Embarq to Lay Off Up to 700 Workers

From the Kansas City Business Journal...

...(Embarq), the Overland Park-based landline phone company (NYSE: EQ) also will eliminate about 300 contract workers, spokesman Charles Fleckenstein said Friday. The cuts — which the company attributes to competition, the economy and rising fuel costs — apply to network services employees throughout the 18 states where Embarq offers service.

Fleckenstein said the factors mean Embarq has to be diligent in managing its efficiency.

“To ensure the continued success of our enterprise, we are constantly evaluating the size and placement of our work force, including the way we staff and prioritize work,” he said. “This action helps rationalize the size of our work force relative to the size of our customer base.”...

That means we are a smaller company now, and we don't plan on needing this many workers again anytime soon. So "bye bye".

Read the entire story here: http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2008/08/18/daily33.html, or at any other site listed in the newsbox on the right.

Bill Esrey Tied To Countrywide Scandal

The August edition of Portfolio magazine has fingered former Sprint chief Bill Esrey as receiving sweetheart loans from Countrywide Financial. The article implies that these deals saved Esrey $24,000 while he was the CEO of Sprint.

Portfolio also noted that the communications firm was hooking up a data network for the mortgage lender at the time of the deals. This means that Esrey probably broke Sprint's Code of Conduct. Did Esrey know about the data sale that the marketing department had made? Should he?

To be honest with you, I see this as a non-story.

CEO's and board members from all types of companies get big discounts on services and goods that most workers would never dream of getting. Free autos, free cigars, unbilled hotel stays, etc.

Execs get free stuff. Get over it.

Read the story, courtesy of the Kansas City Star here: http://sprintconnection.kansascity.com/?q=node/704
Don't forget to read the juicy comments below the story. The paper's readers are pretty well informed.

Here is my opinion:

In the 70's Bill Esrey built United Telecom into a force that no one saw coming. He had UTI involved in the cable business, security systems, computer mainframes, premise wiring, logistics, cellular telephones twice, built the fiber network that would be the hallmark of Sprint, and launched PCS. None of these companies (save PCS) lost money. When he sold off a unit, he plowed the cash back into the company to continue its growth (buying CTT, FTC, etc.)

When Esrey was forced out, he was in the process of discovering that last mile. It was his holy grail. It would allow Sprint to be a true telephone/internet provider anywhere - not just in the heritage United/CT&T/FTC/Centel areas. The last mile would allow Sprint to get into any home or business nationwide without using the local telco.

He was pretty close to a breakthrough with point-to-point MDS (another day and I'll explain it to you).

Discoveries made on this quest eventually lead to patents that Sprint leases to others. Right now all cable TV companies must pay Sprint for the technology that allows telephone and high-speed internet over their old-fashioned coax cable networks. These patents came from the failed ION experiment of the late 90's. So it wasn't really a failure after all. It just worked really well over cable lines, and pretty much stunk over phone lines.

But when Gary Forsee came into power, the focus for Sprint was moved completely to PCS, the fiber network, and a merger with a competitor.

Bill Esrey would never consider losing his beloved land-line business, telephone directories, and research centers. But Forsee disposed of them - and the cash they were bringing.

It is hard to believe that Bill Esrey was fired for using a tax-shelter that the company's own financial consultants designed and pushed. Esrey didn't dream up this shelter. It was offered to him.

For what it's worth - All of Sprint's managers and many hourly employees were offered advice on what to do with bonuses, salary, and options. From the Central Office in New Bern to the Executive Office in Overland Park - you took the advice of your financial planner and assumed it was legal. It was a company benefit.

Bill Esrey was forced out of a company that he built and nurtured, with $1o million severance pay, and 18 months of various benefits. Nothing more. Even his stock options were worthless.

But in two short years running Sprint, Gary Forsee blew up the whole damn company, destroyed another healthy one (Nextel), and evaporated every one's 401K/retirement...

...for this he gets $40 million severance and a million dollars a year for the rest of his life.

I'm surprised his photo isn't beside the words stupid and greed in the online dictionary. I just checked. He's not there.

As for Esrey, he shouldn't have to deal with magazine articles like this anymore. Think what you will of the man, but he was a leader, a bean-counter, and a visionary. He demanded accountability from his employees and respect from his peers. Rare qualities for a rural telco CEO.

I wish him well.

Official Lawsuit Documents are Now Online

Sandals & Associates is the firm handling the largest retiree lawsuit against Embarq and Sprint Nextel. The group maintains an official website to keep everyone up-to-date on their progress. Anything concerning the lawsuit not publicized on this site is just rumours.

From the site's main page...

On this website, you can obtain answers to frequently asked questions about the case, review and download important documents, and get updates on the current status of the case. The website also provides information on how to communicate with the legal team representing the retirees and provide information that may be useful in the case.

A permanent link for this website has been added on the right-side column here at eq65. It is also here: http://www.embarqretireelawsuit.com/

Retiree: "It's either eat and have no insurance or have insurance and don't eat."

Embarq retiree Bob King of Ocala, FL was featured in a Wednesday, January 2nd news article referencing the plight of older retirees and their hope for success in the courts. The newspaper is the Ocala Star-Banner and the complete article is online here: http://www.ocala.com/article/20080102/NEWS/801020337/1001/NEWS01#

Mr. King made a good case for retirees in the article; Some of which are reprinted here on eq65:

Robert E. King, 77, is one of 10 named plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit against Embarq and Sprint Nextel for alleged violations of federal retirement law - specifically, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.

The plaintiffs seek class-action status to sue on behalf of approximately 13,000 retirees of regional and local phone companies in 15 states. The retirees worked for various companies that Sprint Nextel acquired over the years and then made subsidiaries of Embarq in May 2006.

Embarq was once Sprint-owned but is now a stand-alone, publicly traded company. It is the fourth-largest local phone carrier in the country with $6 billion in revenues each year, the suit says.

The suit focuses on Embarq's decision in July to cut off health insurance to all retirees who have reached age 65 and are Medicare-eligible. That change took effect Jan. 1. The company also is eliminating or reducing life insurance coverage for these older retirees.

"I am disappointed that it had to come to this, but Embarq and Sprint have left us no choice,"...

"And, I am angry because it is all about greed."

King worked in management for United Telecom of Florida, Sprint of Florida and other phone companies affiliated with Sprint from April 1959 until his retirement in 1993. He said the company's elimination of health insurance benefits means coverage that cost him and his wife $59 a month would now run them $400 a month.

"The sad part of it is there are people who are just barely getting by - old telephone operators and lower-level employees," King said. "I've always been in management, so I'm blessed, you might say. But some of these people are just getting by. They can't go out and get insurance. It's either eat and have no insurance or have insurance and don't eat."

King said following Embarq's move, his $13,000 life insurance policy is reduced to $10,000 and the $12,000 policy on his wife is eliminated.

...on the same day Embarq cut retirees' benefits, the company told shareholders that decision would save $20 million during the second half of 2007, would save $40 million on average each year and reduce long-term post-retirement benefit obligations by $301 million.

"They may say that it is for the benefit of the current employees, the stockholders, and the customers," King wrote in an e-mail to the Star-Banner. "But that is just not so. The money they plan to take from the older retirees who do not get cost-of-living increases and have only gotten one general increase in their retirement benefit in the last 13 years, will fund the ridiculously large bonuses of the CEOs."

The lawsuit also alleges that Sprint Nextel has a history of age discrimination...

WRAL: "...Sprint was in charge during most of the benefit plan's lifetime."

On January 2nd of this year (2008), WRAL-TV Raleigh, N.C. aired a feature story on the retiree lawsuit against Embarq and Sprint Nextel. Plaintiff attorney Alan Sandals verifies that Embarq is not the lone defendant in the lawsuit. Former corporate parent Sprint Nextel is also a being sued.

The story is no longer available online. Selected excerpts are printed below. Highlights were added by eq65 and were not found in the original article...

