We just switched our phone company

Until today we had SBC for local and AT&T for long distance. We were getting screwed on all kinds of extra fees and when looking for a new company I came to this group and checked out some of the links in various threads.

According to both open secrets and the Blue site that AZDem posted, SBC gives 67% of their political contributions to republicans. I was so disgusted. Check this link for other phone companies:
http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/contrib.asp?Ind=B08

We switched to MCI for both local and long distance and told them the reason we chose them is because they donated a larger percentage to Democrats. I would have gone with Working Assets, which is 100% progressive and makes donations to good causes butit didn't seem that they had a local plan.

MCI said we don't have to call our old carrier but I kind of want to let SBC know that they've lost our business because of their overwhelming support for Repukes.

Anyway, I love this group. Thanks for all of the information!

calling

they also have kept all their marketing in the US (they have outsourced some customer service call centers to the Phillipines and to Canada tho)

Ebbers was a crook, but he did a hostile take over of MCI with WorldCom. the MCI founders are good guys

The also are giving all the troops overseas free long distance to call home over the holidays

you could do a lot worse.....

Yeah, we do a lot of long distance calling, so it will work out well financially as well as letting me sleep a teensy bit better at night. Screw SBC.

http://www.earthtones.com

Welcome to Earth Tones - The Environmental Internet and Phone Company!

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http://www.earthtones.com

I learned of Earthtones through DU recently, and I went to their website and changed my long distance service to them (aka Global Crossing). I just did this last week and I let them know I found them through DU.

to the InternetS in my area. I was going to look into it. I'm so sick of dial-up and the fact that I can't download and watch ANY of the stuff everyone else here at DU watches. I live in the boonies. It will be years before anyone else gets out this way.

Double WAAAAAA. lol?

MCI is union paranoid, not just anti-union. Both AT&T and SBC are union companies. Does anybody ever weigh this when they fly off the handle about the single issue of campaign contributions?

BTW: MCI is also the subsidiary of SEC fradsters Worldcom,, who have yet to pay back the billions they stole. I hope your happy.
:eyes:

now that the WorldCom crooks are out, the old management is coming back in. I notice a lot better corporate climate at my MCI site than the World Com days....

ATT & SBC have lots of wire they own and do use union guys for that. MCI doesn't have a large wire plant...

at the time of the merger here's what CWA said about WC

The CWA, which has 650,000 members, also claimed the merged company's pursuit of corporate customers could translate into the stifling of MCI's planned $1.5 billion investment in local networks. The union fears this, in turn, will fetter the growth of an estimated 75,000 jobs within the U.S. telecommunications industry.

WorldCom, which has been predicting that the FCC will approve its bid for MCI in the first quarter of 1998, was unavailable for comment. The European Union also is evaluating the planned merger.

they may not be in white hats, but they may surprise you in the next couple years.

and union busting. AT&T also was forced to build and GIVE MCI's network to them. Every success they have can be attributed to Ma Bell being forced to accomodate them. MCI also has the 2nd largest LD network in the US, 7th largest in the world, most of which they never paid to build. Same goes for Sprint's. They also have a large wireless network, and are a Bush contractor fo building a network in Iraq, something they have no experience in doing.

I'm not holding my breath on the union thing. They are well known for their anti-union activities.

May "not have white hats"??? They're dirty!

One has to choose the least of the evils here.

Did the original poster compare what the CWA represented employees of SBC & AT&T gave to Dems and subtracted that as an offset for the donations made from the corporate execs? I doubt it.

And as far as the lest of our evils are concerned, the luxury of voting with your pocketbook is moot when your getting starvation wages.

You speak as if I had prior knowledge of the union information. I obviously didn't. I made my decision based on the political donation information in this forum.

Maybe next time instead of making someone feel like shit you could state your position and seek to inform rather than insult. You'd be surprised how excited people can be to learn stuff like this if it isn't delivered in a nasty tone. Geez louise.

...that I thought you might have thought things completely through before you made up your mind. I see that I was wrong, and that you based your knee jerk decision on only one factor involved. I'll try not to be so gulllible next time.:eyes:

And I am happy with my decision. Any pause your information might have given me was overshadowed by the rudeness you delivered it with. Thanks but no thanks I guess. :shrug:

Look ma, I can do rolly eyes too! :eyes:

Want facts? You didn't have them. Think things through? You obviously didn't.

2004- AT&T No soft money was given.

Totals...

Repugs -$335,000
Dems -$309,000

CWA, who has a labor contract with AT&T and none with MCI...$22,600,000 100% Dems.

Added out AT&T Execs and employees to Dems...$22,909,000 ...remember, unionized companies (which is what I've been saying all along) copmtributions are separated by what their unions contribute. You don't have an accurate reading by using only the comapny, because all you get is what only company execs give, not the rest of the employee pool.

EDIT: actually my precentage calculations were wrong. It's actually 77% both AT&T and CWA.
AT&T Final tally...68% Dems. 32% Repugs.

From your link, MCI gave 46% to Repugs, a higher percentage and less money overall to Dems.

AT&T phone technicians average... $27 an hour. MCI average tech pay...$14. If you are happy with your decision, then you deserve the rudeness which wasn't given to you in the first place. You might as well shop at Wal-Mart, since you enjoy this race to the bottom.

Do you have one of those "I don't play well with others" shirts? ;)

Thank you for your stats though. I will consider them, if you consider your tone.

