RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. — Two hundred Frontier customer call center workers, members of Communications Workers of America Local 9588, rallied here Sept. 28 to highlight their fight for better wages, affordable health care and safety on the job.
“We need to make sure labor’s voice is heard. Without union wages and benefits we will only become part of the problem, not the solution,” Janet Fields, a Frontier call center worker and member of the union, told the Militant. She said the economy is getting worse and it’s impacting workers more. “It used to be a puddle, now it’s a canyon we have to jump across.”
Jimi Brubaker, president of the union and a repair technician with 21 years at the internet service provider, said, “We need better safety training and a raise in wages. The company also wants to increase our payments for health care.”
“Today we see a growing gap between the haves and have-nots,” Ricardo Cisneros, executive secretary of the Inland Empire Labor Council, chipped in. “The home I live in, I wouldn’t be able to afford if I bought it right now.”
Jose Salas, who is a fiber-optic technician and has worked at Frontier for 19 years, said safety is very important. “You can get electrocuted or fall off a ladder. Sometimes they give us too much work. We need enough time to do the job safely.”
Mike Kennedy is a construction splicer in Frontier’s San Bernardino yard and a member of CWA Local 9400. He said the bosses are contracting out work. “There is no quality control behind contractors. Our bosses try to hide how much contract work is done. They wait until we’re out in the field to bring the contractors in.
“We’re trying to make sure they know without us their plant doesn’t run,” he said. “They want to increase what we pay for benefits, without compensation. Our wages pay for less and less.”
“We’re working now without a contract while we’re negotiating,” Esthela Hernandez, who works in copper and fiber-optic programming, said. “Half of us have a pension and 401(k), half don’t. We want everyone to have it.” She had also attended the Frontier contract rally in Whittier sponsored by CWA Local 9586 on Sept. 26.
“I started when it was GTE, then Verizon and now Frontier,” Darnisha Lee, vice president of Local 9400, said. On Sept. 24 “we walked out on a one-day strike for the day from field offices, yards and call centers. We want a no-layoff clause and not to be replaced by contractors. In 1998 there were 450 people where I work. Now there are 40.”