Ten former telephone company employees, most from North Carolina, have filed a class action lawsuit against landline company Embarq Corp. and its former wireless parent, Sprint Nextel Corp., over Embarq's decision this summer to reduce or withdraw some retiree benefits.

...

The federal lawsuit claims Embarq violated federal law protecting retirement benefits and seeks to have those benefits restored. Plaintiff attorneys estimated the class action would cover almost 13,000 former Embarq and Sprint workers.

Plaintiff William Games, a 67-year-old retiree from Camden, North Carolina, said he expects to pay about $2,000 more for health care this year.

"It sure is a lot of money for all the retirees," Games told the News & Observer of Raleigh in a story Tuesday. "You were promised all this stuff after 40-some years with the company, and all of a sudden - bam! - you don't have it any more."

...

The 10 plaintiffs, eight in North Carolina and two in Florida, worked for and retired from local telephone companies that were subsidiaries of then-Sprint Corp. Sprint spun off its local division to Embarq last year following its acquisition of Nextel Communications Inc.

In reporting its second-quarter earnings on July 26 of this year, Embarq said it would eliminate medical coverage and Medicare premium subsidies for Medicare-eligible retirees and dependents, effective January 1.

It also capped life insurance benefits through company-sponsored plans for qualified retirees to $10,000, effective January 1, and eliminated life insurance coverage for retirees receiving benefits through a subsidiary company plan, effective September 1.

The company said the changes would reduce post-retirement benefit expenses by $20 million for the rest of the year and save the company $30 million a year beginning in 2008.

In the lawsuit, which was filed Friday, the plaintiffs argue that the company violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or ERISA, by unlawfully revoking the long-standing benefit plan.

They also claimed that company officials told employees their benefits were protected for life and encouraged some of them to retire before changes to the plan occurred in 2001.

"If the benefits were not in fact secure from reduction or termination during retirement, then defendant Embarq and its predecessors in interest systematically misrepresented these benefits to plaintiffs and the members of the class," the suit says.

It includes Sprint in those allegations as Sprint was in charge during most of the benefit plan's lifetime.

"There's a legal question of whether you can ever get rid of the duty for benefits," said plaintiff attorney Alan Sandals. "If Embarq either doesn't want to or is incapable of honoring those benefits, Sprint is still liable."

The suit added that four of the plaintiffs have already filed charges of age discrimination against Embarq with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and they are still waiting for the agency to either take up their case or give the four the right to file suit themselves.

If the EEOC allows them to sue, they plan to add age discrimination to the class action lawsuit.

Embarq Retirees Feel Pinch, Fight Back: Health Benefits Cut Provokes Lawsuit

From the January 1st, Raleigh, N.C. News & Observer...

William Games, a 67-year old retiree in Camden, enters the new year expecting to pay about $2,000 more for health care.

As of today, the company where Games worked for 42 years has stopped providing supplemental Medicare coverage. The company, Embarq, also eliminated a $500 annual cash subsidy that had helped pay for medications.

Now Games and nine other retirees in North Carolina and Florida are suing Embarq to get their health benefits back. The phone company, formerly known as Sprint, eliminated free life insurance for retirees in September and is implementing the other cuts today to save about $30 million a year in operating expenses.

The retirees, who filed a lawsuit Friday seeking class action status on behalf of about 14,000 Embarq retirees in 18 states, say they were misled into believing they had benefits guaranteed for life.

"It sure is a lot of money for all the retirees," said Games, a former lineman and construction foreman. "You were promised all this stuff after 40-some years with the company, and all of a sudden -- bam! -- you don't have it any more."

Embarq is among a growing roster of companies cutting retiree benefits. Large employers with local operations that have made the unpopular cuts include Nortel Networks, Goodyear and Caterpillar.

Company policies usually include small print reserving the right to change benefits, said Raleigh employee benefits lawyer Steven Long.

But Stewart Fisher, a Durham labor lawyer who is representing the Embarq retirees, says the phone workers have a strong case because the company systematically misled its workers into believing the retiree benefits were permanent. As a result, Fisher said, some workers took early retirement to lock in benefits, and many accepted lower salaries in exchange for lifetime benefits.

See the entire story here,http://www.insurancenewsnet.com/article.asp?a=top_lh&neID=200801011180.3.167_1ac7000000b1673c, courtesy of Thomson Business Intelligence Service.

And We're Back. How Have You Been?

Eight months without updating eq65 is just about to kill me. So effective today...

eq65.com Is Back !

The site has been on hiatus since January 1st for one reason, and one reason only.
So let's get these false rumours out of the way...

1. No one paid me to shut up.
2. Google did not threaten to banish the site.
3. And lawyers haven't sent me anything to scare me off.

The answer for the eight month hiatus is simple. eq65 took a vacation when the retiree lawsuits began working through the courts.

Computers traced to Embarq corporate offices were combing over this site en masse daily to download articles and opinions gathered here.

The volume of downloads was overwhelming. With all of the stuff they copied from here, Embarq attorneys could formulate arguments against retiree opinions and facts.

Using eq65, Embarq officials were finding ways to use our own words against us.

In other words, eq65 appeared to become a reference book to the defense. We were showing them all our cards before we even had a chance to see the judge. Evidence of this was sent to me via email numerous times. It is simply the way big corporations work when faced with lawsuits.

So, with the return of eq65, I expect to continue referencing news articles and other opinions found on the web. But I have to bite my tongue and hold off on some items that I have been sitting on for months.

We can't give our case away. But we can't let eq65 die, either.

Welcome to 2008...

Today marks another sad day for many Embarq/Sprint retirees. Just last year the company took most its retirees' life insurance back, and today many retirees just lost their company sponsored medical plans.

But there is still hope. The class action lawsuits against the companies are underway. This is an ELECTION year and politicians are looking for issues. Competition is eating away at Embarq and its retirees are no longer its community cheerleaders.

Things may change.

eq65 has compiled a new action plan based on your input. Look for it here in a few days.

And be sure to check the news box on the right. Our cause is in the news again. We won't let this company forget its promises.

Hesse to Leave Embarq. Gerke to Lead Company.

BREAKING NEWS...

Dan Hesse is leaving immediately for the CEO post at SprintNEXTEL. Embarq announces Tom Gerke as its Interim CEO and William Owens as Chairman of the Board

For the latest news on this breaking story, click on the news links in the column on the right side of eq65.

Another Sunday Newspaper Feature: Benefit Cuts Stun Embarq Retirees

From the Southern Pines, N.C. Pilot...

When Helen Kaylor received a letter last summer from Embarq, she didn't want to open it. "I got the letter and it read, 'Important Benefits Informa-tion; Open Immediately,'" Kaylor said. When she opened it she learned that Embarq, the parent company of her former employer, which was known as Carolina Telephone and Telegraph when she worked here, was taking away medical benefits for all Medicare-eligible retirees effective Jan. 1, 2008.

"I couldn't believe it," Kaylor said.

Embarq will alsodrop its $500 annual subsidy for Medicare premiums, as well as coverage that pays partial costs when Medicare payments are below 80 percent of treatment expenses. The company also is capping life insurance for retirees at $10,000. According to some sources, the cuts are expected to affect 14,500 retirees and their spouses.

In a letter sent to the affected retirees, the company said: "Recent developments in the Medicare marketplace make it more practical and efficient for Medicare-eligible individuals to purchase medical coverage directly through a national carrier or one of the many companies who specialize in the Medicare market than for EMBARQ to provide this coverage."

A spokesperson for Embarq reiterated that statement in a interview.

"The bottom line is to stay competitive," said Tom Matthews, a regional medical relations manager for Embarq." He didn't elaborate.

Kaylor is one of the many retirees affected by the decision that Embarq representatives say will save the company $30 million.

The Embarq Operating Companies are telephone companies owned by Embarq that serve the regions in 18 states formerly served by Sprint, United Telecommunications, and Centel. The company has about 20,000 current employees.

