CWA, US West join forces to help dislocated workers

Unfortunately for Gloria Aleksich, when US West Communications goes into a downsizing mode, her work picks up. Business has been brisk for the past several years.

Aleksich is program director of the Dislocated Workers Project, a joint venture between the Communications Workers of America (CWA), US West and the Workforce Development Board, that helps laid off employees and those earmarked for layoffs assess their job skills, brush up on resume writing and interviewing techniques, rapid response, and job searching.

The program operates with a $134,000 grant through Oregon's Workforce Development Board. The federal government allocates money to states through the Jobs Training Partnership Act (JTPA). State boards then distribute money to various worker assistance programs via grants. The CWA/US West grant is administered by the union and runs from July 1, 1998 to June 30, 1999.

Aleksich is a member of Portland-based CWA Local 7901 and knows first-hand what employees go through when they are handed a pink slip, that's because she was targeted for layoff (referred to as "surplused") in 1994 as a service order administrator.

"The first reaction is anger. Trust is not there initially," she said from her sixth-floor office at US West's headquarters in downtown Portland.

Because she is a rank-and-file member who has been through the process, Aleksich's presence can ease people's fears, explained Bill Prows, an area manager for US West, who is co-chair of the transition team and has been involved in the program from the beginning.

"I think folks trust Gloria and our transition team members and that's what it's about," he said.

Expecting to be laid off, Aleksich went on "union leave" (language in the collective bargaining agreement) to accept an offer by Glenn Shuck, executive director of Labor's Community Services Agency, AFL-CIO, to become a technical assistant at its JTPA-funded dislocated workers project at Mt. Hood Community College's Maywood Park campus in northeast Portland.

Aleksich continued the learning process, attending conferences and seminars and taking peer counseling training.

In mid-1995 she returned to US West from her union leave only to discover the company had changed its mind ("reevaluated the situation") and removed her from the surplus worker list.

By the end of the year she was a full-time staffer for the company's on-site dislocated workers resource center.

In March 1996 a Private Industry Council grant to CWA Local 7901 allowed the program to continue. The grant covered Aleksich's wages and benefits and the phone company provided office space and surplus computer and office equipment.

A transition team equally represented by labor and management from all major departments of US West networks with colleagues scheduled for surplus to help design a program that meets their needs.

A plum for US West employees is a contract provision that pays for some education tuition. Called "Pathways to the Future," downsized employees are eligible for up to 24 months of benefits.

In addition, JTPA provides "needs related benefits" so that displaced workers don't lose income while retraining.

Aleksich said she fields 1,200 calls a month from employees worried about losing their jobs, those who are scheduled to be laid off, and those already laid off. "It's a true mix of people," she said. "Some have been here 25 years or more and others barely over a year."

Recently US West announced plans to close a warehouse at NE 122nd and Airport Way in Portland and move the 63 jobs to Denver. Aleksich and a rapid response team have been meeting weekly with the affected employees to assist in the transition.

Since 1994, US West has laid off some 9,000 employees in its 14-state region - with approximately 860 in Oregon.