Pacific Bell, Union OK Plan to Limit Layoffs

The Communications Workers of America reported Tuesday the ratification of a contract agreement with Pacific Bell that could reduce, if not eliminate, layoffs during the rest of the year.

A Pacific Bell spokesman said 900 of the company’s 72,000 employees hold “surplus” jobs that will be eliminated during the coming year. Los Angeles County accounts for 500 of those jobs. Ten employees are from San Diego County and 20 more are from Orange County.

The agreement gives CWA members the “opportunity to participate in programs for voluntary early retirement or voluntary separation with monetary incentives,” said Douglas Woodbury, president of the CWA local in San Diego and Imperial counties. It also provides for voluntary time off without pay, job sharing and part-time employment.

CWA members approved the agreement by a 2-to-1 ratio during a mail campaign that was concluded last week, Woodbury said. The agreement was added to the three-year contract that the CWA signed in August, 1983, after a three-week strike.

Pacific Bell identified 2,426 surplus positions last year, according to spokesman Tom McNaghten, who added that “only 481 were finally and actually laid off.” The rest were transferred to different jobs within the company.

The CWA represents about 85% of Pacific Bell’s non-management employees, McNaghten said.