Read the entire story, here...http://www.thepilot.com/stories/20071216/news/local/20071216benefitcuts.html

Letter to eq65: "...retirees have a tremendous impact in the service area."

From a Sprint Retiree...

It seems that since Embarq announced that they would stop providing medical benefits to their retirees that are Medicare Eligible, and reducing the life insurance for all, that their stock has taken a dive from the 60's dollar range to the 40's. I wonder if they have noticed this.

When I first came to work for the company I was told to keep the customers happy. They were really the ones providing my check. One satisfied customer can bring you 4 or 5 customers, but one dissatisfied customer can cost you 15 - 20 customers. Customer satisfaction was our #1 goal.

Yes, we are retired, but the retirees have a tremendous impact in the service area. We have worked in the area for years and know the people and they know us. We earned the customer's respect and that respect translated into respect for the company. We have boosted the company's image to our customers. Now the customers are hearing a different story from us. Now Embarq has a difficult time understanding that customers see what they are doing to us. It affects the respect and confidence that the customers have for Embarq.

Their money hungry attitude is seen by the customers as not only a untrustworthy attitude towards retirees that were faithful to them for their entire careers, but also a untrustworthy attitude towards the customers. When Embarq tries to draw customers with great promises, the customers look at the promises that they made to their retired employees and wonder, "Can I trust them?" The retirees that are struggling with their cut in benefits certainly are not going to tell anyone to trust Embarq anymore!!!

So rather than seeing Embarq as a community oriented business, they see it now as a group of money grabbing scoundrels that can not be trusted when they make promises. Not only in their promises to their retirees but as a company that the customers can not trust to keep its promises to them. That is part of the reason that they are loosing customers in such vast numbers.

The decrease in customers is also translating into a decrease in dividends to the stockholders, which Embarq say is part of the reason that they are taking these benefits from Retirees.

Maybe someone in the decision making branch of the company will wake up and smell the coffee.

Union Has a Good Case Against Embarq

From the CWA National Website...

CWA Charges Embarq's Slashing of Retiree Health Care is Illegal
November 8, 2007

CWA this week filed unfair labor practice charges with the NLRB against Embarq, contending the company's announced plan to slash retiree health benefits for future as well as current retirees is a unilateral change that ignores its obligation to bargain with the union.

The company earlier announced that it would drop retiree health benefits entirely for employees hired or rehired after Jan. 1, 2008, and further, that it was cutting health care for current retirees who are Medicare-eligible, as well as capping their life insurance at $10,000. The latter cuts average $2,000 per year for each of the 14,500 retirees and dependents affected, both management and union.

The initial charges were filed in Tennessee and North Carolina and further charges will be filed in 11 other states where CWA represents Embarq workers. The company was created last year as the spinoff of Sprint's local phone operations.

Embarq Trades at 52 Week Low: 49.31

July 26th, 2007 was the day Embarq dropped the bomb that it was breaking its promises to its retirees. EQ stock was trading at $61 per share. Yesterday it hit a new 1 year low: $49.31

Click the chart above to enlarge it.

While Embarq's executives continue trumpeting innovation and a renewed emphasis on service, Wall Street apparently sees things a little differently. The true story of Embarq is continued union unrest, angry retirees, misleading advertising, businesses that refuse to return from competition, and poor morale company-wide.

Workers in KC are stressed beyond belief.

The old Sprint mentality lingers at this company as well.

CEO Dan Hesse, said this to investors during the Q3 call:

"We have been focusing first and foremost on finding ways to decrease what we call bad load; for example, customers who call because they can't understand their bill which requires an EMBARQ service rep to spend time on the phone explaining that bill or customers who call with a service problem which requires us to dispatch a technician to their home or to their business."

What?!

Customers who need service from this company are classified as bad load?

To see what happens when a company puts profits ahead of customers, one need look no further than Sprint. KC brass decided to no longer delight customers, and went for profits above everything else. And today Sprint traded at a 52 week low as well: $14.67 Sprint is the ideal company to study in management schools today. Profits above service = disaster.

Embarq executives need to delight customers, empower employees, and keep promises to retirees. All three groups wield a big influence in the company's dial-tone areas. Until Embarq brings back simple honesty and integrity, profits will continue to slide.

No one wants to do business with robber-barons. And as the telco continues losing market-share like this, investors will continue avoiding EQ.

'A slap in the face': Embarq retirees latest to feel benefits squeeze

Another weekend, and another Sunday feature story on Embarq's need to 'fleece the elderly for profit'.

When these news stories appear in a Sunday edition the readership is greatly increased. Plus, the Sunday paper usually lays around many homes for days at a time. This greatly enhances the story's exposure.

Thank you, Northwest Florida Daily News, for reporting our story.

Printed below are the first several paragraphs of the article. Again, for legal reasons, eq65 cannot reproduce the entire story.

For nearly 15 years, Embarq retiree James Kimbrell has enjoyed a generous retirement package. The medical and life insurance benefits have brought him peace of mind and helped pay for medications, doctor's visits and cancer treatments for his late wife, Ann. Kimbrell never imagined he could lose them, but that's exactly what will happen Jan. 1. Embarq, formerly Sprint, is eliminating medical benefits for all retirees and capping life insurance benefits at $10,000.

"It's a slap in the face," said Kimbrell, who worked for the companies that eventually became Embarq for a total of 39 years. "They were promised to me."

Crestview resident J.R. Clay, who worked 32 years at Centel and Sprint, agrees and has raised the idea of filing a class-action lawsuit. He has organized meetings for local retirees affected by the cuts.

"Every retiree was told that he would have this health insurance for the rest of his life," Clay said.

Click here for the entire story...
http://www.sprint-embarqretirees.org/News_Release/Northwest_Florida.htm

A New Web Address To Bookmark...

A new web site targeting Embarq/Sprint retirees debuted today.

It's at http://www.sprint-embarqretirees.org/ and promises to keep an entire nation of telco retirees informed and involved.

If retirees from the Bell companies can have retirement sites, then why can't we? So far there is nothing on the internet like it for Embarq retirees. Our telco veterans really need a place to point their browsers for retiree news, reunions, marriages, etc. So this is a promising development.

The site is in its infancy today, but look for it to grow in the coming months.

Welcome to the web, sprint-embarqretirees.org !

And as for this site...

eq65 remains singularly focused on Embarq's theft of retiree benefits. Continue visiting eq65.com for newsclips, opinions, web-links, activism and education.

You deserved better from Embarq's leadership.

And eq65 is doing the best that it legally can to help you during retirement.

Thanks for reading!

Unholy Alliance Fleeces Social Security Recipients

From Laura Rowley's column,

Money & Happiness

(as posted at Yahoo! Finance)

Virginia grandmother Ruby Fauntleroy, 74, knew something was wrong when her rent payment bounced shortly after her Social Security check had been direct-deposited into her bank account.

Fauntleroy went to the bank, where a teller told her that the account was frozen following notice of a court judgment and garnishment order by Capital One. Fauntleroy had been trying to pay off this $4,000 credit card debt for years, but dropped her monthly payment to $100 after her husband died and her income declined. Capital One sued, and won a judgment.

"I was just numb, I couldn't believe this could happen," said Fauntleroy. "I told the bank, 'You know nobody is supposed to take a government check,' but they did. I couldn't sleep at night, I couldn't eat. I thought, why are they doing this to me when I was trying to pay [my debt]?"

Read the rest of the article here...
http://finance.yahoo.com/print/expert/article/moneyhappy/53832

A quick summary of the column...

If you are retired, and having problems keeping up with credit card debt, it may be best to have your Social Security check mailed to a post office box. Otherwise, you may find your money in the hands of someone else. This practice is illegal. But apparently it is a growing problem.

Retiree Meeting Planned In Ocala

Embarq Retirees have scheduled a meeting at the Ocala library on Saturday, November 17 at 10 a.m. in Conference Room C. Discussion will be focused on litigation, insurance planning, and progress so far.

The Sprint / Florida Telephone Company Retirees website is at http://www.sflltdretiree.com/

Are Minorities The Hardest Hit By This Theft?