-K

What are you talking about? I've been responding in kind. I'm trying to protect the last dying vestiges of collective bargaining, workplace equality and liveable wages, and you just undermined that effort by switching to a union-busting company (who, if you noticed had plenty of hidden fees on their bills as well). While we're talking hyperbole, what you did is a slap in the face of every union member who brought you the weekend off! I think I have right to be pissed.

doesn't help you win people over then I don't know how to help you.

Do you go regulary insult people for not havinig the same information as you while at the same time hoping they'll consider the information you have?

I think you made a big mistake by switching to Worldcom, and I voiced that opinion. You have yet to point out anything rude I said. I will not apologize for your thin skin. You chose to make a political statement with your choice, and if you can't understand the consequences of that choice when it relates to the big picture, then blaming me for being mouthy isn't going to make you feel any better.

You said you research thoroughly before you went with Worldcom, so how did you NOT have the same information as me?

and your continued attempts to argue. Thin skin is something I've never been accused of before. :) I wonder if you can say the same thing about your tone?

I've taken your information into account, and thank you for it, but it's tempered with the attitude you delivered it in. :shrug:

I'm through arguing with you in a public forum. PM me if you want any further response, though I doubt that's necessary.

cheers,

K

:D

Did cwa go there when cingular was bought?

is in negotiations to buy AT&T (hahahahah, that's irony for ya) and SWB is a union shop. :shrug:

after being a dick to the starter of this thread. I agree, we need better criteria then political contributions to support or oppose business.

You seem to be confusing me with Touchdown.

Sorry! :hi: LOL

Really, my bad...

I'm much nicer in person...

a thread about this very subject that NOBODY has bothered to touch or respond to, then it's pretty obvious that it's not my tone that mattered in here, but the wrench I threw into the poster's works, as she was looking for kudos and pats on the back for her oh' so knowledgeable choice, based SOLELY on political contributions of the upper management. It's either disagreements, or mutual masturbation here. By the responses on my other thread (none), I can really tell people don't have their hearts into making reasoned decisions in this. You just want simple answers of "To buy, or not to buy".

You really haven't seen me be a dick.

I'd really like to know just what it was that I said that set her off...but I really think it's because I didn't polish her shoes for being such a good blue buyer. I have yet to recieve that answer.

Yeah, you WERE a dick. Your post, with the rude parts in bold.



You then proceded to get all snippy with the poster through the rest of the thread:

" ...that I thought you might have thought things completely through before you made up your mind. I see that I was wrong, and that you based your knee jerk decision on only one factor involved. I'll try not to be so gulllible next time."

"Want facts? You didn't have them. Think things through? You obviously didn't."

Sample post, less rude:


Your OP in the other thread is actually much less rude, and I would have responded to it, but you know, I already had read this thread, and I'd pretty much decided that I didn't want to.

Save it for the Republicans, please. We're all Dems in this room.

We are a national office of Communications Workers of America representing employees who work for AT&T....
http://www.cwa-comtech.org/

Cellular is a different business than long distance networks.

He follows us from thread to thread pointing out how much we're neglecting the union facet of anyone we boycott.

Touchdown, you WERE rude. And you ARE rude in every thread in which you berate the rest of us for trying to make a difference in our own way.

Just because someone is ignorant of a certain fact does not make them stupid. And your attitude is exactly why people are not responding to your snarky posts.

You can bitch about unions all you want, but you've already done damage to your "cause." No one is listening to you because we have been insulted by your tone and your remarks. Deal with it.

Glad you like the forum, Kipe. Too bad not everyone here is as civil and welcoming.

FSC

But the poster is right, SBC is a union company. Many people know it, apparently you didn't. So now you do. What you do with the info now is up to you. Don't let the poster be your only reason for a decision. If you want to see which companies are part of CWA, you can check here on their site http://www.cwa-union.org . I work for Cingular, which is part owned by them and also a union company. I don't believe there is any true blue national phone company. It is the other things which can give one an advantage over others. Things such as being part of a union and domestic partner benefits. I've worked for MCI too and neither of these are part of the company.

eom

I cancelled mine when AT&T said they were going to start a monthly fee. (It used to be free unless I actually made a call, and then I would be charged by the minute.) There's no need for it. If you have a cell, make all long distance calls on your cell, you're paying for those minutes anyway.

AT&T thought they were going to start charging $4.95 to do NOTHING just to be on my phone bill as my official long distance service. Mmm, don't think so. I notified my phone company, BellSouth, to cut them off, and they did so immediately.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

They donate to progressive causes such as get out the vote campaigns and the ACLU.

http://www.workingassets.com

TrueMajority, which has 400,000 members, is encouraging people thru their e-mail list to sign up with Working Assets. Unfortunately the WA credit card is thru MBNA.

I used to have it at my old apartment, and it was great. They donate some of your bill each month to progressive groups of your choice, and each month they select two legislators to whom you can make a free call each month. The calls are only like two or three minutes, but still...

(And the only reason I don't have them anymore is because my new roommate and I don't want/need long distance.)

when it comes to buying, I think I'm done now. It's so confusing, and all the info. that comes to us is either missing pieces (as far as contribution) or delivered to us in a nasty "tone." I'm trying to make good choices, but am afraid to post questions anymore because of responses like the ones given here. You want to convert people into making meaningful choices? Try a little honey and a lot of unity. Confusing people with conflicting information and insinuating that they are stupid or lazy when they don't have all the information is counter-productive and will only drive the beginners and/or the moderates away.

There are a lot of nice people in this group. :hi:

this is the only flame war I've seen in this forum

I try to make it easy. I look for "Made in America" or (just because I'm a bit contrary) "Made in France" and stay out of Walmart :evilgrin:

And ditto on the Wal-Mart hate!