue such ineffective tactics as withholding BOTs until new/non conversions are achieved; holding sales hostage in meetings for punishment purposes and finally placing all reps in the office on a Performance Improvement Plan.  Your union leadership is fully engaged in bringing these misguided attempts and tactics to a stop.

There has been yet another termination in the Southwest Region.  A grievance has been filed on behalf of Lorraine Kelly in Albuquerque.  Year to date, we have had 4 terminations in that region for code of conduct violations.  The union is filing a grievance on all 4.

Kelly Ellegard’s grievance has been advanced to Arbitration and Henry Zissel’s grievance is at the 1st step.

What does your union mean to you?  Many of us have had experiences over the years that warrant sharing.  Many of the newer members have never belonged to a union and don’t realize how rewarding the experience can be.  Please send testimonials to either me or your Chief Steward so we can collect and showcase them on our website.  My email address is:

Kareng@IBEW1269.org.

Click here for Karen's video introduction to our new website