Earlier today your eq65 editor spoke with a former Embarq central office technician about the way minorities were treated at CT&T before Affirmative Action hiring and promotion practices.

Basically we wondered why a black man always seemed to be assigned to cleaning buildings and lifting heavy things. Suddenly, we both realized that many minority families will be hit especially hard by Embarq's theft of life insurance, removal of medical benefits , and even the removal of the corporate-matching program.

Years of doing the hard work, with much less pay, was to be rewarded these workers at their retirement. The pensions at retirement would be smaller in comparison to other retirees, but the medical and life insurance would make years of cleaning offices worth it.

The man I spoke with today remembered hearing something telling from the janitor. In essence, "My supervisor can't pay me a lot, my raises are small, but at 65 I'll be sitting pretty!"

He never thought of leaving for better pay, I guess.

I know that many African-Americans are executives at Embarq today. But that wasn't always the case. Ask around.

Years of unequal pay makes minority retirees particularly insecure today, because they are less likely to have disposable income to pay for health care. And without meaningful life insurance, they are not afforded a decent funeral. The sad thing is - they held on to those promises through years of assurance - only to see them stolen today - and when they need help the most.

So tonight I'm praying for the minority families affected by Ned Holland's decision. He's a greedy man. And I'm not about to let this go on without writing about it here.

Bucking A Trend; Embarq CEO Invests $1/4 Million in Company

Dan Hesse, the chairman, president and CEO of Embarq bought 5,000 shares of common stock this past Monday. The shares were purchased at $50 a piece. This means that Hesse invested $250,000 into Embarq sans options.

That's the old fashioned way managers and executives invested in their companies prior to the arrival of the 'stock option'.

eq65 salutes Mr. Hesse for adding to - not taking from - Embarq's coffers.

Now if he could only right the wrongs done to the company's retirees!

NC AARP: The AARP Medicare Advantage Plan Is Not Really an AARP Product

According to a story from this week's Raleigh News & Observer, the state office of the AARP warns retirees that the national organization has leased its name to other companies. In turn there is no AARP oversight of the plan or its customer service. Read the story here...
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/v-print/story/769501.html

AP: Changes Ahead For Medicare Drug Program

Associated Press writer Kevin Freking has discovered a large disparity among Medicare Part D drug plans. On the low end, some monthly premiums are as low as $10. Enhanced plans can cost as much as $108.

With Medicare open enrolment starting tomorrow and running through December 31st, it pays to shop around for the best policy.

Read the entire A.P. article here, courtesy of the Raleigh, N.C. News & Observer...
http://www.newsobserver.com/2187/v-print/story/759235.html

Letter to eq65: Options Are Welfare For Executives Paid by Workers

A frequent reader sent this to eq65 today. His point is valid and I really can't think of much to add. Except this: When an officer exercises an option, the money to pay him(her) comes right out of the corporation's cash profits. As the business shrinks, Embarq's board keeps granting these insane stock options to executives while those same executives steal benefits from the company's oldest retirees.

It smacks of executive greed, and lax board oversight.
I don't like it.

Here's the reader's note...

For companies not growing a customer base, I view stock options to officers and management as a form of welfare. These people already make too much in salary and perks; consequently, nothing can be done to lower prices and stop the bleeding or win back former customers. Emphasis is placed on layoffs, worker benefit cuts, and picking on those whose income is fixed so Wall Street can be placated.

Yet since near June, EQ stock has lost $15 per share.

Embarq has many problems that existing officers are not equipped to fix. Yet, go to this link and see all the selling among these 6 officers. Total sales of more than $25 million. And the site does not list sales less than $500,000
http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/invsub/insider/trans.asp?Symbol=EQ

If the site is unreachable, here is the data...
Date======Name=============Transaction=Shares==Price(s)=Value===
11/05/07.....HOLLAND E J JR.............Sold.............27,408...$53.38....$1.46 Mil
07/30/07 ...CAMPBELL HARRISON...Sold..............34,752...$61.72....$2.14 Mil
05/07/07 ...HOLLAND E J JR.............Sold..............37,307...$62.79...$2.34 Mil
05/07/07 ...MCEVOY THOMAS J........Sold..............23,794...$62.85...$1.50 Mil
05/02/07 ...CHEEK WILLIAM E..........Sold.............61,285....$59.96...$3.67 Mil
05/01/07 ...BETTS GENE M.................Sold..............10,186...$60.00...$611,227
05/01/07 ...GERKE THOMAS A...........Sold............125,477...$59.86...$7.51 Mil
02/28/07 ...BETTS GENE M.................Sold............103,395...$55.80...$5.77 Mil
02/28/07 ...GERKE THOMAS A...........Sold...............22,124...$55.48...$1.23 Mil

Follow-Up: Options Sold As Part of Divorce Settlement

A frequent reader did some research on the previous story posted here at eq65 (see below) concerning Embarq's Senior V.P. of Human Resources and his recent stock sell-off. Here's what he found...

According to the SEC filing, Ned Holland was forced to cash in half of his options due to a divorce settlement. Read the Form 4 filing here...
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1350031/000118143107067274/xslF345/rrd177505.xml

From the notes on the Form 4: "Mr. Holland exercised 50% of his vested in-the-money options and sold the underlying shares pursuant to a property settlement agreement with his former spouse."

Mr. Holland did not include any explanations with his May 2007 exercise, seen here...
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1350031/000118143107030607/xslF345/rrd157635.xml
One can assume that this sale was also a part of the settlement.

So if you have been wondering whether Mr. Holland is on his way out the door, then put those thoughts aside. It looks like he will be at Embarq for a while longer - and greedier than ever.

His 'ex' gets half!

Ned Holland Cashes In More Stock Options

E.J. 'Ned' Holland cashed-in a lot of Embarq management stock options this week. The gross sale was $1,463,039 It is hard to figure the exact profit made with the sale, because the options were purchased for amounts between $15.37 and $33.86 per share. He sold 27,408 shares at $53.38

If you do the math on the numbers, he netted somewhere between $1/2 million to $1 million.

So why would a Senior VP at Embarq unload these valuable options now?

Only three reasons come to mind:

• First - He really needs some cash right now. Maybe he has some personal debt that he wants to pay off, like a court settlement. Or maybe he wants to finish making payments on some real estate. He may want a building named after himself at a college, so he could have cashed-in for charity. He may even want to fund a study on Medicare and retirees! But whatever he wants to do with the proceeds, he needs the cash NOW.


• Second - Mr. Holland may want to shift some of his assets to a retirement account or another investment - one that offers a better return than EQ stock.


• Third - He may think that 53.38 is as high as EQ will trade for awhile, so he cashed-in while he could. If that's what he thinks - then Ned Holland is the wrong man for the job of Senior VP of Human Resources.

Please understand that stock options are not 'Free Money'. Any sale directly affects a company's bottom line. For more info, see Employee Stock Option and Insider Trading at Wikipedia...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employee_stock_option
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insider_trading

He also cashed-in earlier this year. See...http://biz.yahoo.com/t/62/7073.html

The cash going to Mr. Holland this week comes right out of the expense budget at Embarq, just like your stolen benefits would, and decreased life insurance. That means he gets money that was supposed to go to you.

So while Mr. Holland belittles Embarq's retirees, raises premiums on those with jobs, and steals life insurance plans from their families, (all while screaming, "Competition! Competition! Competition!") - Isn't it nice to know that he, Ned Holland, the man that pulled the trigger, took home all that cash this week?

What a nice guy.

Please Visit the Association Of BellTel Retirees

Please visit the Association of BellTel Retirees... http://www.belltelretirees.org/

They run ProtectSeniors.org and have been very helpful to all retired Americans, not just former workers of Ma Bell.


From the site's main page...

