Message From CWA Vice President Ralph Maly In Solidarity With All Alcatel-Lucent Workers

Brothers and Sisters:

While I cannot be with at your demonstration, I join with you in complete solidarity and in opposition to the destructive strategy that Alcatel-Lucent is blindly pursuing. It is not only anti-worker and anti-community, it seems almost consciously designed to destroy the long-term prospects of the enterprise itself.

If you want to see Alcatel-Lucent’s future, you need look no farther than Lucent Technologies in the years prior to the merger. This once proud and mighty corporation single-mindedly pursued a “shrink to succeed” strategy that ultimately led it to the brink of failure and absorption by a key competitor, Alcatel. And now, many of the same “geniuses” who ruined Lucent have been given the opportunity to repeat their performance at the merged Alcatel-Lucent.

I can tell you from experience that the “Lucent way” is to engage in the obviously futile strategy of cost-cutting its way to profitability. Only the profits never materialized, even as factory after factory was sold, process after process was outsourced, and worker after worker lost his or her job. Lucent’s failed strategy of the past decade has been to completely exit manufacturing and become a “virtual” corporation – a strategy to manufacture nothing but simply orchestrate product design, outsourcing, marketing, and after-sales services.

Does this sound familiar? It is quite apparent that the merged Alcatel-Lucent has been thoroughly infected with this short-sighted strategy. For me, watching the initial evolution of Alcatel-Lucent is like living through a nightmare all over again: failure to make needed investments, weakening of critical R&D; capabilities, outsourcing increasing amounts of production to low-wage countries, ever growing lists of laid-off workers, and, yes, absurdly high executive pay and perks.

While you are well aware of Alcatel-Lucent’s announced plans in Europe, let me tell you what has been happening in North America since the merger was finalized in late 2006. Simply put, it has quickly emerged as a looming disaster for U.S. Lucent workers and threatens the effectiveness and continuity of work on key government contracts because of the company’s campaign to get rid of union-represented workers.

Alcatel-Lucent continues to seek government contracts at every level – local, state and national – but has stripped qualified workers of their security clearances and is seeking to get rid of its most experienced U.S. workers. This simply is not acceptable.

As a result of the merger, Alcatel Lucent in the United States now operates in three divisions – Lucent Technologies, Bell Labs and Alcatel US – and one wholly owned subsidiary – Lucent Government Services - created to meet conditions for merger established by a review of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States – CFIUS.

For national security reasons, work performed by Lucent Government Services, or Secure Lucent, is required to be performed by U.S. citizens with appropriate security clearances. Lucent transferred management personnel to the new subsidiary but refused to transfer any of the 65 union-represented workers to the group, despite their extensive background in military and government security work.

These workers have been unfairly stripped of their security clearances, as of Dec. 31, 2006. This means they can no longer work on government projects and contracts, despite their experience, their qualifications and their role in moving those projects forward.

The jobs of some 2,500 other union workers - who support Bell Labs initiatives or work on other government installation and maintenance projects - also are threatened.

After Alcatel-Lucent announced that 12,500 jobs worldwide would be eliminated, company executives met with European worker organizations but repeatedly refused to meet with unions representing U.S. workers.

Even after Alain Hurstel, secretary of the company’s European enterprise committee, directly intervened with president Pat Russo, Alcatel-Lucent completely refused to arrange a meeting between her and her management team on the one hand, and the representative of the company’s union employees in the United States.

Instead, Alcatel-Lucent’s response to Alain contained obvious lies, denying any anti-union bias and falsely asserting that it maintains “constructive relations” with its trade unions. Adding insult to injury, the company concluded its reply by saying that “there is no particular reason” for Russo and her team to meet with me, telling me to stay in the U.S. and meet with a manager who I know from experience has little authority and less imagination.

Finally, while Alcatel-Lucent has announced its intention to eliminate some 6,000 jobs in North America, it is hiring workers at its Longview, Tex., and Milpitas, Calif., locations, but refuses to allow U.S. workers likely to lose their jobs to transfer to these facilities!

We all have our own very specific concerns. But our ability to successfully resist the destructive strategy that Alcatel-Lucent is pursuing depends on united action and mutual support.

We at the Communications Workers of America stand with you in solidarity and we know that you will stand with us as well.