Nebraska Senators pen letter to Nokia EVP demanding the company keep its commitment to provide health & life insurance to Omaha retirees

Today, a large group of Nebraska Senators penned a letter to Nokia Executive Vice President Ricky Corker urging the company to continue to provide health and life insurance to retirees at their now-closed Omaha telecommunications locations as Nokia continues to implement an ill-advised corporate restructuring that aims to eliminate the entire CWA bargaining unit.

The Senators who signed onto the letter include Matt Hansen (District 26), Steve Erdman (District 47), Carol Blood (District 3), Sara Howard (District 9), Kate Bolz (District 29), Megan Hunt (District 8), Machaela Cavanaugh (District 6), Robert Hilkemann (District 4), Sue Crawford (District 45), Rick Kolowsi (District 31), Wendy DeBoer (District 10), Steve Lathrop (District 12), John McCollister (District 20), Mike McDonnel (District 5), Adam Morfeld (District 46), Dan Quick (District 35), Tony Vargas (District 7), and Lynne Walz (District 15).

Over the past year, CWA has been battling with Nokia to prevent the company from laying off all of the bargaining unit members and replacing its installers with subcontractors. Nokia had refused to provide the CWA bargaining committee with the information they need to develop comprehensive responses to the company's proposals and has refused to bargain in good faith over layoffs and subcontracting. Nokia is now compelled by a settlement agreement reached with NLRB Board approval to provide the data.

“Our sisters and brothers at Nokia have carefully planned their lives around the company’s long standing commitments to provide them with the health and life care they need,” said Lisa Bolton, CWA-T&T Vice President. “We will continue to do whatever it takes to ensure that the people who have long contributed to Nokia’s success get a fair and equitable contract and continued retirement security. CWA members remain rock solid on holding Nokia accountable to the obligations it has made to its current and former employees.”

You can read the letter here. 

Links:

Nebraska Senators pen letter to Nokia EVP demanding the company keep its commitment to provide health & life insurance to Omaha retirees (CWA, Aug. 16, 2019)