When HR1322 becomes law, it will guarantee continuance of your subsidized healthcare and give back money and services previously taken away. Part of our current objective, and it should be yours too, is to educate Congress and the Main Stream Media to the fact that removal of this "earned" benefit from retirees, constitutes a multi-billion dollar theft by corporate America. A theft of not a "promised gift," but an earned benefit no different than your pension! Yes, one which retirees EARNED by working 20, 30 or 40 years or more at less pay and fewer vacation days than we could have earned elsewhere.

Never allow any Radio/TV commentator or other news media person get away with saying something like this: "Corporate retirees are lucky their company still offers this gift." Or "Corporation X can't afford this benevolent "welfare" benefit for retirees anymore."

You, as a retiree, earned your healthcare benefit! It is not a gift! Call or write the offending media source and give them the facts. Tell them, how every year you worked, you were given an update of what your healthcare and other benefits in retirement were worth. During all your years of service you were constantly reminded by upper level management that your retirement benefits package was a real sweet deal. They always pulled this out when you were considering quitting. After all, it was a known fact at all levels of the Corporation, that this company would always take care of their retirees... How things have changed.

Please tell a friend who is retired from any US corporation or about to be retired about ProtectSeniors.Org It is not just for Bell or Verizon folks, it is for all seniors who have healthcare insurance subsidized by their former company. Refer them to the ProtectSeniors.Org website.

A permanent link for the Association of BellTel Retirees has been added to the right-side column here at eq65.

12 Things That All Embarq Retirees Must Do...

Your eq65 editor has been tossing these items around on the hard drive for months. They come from readers and random notes written on scratch paper beside my keyboard.

eq65 is not set up to give orders, recommendations, or warnings. You come here for news, education, and opinion. But today is the day for a change. eq65 is posting the 12 things that Embarq retirees must do as January 1st approaches.

Email the site if you want to add an item, or if you disagree with one.

Here are the 12 items...

1)Get Involved Locally
Networking with other retirees is the best way to learn about potential legal action and alternative benefit plans. If no local retiree group meets near you, considering forming a new group with others nearby. The local meetings are what started the fight for action, and they continue to be the best source for accurate information.

2)Contact Elderly Retirees
The way that Embarq presented its benefit theft in the mail was classic PR double-talk.

The staff that designed the mailings and retiree web page should go to work for the Internal Revenue Service. Can you imagine the audit notices that they would send? It would say, "Congratulations! You have been randomly selected for our free accounting service! We at the IRS are ready to help. Please call the number below today so that we can set up your free session!"

The point here is simple. A lot of older retirees think that this is a wonderful thing that is about to occur on January 1st. "The letter said so!" They have been discarding the Aetna mailings because they don't want to change away from what they have right now. They just do not understand that their benefits are going away. Please find these elderly people and inform them about what Embarq is really doing.

3)Watch Out For Swindlers
Insurance agencies (good ones and bad ones) are starting to advertise in many newspapers with ads targeted directly to Embarq retirees. Most of these ads do not have the insurance company's name included. You may think that the upcoming meeting publicized in the paper is a retiree function. But it may be an insurance pitch, retirement scam, or pyramid scheme. Don't be taken by the crooks. They know that Embarq retirees are now in a pinch - and they smell money. Please be careful!

4)Write Your Local Newspaper
Letters to the editor are a great way to get the story out. Editors sometimes choose to follow-up these letters with their own stories or editorials.

5)Contact Your State and Federal Legislators
Postcards are really inexpensive. Emails are free. Let everyone in power know your story. When contacting your U.S. House Member, be sure to tell them to support House Bill HR1322.

6)Join The Legal Fight
Don't worry about potential cost at this point. Just fill out the interest form and be heard. Write out your hardships. If money becomes an issue later in the legal fight, it appears that financial help may be available.

7)Tell Your Story To Everyone
Word-of-mouth is powerful. Tell your beautician, pastor, doctor, mechanic, brothers, sisters, and grandchildren. This is a theft of your earned benefits by a corporation that rakes in over a billion dollars every three months. Let everyone share your anger. Embarq is NOT a communications company that honors its commitments.

8)Don't Change Your Story Due To Coercion
You paid a price to build Embarq. You gave away your youth for a promise of financial and medical assistance when you were older. Don't let anyone tell you anything differently. The phrase "I was lead to believe, that when I retired..." is what Embarq's legal machine wants you to say. Don't EVER say that. Instead, tell it like it is! Say, "I was told, that when I retired...". See the difference? A jury will.

9)Maintain Your Integrity
Words that you say, or type, should be honest and heartfelt. Anger and sarcasm is O.K. at times. But by all means - never lie. Honor your fellow retirees. Don't make up stories or spread rumour. Be bigger than Embarq's PR people - have integrity.

10)Stay Informed
Don't become so discouraged with Embarq that you ignore the coming change. Go to meetings. Read all of your Embarq mailings. Check Google or Yahoo News for 'Embarq'. Visit protectseniors.com, union sites, and eq65.com

11)Don't Buy Into Rumour
Embarq's executives would love for you to think that your pension will vanish if your benefits are restored. Or that the company is so close to bankruptcy right now, that any legal action would result in worthless stock and pensions. Don't be taken in by rumours. Embarq is healthy. And they want most of your earned benefits back to grow the company - and executive pay.

12)Plan For The Worst
Finally, look for good insurance/medicare plans. They are available, but not free. Your local lunch club is a great place to discuss the options.

KC Star: Embarq to cut about 1,000 jobs by end of year

Embarq's executives say they are continuing to benchmark the company against its competitors in the cable and wireless business. They are also studying companies similar to Embarq, such as Windstream and CenturyTel. This apparently is leading to another round of layoffs.

With news of continued firings, labor unrest, and retiree theft, it appears that Embarq's leadership no longer wants the company to be an industry leader. Nor do they want to be a community leader. (Except for in KC where the brass gets their hair done.) Touted innovation appears to be cheap tricks with recurring monthly billing of $7 or more.

Instead, when you think of the nightmare that is your local cable company - you can begin to lump Embarq right in there with them. It's easy to imagine the new shrunken Embarq with the same awful level of commitment to customers, retirees, and workers. And of course, your bills will be higher every year.

Are they also benchmarking executive salaries, golden parachutes, and lawsuits? Let's get on that right away!

eq65 will have a follow-up story on this next week. Sources are being verified.

From this morning's Kansas City Star...

Embarq Corp. is cutting about 1,000 jobs as it relies on streamlining and more aggressive marketing to counter a soft economy and cutthroat competition.

The Overland Park-based company, which employs about 19,000 workers overall and 4,500 in the region, did not break out where it would reduce the positions of employees and contractors by the end of the year.

The news comes as Embarq, which was spun off from Sprint Nextel Corp. in 2006, issued a third-quarter financial report that showed continued pressure on profits and further erosion of the 6.5 million phone lines it serves across portions of 18 states.

“We can streamline our operations considerably,” said Dan Hesse, Embarq’s chairman and chief executive officer.

Read the entire article here...

http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/343488.html

KC Star: Former Sprint and Embarq Workers Speak Out

Workspace is a weblog, or blog, from the Kansas City Star's Diane Stafford. She has compiled quite a few comments from Sprint and Embarq retirees that wrote to the paper after Gary Forsee took his golden parachute. Click here to see the blog post... http://workspacekc.typepad.com/workspace_by_diane_staffo/2007/10/former-sprint-a.html

Law Firm To Represent ALL Affected Embarq Retirees

The Sandals Law Firm is interested in working with all Embarq retirees nationwide, except those from the CT&T group. Due to some complications with CT&T's VEBA, another group has elected to handle CT&T retirees separately.

There is a form on the Sprint Florida Retiree site...
http://www.sflltdretiree.com/Client_Form/embarqclientForm.doc

This form is not a financial commitment, but a show of interest.
Anyone who signs and returns it will have an opportunity to bow out later.

