There will be an advanced steward training session held on Tuesday, October 16, 2007 at the Local office on 5321 1^st Place NE, Washington, D.C. The session will begin at 6 p.m. All stewards are requested to R.S.V.P. by Friday, October 12, 2007.

There will be a new steward training class conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday, October 23^rd and 24^th, 2007 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. held at the Local office on 5321 1^st Place NE, Washington, D.C. Any members interested in attending this class should notify the Local on 202 291-1500 no later than Friday, October 19, 2007.

The Union received a report that a worker at one of the day care centers was continually getting sick with the suspicion being that mold was the cause. This issue was referred to the CEO of UPO who in turn contacted Head Start. The response was that there was no evidence of mold at that center. In fact, they stated that the center had been inspected by the Department of Health within the past six months and no such condition was indicated.

Pursuant to further conversations with the Union, it was determined that the District of Columbia Environmental Services would be contacted to conduct a facility assessment. The assessment by Environmental Services discovered that there was indeed mold in this day care center. As a result, UPO committed to having all of their day care centers assessed.

Thus far, two centers have been taken care and the Union will continue to keep track of the entire process.

Any members who feel that they are working in a location that is not environmentally safe should immediately contact the Local office on 202 291-1500.

On Monday, September 10, 2007, a meeting was held at the WEHTS Center. In attendance were WEHTS workers, WEHTS management including the CEO of UPO, and representatives of the Union including Local President Jim Pappas. Respect in the work place was the issue of the meeting. The three topics of concern were: 1) respect among employees, 2) respect with management and 3) respect for the Union.

The meeting was necessary because of continuous reports of workers being subjected, by management, to abusive language, threats, disparity of treatment and harassment—some of the harassment coming from fellow workers.

It was concluded in this meeting that all matters involving all employees would be conducted with the utmost respect. The law states that the work place should be a stress free environment with a zero tolerance for harassment, insulting language, threats, favoritism, etc. and the Union will hold UPO accountable for carrying it out.

According to Local President Jim Pappas, any situations of disrespect that UPO fails to act on will be dealt with promptly by the Union. If any workers have problems with being disrespected, please call the Union, and we will advise.

Regular season tickets at the cost of $26.00 including tax are still available at the Local office.

"Member Security Requirement"

Display of Company identification badges at Verizon Communications has been a long standing company requirement. This requirement is in place as a means of protection for our members.

Each day we are faced with new security challenges, both locally and nationally. Based on the current trend of violence in our city and nation, it is important that, on the job, we be aware of our surroundings at all times. This makes it imperative that we be easily identified by our employer.

The Union has long been aware of the uncertainty and strain that "term employee" status can cause hard working men and women and their families, and decreasing the number of term employees and the time employees may be held in "term" status has long been a priority for the Union. Those very issues have been part of difficult negotiations with the Company over the last several months and have culminated in an agreement reached late on Friday, September 14, 2007.

As for the matter of job security for our members and their families, the Union was able to successfully negotiate with the Company to "cap" the number of term employees working on the "FiOS" initiative who may be utilized in the CSSCs throughout the Potomac Region and to convert employees hired as term employees to regular permanent status at the conclusion of 21 months instead of 30 months. In addition, the Company specifically acknowledges its obligation for notification as set forth in Article 6, Section 2 of the general agreement and further will provide written notifications to the Union in advance of hiring regular term employees

On Thursday, September 6, 2007, the Union and PIW met for their 5^th bargaining session. PIW presented the Union with a graphic explanation of their need to have more control of regulating staff reduction during low census periods.

The Union countered with a proposal for staff reduction which led to intense dialogue, and opposition from the PIW bargaining team which resulted in PIW abruptly walking away from the bargaining table.

The Union reminded the Company that their display was a classic example of bad faith bargaining which could possibly result in a labor charge being filed by the Union. However, after forceful correspondence by the Union, negotiations are now back on track, and the next bargaining session is scheduled for Thursday, September 27, 2007.