Fill out the form and email/fax/mail it to...
Alan M Sandals
SANDALS & ASSOCIATES, P.C.
One South Broad St.
Suite 1850
Philadelphia, PA 19107
ph 215-825-4005
Fax 215-825-4001
email: asandals@sandalslaw.com

From the Florida site...
Mr. Sandals has interest in representing us but feels and is encouraging us to reach out to everyone across the country and get them involved. If anyone knows of anyone in other areas they should spread the word.

Anyone wanting to review the credentials for this firm can go to their website at http://www.sandalslaw.com/.

EEOC Vs. AARP Ruling: Another blow to retirees' subsidized healthcare

Reprinted Article from Aging News Report via ProtectSeniors.org

A new ruling continues allowing healthy corporations to break written promises of benefits to Medicare-eligible retirees.

Life insurance changes are not addressed in this order.

The 3rd U.S. Circuit of Appeals in Philadelphia gives the go-ahead to the Equal Employment OpportunityCommission (EEOC) to finalize its proposed rule to permit employers to reduce health benefits when employees or retirees become eligible for Medicare or a state health plan.

AARP, which sued to block the rule in 2005, will ask the Supreme Court to overturn the June 4 ruling by the 3rd Circuit in favor of the EEOC. AARP asked the 3rd Circuit to keep an injunction barring implementation of the ruling in effect until the Supreme Court acts, but the request was denied Sept. 13 and the EEOC sent the proposed final rule to the Office of Management & Budget for review five days later. AARP also asked Supreme Court Justice David Souter, who has jurisdiction over the 3rd Circuit, to restore the injunction but AARP is notified Sept. 19 its request was denied.

Implementation of the regulation will remove senior citizens from the protection of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) with regard to age-based reductions or terminations of their health insurance, says Laurie McCann, senior attorney for AARP. “These individuals are at significant risk of being saddled with an often enormous financial burden that employer-provided health insurance previously deflected,” she tells ANA. “This will happen at a point in their lives when they are not in a position to commence saving strategies to help meet those costs or seek employment to secure alternative coverage.”

EEOC says the exemptions will make it possible for employers to continue to offer some health coverage to retirees because of the lower costs from making Medicare-eligible employees depend on it for some of their care. McCann says current law does not require employers to duplicate what Medicare provides. McCann asserts the regulation will permit employers to provide benefits to pre-65 employees and nothing to post-65 employees.

The EEOC regulation, which was initially proposed July 14, 2003, would exempt employers from the age discrimination provisions of the ADEA for reducing healthcare coverage for some seniors (those over 65). Initially, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ruled in favor of AARP in March 2005. But that court reversed itself later that year in the wake of a Supreme Court decision that strengthened federal agencies’ authority to interpret statutes.

Unlike pension benefits, health benefits do not vest (become guaranteed) and some employers have reduced or eliminated them. Courts have looked to the specific contracts to determine whether the employers’ action were lawful.

ProtectSeniors.org Note: This gives corporations right to remove your healthcare subsidy if over 65. The only recourse is to pass HR1322 which would guarantee these benefits as a contractual obligation of Corporations that can not be taken away. See if your member of Congress supports HR1322. Click here to go to the page of Cosponsors If he or she is not there go to top of page and enter your zip code into block under "WRITE TO CONGRESS" and you will be taken to our alerts page where you will find a sample letter.

eq65 Note: ProtectSeniors.org always has a link on the right side of the page. Please be sure to visit their webpage. Unlike eq65, ProtectSeniors is an organization with the framework to fight for your benefits in Washington. The group was formed by a group of telephone retirees that were taken to the cleaners after retirement, just like Embarq retirees are facing today. Consider giving to ProtectSeniors if you are able. They are a frugal organization that uses your donations wisely.

EMail: "Bad public relations..."

An anonymous email to eq65...

Cutting medical coverage for retirees hurt the company more than it has helped in my opinion.

The bad public relations from cutting health care for medicare eligible employees had to hurt them in lost customers. I'm sure the people who lost their coverage are not recommending them for phone service. And that is about 14000 retirees.

They should concentrate more on providing better service to their customers.

Analysis: Embarq CEO Has Read the Riot Act

A frequent contributor to eq65 has passed along this article about Embarq's future as a total communications company.

So far, Embarq hasn't really brought any real innovation to the market. Its combined home/wireless voicemail platform has been around since 1991. Follow-Me Forwarding has been a part of its digital offices since the days of Sprint's Advanced Business Connection (Centrex).

Other than bringing DSL to rural markets and fiber-to-the-home in certain targeted areas, there hasn't really been any innovation at Embarq. (Taking retiree benefits is not considered innovation, just unethical theft.)

The analysis also briefly mentions a couple of items that gives ulcers to investors, employees, and retirees alike. Embarq's headquarters is located far from the real meat of the company: Nevada, Florida, and the NC/TN/VA area. And Sprint basically used its local division as a cash cow for the past 10 or so years, without investing any cash to keep the division competitive.

Here's a brief excerpt...

CEO, Dan Hesse, has put Embarq’s second level management’s feet to the fire.

Hesse, who was brought in from the outside to make the company competitive, has made it clear recently that the service provider is at a crossroads – either it maintains the status quo and lives with the consequences or it truly looks to grow and move ahead. While the delivered message seems a little bit extreme, and perhaps even childish, it needed to be said in order to open the eyes of a good number of the staff.

Hesse also expects every employee to be an Embarq sales representative. The only problem is one of practicality – the corporate headquarters is not in the telco’s territory.

The data folks at Embarq who have never been exposed to a regulated telephony environment, believe they can run all over the place and make major alterations right away despite the fact that the ILEC was on hold so long as part of Sprint. The transport capacity is usually not in place to meet their expectations.

For the entire analysis, written by Sam Greenholtz of Telecom Pragmatics, click here... http://www.glgroup.com/News/Embarq-CEO-has-read-the-riot-act-17930.html

Letter: "When is this insanity going to end?"

F. Mark Longcrier of Willow Spring, N.C. has written a letter to the Smithfield, N.C. Herald critical of executive greed at several North Carolina companies. He makes a very good point concerning politicians as well. You will need to click on the link below to read the entire letter, but here is a brief excerpt...

Goodyear just announced plans to cut my retiree take-home pay by 6 percent and cancel my life-insurance policy. At age 72, it will cost me $200 or more per month to replace that policy.

And yet the state is giving Goodyear a $40 million incentive that could stretch to about $57 million?

Embarq is cutting retiree benefits while paying its chief executive a $100,000 bonus to get his salary to $1 million. I can’t even switch to another carrier in protest.

Blue Cross Blue Shield, a nonprofit, made a $56.2 million profit in the second quarter but expects to increase rates 10 to 15 percent because of rising health-care costs.

Where did the profit go unless for executive-pay increases?

The scary thing about this letter is that Goodyear is cutting Mark's pension by 6%.
Click here to read the letter...http://www.theherald-nc.com/opinion/story/5689.html

Newspaper: New health plan irks Embarq retirees

Embarq's theft of retiree benefits is featured in Saturday's Charlottesville Daily Progress. Here is an excerpt from the Virginia newspaper...

When Vera Terrell retired from her clerk job with Sprint in 1993, she thought she would be set for life when it came to insurance.

Terrell, now 73, stayed with the company for 23 years. The Charlottesville resident retired with $25,000 in life insurance and the ability to keep her prescription drug plan and health insurance through Sprint.

But Terrell won’t have the perks much longer.

Embarq, which split off from Sprint a year and a half ago, sent a letter to its 14,000 retirees July 26 telling them their health and life insurance policies would change significantly by 2008, ending some coverage to retirees...

Embarq’s move will save the company $30 million annually, spokesman Charles Fleckenstein said. The affected include retirees from Sprint and Centel...

The telecommunications company, based in Overland Park, Kan., will no longer offer medical coverage for people eligible for Medicare, will stop providing a monthly subsidy for Medicare premiums and cap its life insurance benefit at $10,000.

Charitable contributions made by any employee or retiree stopped being matched by the company after Sept. 1. Embarq will continue to offer medical coverage to retirees and dependents who are ineligible for Medicare.

The company’s initial letter to the retirees said recent changes in Medicare make it “more practical and efficient” for eligible individuals to buy coverage directly through a national carrier...

Bishop, who was with the company for 34 years, said many Embarq employees remained with Sprint and Centel to reach the maximum of $40,000 in post-retirement life insurance. For Terrell, the life insurance cap is the worst part of Embarq’s anouncement.

“You can’t even bury yourself for $10,000,” Terrell said. “You are actually leaving your spouse with nothing...”

Embarq has been receiving some feedback on the changes from retirees, too.

“I can’t comment on the response,” Fleckenstein said. “Retirees have been letting us know how they feel.”

See the entire story here...

http://www.dailyprogress.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=CDP%2FMGArticle%2FCDP_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173353262831&path=!news

You Cannot Shrink Your Way To Greatness

Apparently Wall Street is not happy that Embarq's management has confessed to giving up its fight with cable and wireless. EQ stock started off today at 56.50 and as I type this note, it is at 54.50. A loss of $2 per share.

The comments that Mr. Holland made yesterday are the only thing that I can find suggesting this selloff...“We are not going to wait until we have a problem to do the right things... We are doing them in anticipation of remaining competitive.”

That "in anticipation of" statement signals that he believes Embarq can't compete in the future, and that problems lie ahead. Mr. Holland may be thinking, "We have to let people go, because when won't have as much business."

But Wall Street investors perceive a dying company that is casting off newly unneeded manpower.

Regardless of the reason for the sell off, Embarq's executives like to make big announcements like this before quarterly conference calls. It shows investors that they are getting things done - no matter how poor the decisions are. The next call is November 1st. Expect more big announcements before the call.

Your editor read an interesting anonymous post at kansascity.com...

I have never heard anything good about EJ Holland. He ran Payless Cashways in the ground. He was a hatchet man for Sprint. All he cares about is his own pocketbook and has no compassion for anyone. Talk about an ego!

Well, the truth is Mr. Holland personally lost lots of cash today. So did a lot of other investors. Embarq needs to grow. Not shrink. Investors know this fundamental fact.

Because you cannot shrink when you face competition.

Letter to Editor: "...Ultimate Disregard for Our Health Needs."

Martha Lamm of Nashville, N.C. wrote to the editor of the Rocky Mount, N.C. Telegram...

I also was hired by Carolina Telephone & Telegraph, later Sprint, later Embarq.

It seems to me the loyalty we (as retirees) gave the company so it would prosper cost us our very standard of living and the ultimate disregard for our health needs.

In the letter all retirees received, under the headline "Practical Ingenuity," and I quote, "This is our promise to customers and the marketplace. We found it more practical and efficient for Medicare-eligible individuals to receive medical coverage directly through national carriers who specialize in the Medicare market than for Embarq to provide this coverage."

What about the promise to us for our dedication and service?

Visit the Rocky Mount Telegram online at... http://www.rockymounttelegram.com/

So Far - An Incredible October

Thanks for visiting eq65.com!

For Older Retirees - A Financial Nightmare

Rochelle Cobb, 67, the wife of a Sprint retiree Cullen Cobb, 77, has been comparing the cost of various life insurance plans, as well as Medicare supplement policies. Sadly, she has been finding that premiums are much higher now than they were when the couple was younger. No insurance company has turned her down, but the monthly premiums are more than they can comprehend.

Mrs. Cobb sent eq65 a note a few weeks ago - and with her permission - here is an excerpt...

…How can it be more practical and efficient when the retiree who has paid nothing for supplemental coverage, now has to fork out monthly insurance premiums ranging from $153 to $230 per retiree and the same for the spouse, depending on which carrier you select.

My husband worked for Carolina Telephone, then Sprint for 40 years and this is what he gets in return for his hard worked hours. It is individuals like him who made this company what it is today.

The money they have taken away from the retirees benefits have benefited Mr. Foresee, and undoubtedly he will not have any benefits taken away from him for screwing up the lives of so many former employees.

Just thought you would be interested in the whopping insurance fees that the retirees will now have to start paying out of their pockets monthly, for a benefit that was promised to them verbally years ago.

That with the loss of life insurance benefits is a lot to absorb.

My prayers are with the Cobbs and others during this trying ordeal. Maybe they can find some solace in knowing that many different people are working as hard as they can to convince Embarq to not take earned retiree benefits.

We have 69 more days to work. And aren't giving up without a fight.

Embarq Calls For Voluntary Workforce Reduction

A letter was distributed throughout Embarq's Network Services group last Tuesday advising them that preselected employees have been chosen to voluntarily resign. Apparently these people would get a sweetened deal to step aside for the good of the company. The Kansas City Star broke the story to the internet today at...
http://www.kansascity.com/business/companies/story/328500.html

Now that this story has been outed by the traditional media, eq65 can share with you a copy of the note that went out to Embarq's Network employees:

From: May, Frank H [EQ]
Sent: Wed 10/17/2007 6:30 AM
Subject: Workforce Reduction - Voluntary Separation

Dear Colleagues:

Since launching EMBARQ, we have focused on continuous improvement and innovation in our products and processes to become an increasingly stronger competitor. As part of that focus, we’ve benchmarked ourselves against industry leaders to determine where we need to improve.

Our findings have made it clear that in order to compete, we need to operate more efficiently and will be taking deliberate actions to reduce our cost structure.

As one element of this cost reduction, we are offering the opportunity to voluntarily request separation benefits to selected eligible employees in Network Services. Employees who are part of an eligible group are being contacted by their supervisors today. If you are part of an eligible group, you will receive information by close of business today (Wednesday, Oct. 17). This is a personal decision, and we fully respect any interest you may or may not have in this opportunity. Please understand, though, that your voluntary request is not an indication nor guarantee that you will be approved for this offer. Each request will be carefully reviewed against the best interests of the business.

If you are not contacted by the end of today, you will know that you are not eligible for this opportunity. Please note that we are not accepting requests from employees other than those specified.

This announcement may cause uncertainty within our group for a period of time, but I know I can count on all of you to remain focused on meeting our commitments and continuing to provide great customer service.

Thank you,
Frank

Remember that anything offered to the ones chosen to go is not guaranteed.

Embarq has proven that it can not be counted on to keep its word. For example, many took early retirement in 1999 with pages of promises that turned out to be meaningless.

For those thinking about leaving:

Checking the small print on the documents given to you recently is worthless. Embarq can still take your benefits, and then refer you back to the small print in your employee handbook.

If you are at work now, find this handbook and read the legal info in the front. This book apparently gives Mr. Holland and others the ability to take any benefit from you at any time without warning or having to show just cause. Even if you are no longer an employee!

So if the separation document that you have been given reads that you get 2 weeks pay for every year that you have worked, don't believe it.

And if the separation document reads that you get medical coverage for a certain period after you leave, don't believe it.

Whatever promises the separation document makes is yours until Embarq takes it away.

My advice, for whatever it's worth, is to get a lawyer before signing anything. Maybe you can add a sheet stating the obvious: Embarq cannot remove these promises without retribution.

Embarq isn't the same company that it was 10 years ago. You just can't believe anything that they say to you anymore.

Even when it's in writing.

Kansas Board Makes Medical Care Proposals

As posted here earlier, the State of Kansas has formed a committee to reform health care in the state. Embarq's Senior VP of Human Resources, Ned Holland (left), is a member of this group, the Kansas Health Policy Authority.

Part of the challenge before them was to reduce the cost of health care for businesses and individuals and to reduce the number of uninsured Kansans. Any effort to achieve these goals should be applauded.

However your editor believes that corporations, such as Embarq, would like to let the government handle retiree health care completely and before 65. A scenario such as that would let companies off the hook for billions of dollars in retiree liability.

Companies should not be forgiven of a debt they owe to former workers. If at some point the Medicare system does cover all retirees, companies such as Embarq should pay the system for promised benefits and assist its retirees with any changeover - including items that Medicare does not pay in full.

The State of Kansas is right to pursue reform in their state. But having a man like Ned Holland on the board is chilling. If he really cares about the health of Kansans, then why did he yank medical coverage from his company's oldest retirees? Is that benevolence? Or could it be greed?

Here is a part of last Tuesday's Kansas City Star article on the board's progress...

Lawmakers left Topeka last spring vowing that 2008 would be the year they attacked Kansas’ health-care woes.

They directed a state health panel to craft solutions to address the rising cost of health care, which has burdened businesses and sent many consumers into the ranks of the uninsured. There was talk about bold public-private partnerships, universal health care and mandated insurance coverage for children and young adults.

Now, political reality has sunk in.

Gone are aggressive recommendations to require insurance. Gone are ideas to privatize government coverage programs. Gone too are big proposals to offer more government help to the poor and uninsured.

In their place are more modest ideas designed to tweak the existing system rather than reinvent it.

The authors of the recommendations issued this week — board members of the Kansas Health Policy Authority — say that was intentional.

“I don’t think this is nearly enough, that it goes far enough,” said board member E.J. “Ned” Holland Jr., senior vice president for human resources at Embarq Corp. “… In the end we must give something to legislators that is realistic. We’re not going to make fundamental change.”

The board finalized the recommendations Tuesday.

The list will be presented to lawmakers next month, ahead of the start of the legislative session in January.

Already, two of the most striking recommendations — a statewide smoking ban and the 50-cents-per-pack cigarette tax boost — appear doomed. Both ideas have been pitched before...

Read the entire story here...

http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics/story/320545.html

eq65 is back!

Hello Everyone,

Thank you for the kind words that you have been sending to me over the past couple of months. When I first set up eq65, I thought that no one would notice my online rants. I literally set it up when I typed out a letter to my local newspaper. But then I decided that the whole world should read my opinions. Click here to see what I first typed... http://www.wilsondaily.com/Letters/Story/Telephone_company_should_keep_its_promises

After securing the name eq65.com, I thought that I would add other letters to the editor as I could find them by searching newspapers in the CTT, United, Centel territories. Retirees haven't failed me, because there are notes in papers all across the country. Even as far as Washington state! So, with the newspaper's permission, I add these to the site as well.

Online news sources have become a big part of the site. Again, if I can't get permission. I can't post.

Finally your opinions are posted when I have time to gather them. Please send them to me. I am holding several in my email system now that will be posted later this week.

According to the good 'ol US Constitution, I have a guaranteed right to free speech. But I do not have a right to a specific platform for that speech. In other words, an atheist has a right to his view, but he does not have a right to stand in a Baptist pulpit on a Sunday morning to speak it. You can't yell 'Fire!' in a dark theater, either (unless there is a fire). So I don't have a specific right to post on Blogger. If Blogger/Google doesn't want me anymore, then I have no legal right to challenge them. It is their platform, and they graciously allow me to post here.

However I specifically own the address www.eq65.com If Blogger fires me, I'll move it over to WritePress or my own server. eq65 will be here, don't worry!

My regular updates seemed to vanish after I posted a note about Embarq's Senior VP of Human Resources, Ned Holland. At first, I wanted this note to become eq65's Top Story for several days. I thought it was a very important news/opinion piece that did not need to be moved down lower on the site for a few days. But, when I added a post several days later, no one saw the post - except me! I added several stories during a four day period, but they were posted only to a shadow site that exists only on my computer. It was only when I went to my wife's laptop to read emails and view the site that I noticed what was going on. I had been adding posts to a fake site. And I was checking emails on a fake site. These sites were built into my PC's hard drive and not out on the internet.

So basically, for an entire week, my main PC was infected by some sort of virus that stopped me from receiving emails, or posting to my site. I saw shadow versions of eq65 and gmail. I finally figured out what was happening when I unplugged the internet and I was still able to post and check gmail on my infected PC.

In layman's terms, a wall was built around my computer that completely kept me from communicating with you, without me knowing that it was there. I don't know how the virus got here. I really don't know. I don't think that it came from Embarq. Their IT department has its hands full keeping up with internal systems. I doubt they would go after my little PC. I know many of their local computer folks. Trust me, this was a random atttack. There is no need to specualte about this any futher.

My PC is virus-free now. And I have removed Embarq's F-Secure security system and reinstalled Symantics Security. Hopefully I won't have this problem again.

And here's another thing that has slowed my ability to get back online...

My one-year old baby girl began running a constant fever of 103F last Tuesday night as well. This morning, Monday, she still has a fever. My wife is taking her over to the pediatrician's office right now as I type this note. My wife and baby girl are the love of my life. When she fell ill, I had to shift my priorities a little bit from repairing my system to getting her fever down (and cleaning up vomit).

That's why you are hearing from me today. To explain a little bit about my absence.

eq65 is not a professional site. I run it all by myself.

And even though my email address is displayed for all to see, no one from Embarq has ever contacted me. (Excluding sympathetic workers still at the company.) No lawyers have contacted me. No one from Blogger/Google has contacted me.

If the time comes that I am ever contacted by an attorney, the Electronic Frontier Foundation will represent me. Read about them here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Frontier_Foundation.
There site is at...http://w2.eff.org/bloggers/

In summary, I'm still here. My PC is repaired. My daughter is still sick. And Embarq is a great company with a group of smart executives that have made a poor decision related to retiree health care. Let's keep up the fight.

My baby girl may be vomiting, but the fat lady hasn't sung.

A Personal Note...

If you are an Embarq, Sprint, Centel, United Telecom, Florida Telephone, or CT&T retiree, then you should have already been contacted by a member of your fellow retirees considering pending litigation.

If no one has contacted you, then please get in touch with your local union office, Pioneer Club, or 'Lunch' Club so that you can be kept informed. eq65 will not be able to print specific details concerning these meetings. So get involved right now!

As it stands, retirees are fighting for their benefits. And the unions are fighting for future retirees (current workers). These are very good cases, and I believe that they can be won.

Your eq65 editor has been able to read various accounts from some of these meetings, and much work remains to be done. If you haven't been involved, then get with it! Email me if you need to get in touch with a group near you.

Sorry for being so vague in this post. I can't reveal too much here. People in KC read this log closely. Also, remember that eq65 is not a party to any litigation. So don't ask me what's going on in KC, because I don't know!

On a very personal note...

Your eq65 editor has met many home-bound and nursing home retirees that are truly devastated by the action of Embarq's executives. One phrase just keeps popping into my head. Three retirees, unrelated and on different visits, said to me, "...I just don't want to be a burden to my family." One said this as she held the just mailed and exorbitantly-priced Aetna insurance offer.

It's time to spill the beans, folks...

Your editor is a Registered Nurse, married to a wonderful woman and with a 1 year old baby girl.

I am not an Embarq employee, nor am I a retiree. My father is a retiree, but I did not start eq65 because of my father. I heard him gripe about "the retirement mess" one day this past summer and then quickly I forgot about it.

But I suddenly remembered it, when I personally saw weak and frail telephone company retirees weeping over the loss of security that was promised them by a healthy communications company.

They are all crushed.

As you can tell by eariler posts, I'm angry. It affects me on a very deep level. And as a result of this anger, and my experience with computers, I started eq65.

eq65 is not here because my family was robbed. I run this site because Embarq's corporate decisions, seemingly based on pure greed, may lead good people to die before their time.

Embarq's executives have made its retirees' last years on earth a time filled with fear and worry. Their security is gone. Promises have been broken, and through no fault of their own. They all seem to feel the same way...

"I don't won't to be a burden to my family."

One more note...

Never (and I mean never) have I brought up this website to any of these sick elderly retirees. They're beyond the computer age. I never slander Embarq, Mr. Holland, nor Sprint. I never violate my patients' personal trust and privacy. I know HIPAA. I know privacy. My license to practice is too precious to mingle this site and their care.

But when I come back home from work, I get busy helping their cause to return stolen benefits right here on eq65.

As a caring nurse in the new millennium, that's my job.