NLRB weighs in on Hawaiian Telcom-union spat

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) dismissed unfair labor-practice charges filed by IBEW Local Union 1357 against Hawaiian Telcom as part of a contract dispute that has left the telco and union without a contract for more than 200 days.

On its website, IBEW Local 1357 said the charges claimed Hawaiian Telcom was "not bargaining in good faith," adding, "While we are disappointed with the decision, our goal of making sure we position the members to succeed is not done." The union stated that it is meeting with its attorney as well as its international office to explore possibilities including a strike, slowdown/sickout, appeal of the NLRB decision, acceptance of the impasse as-is, and continuing to negotiate with the telco.

The site also acknowledges "division among the rank and file, caused by the employer, about whether we should acquiesce and take what they give us or fight them to the death."

Hawaiian Telcom recalled the negotiation process as follows: "After good faith bargaining reached an impasse, the company proceeded with the implementation of the last, best and final offer that had been presented to the union but rejected by a vote last December."

While the union did not state a definite intention to appeal on its website, the company said it "is aware that union leadership intends to appeal the NLRB's dismissal." Hawaiian Telcom added that, "Dialogue between the company and IBEW 1357 representatives is ongoing."

IBEW Local 1357 referred to Hawaiian Telcom chief executive officer Eric Yeaman by title only in a strongly worded message. "The membership must realize," the union said, "that ever since the CEO took over in 2008, we have been fighting for our lives. And it is with the support of our membership and your willingness to stay strong ... that we have moved the company to the precipice." The notice to membership also asks them to "please be responsible and make sure you do not deviate from policy and procedures, and please continue to help out your friends and peers."

For its part, Hawaiian Telcom notes in Yeaman's bio that he "has successfully led the company's return to profitability, stabilization of its business (customers, employees and systems) and positioning for the future."

You can visit the IBEW Local 1357 website here. It includes documentation from the negotiation process. You can find information about Hawaiian Telcom here.

NIMBY attitude means some Londoners lose out on fiber access

The boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England have rejected plans for BT to install fiber-to-the-cabinet infrastructure, apparently because of how unsightly fiber cabinets would be along the streets of the affluent neighborhoods.

City A.M.'s Steve Dinneen reported on the spat between the telecom provider and the boroughs, saying BT planned to install 108 cabinets along the street but the boroughs' council "rejected 96 of the proposals as part of its drive to de-clutter its streets."

The two sides traded verbal barbs when a BT spokesman told Dinneen the two boroughs might end up being "an island of slow connectivity ... a desert of 20th century technology in a 21st century city." A spokesman for Kensington and Chelsea also had fighting words: "BT has not worked in the spirit of cooperation and needs to consider our historic streetscape. Perhaps one of its competitors will step into this role." BT then told The Register, "Other councils, including those of neighbouring boroughs, have shown a greater eagerness to enjoy the benefits of fibre broadband. We will therefore refocus our engineers' efforts in other areas where planning authorities have taken a positive approach and are keen to ensure their residents and businesses can benefit from this technology."

City A.M. reported that BT's proposal would have boosted connectivity speeds for as many as 34,000 homes and businesses up to 76 Mbits/sec, which is a tenfold increase over current speeds in Kensington and Chelsea.

You can read Steve Dinneen's report at City A.M. here. You can read the report from The Register's Kelly Fiveash here.

Cable-recycling firm fined after workers suffer lead poisoning

An Edmonton, UK-based firm that recycles cable pleaded guilty to exposing workers to lead and has to pay approximately £75,000 in fines and costs. The government agency Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigated the recycler and described "an abysmal lack of care" at its facilities. The HSE is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It found that between October 2008 and July 2009 Metal and Waste Recycling significantly exposed more than 90 workers to lead when those workers stripped the lead-sheathed copper cable that came from British Telecom after the carrier upgraded to fiber-optic cabling. "HSE inspectors visited the site in April 2009 after an employee complained about insufficient protection when working with lead," the HSE said. "During the site visit, HSE found nothing had been done to reduce lead exposure, with inadequate ventilation, face masks or respiratory equipment available." Further, the HSE found, the recycler provided its workers with gloves but they carried out their duties wearing their own clothing, "potentially spreading lead to other people and their own homes," according to the agency. Blood testing on the workers revealed that 23 of them had significantly high levels of lead in their blood, the HSE said, adding that six had symptoms of lead poisoning and were treated at hospitals. Two required chelation therapy, the HSE added. Chris Tilley, an inspector with HSE, said the recycling company "failed to implement adequate control measures, carry out any health surveillance of their workers and provide adequate welfare facilities. "The company fell far short of its legal duties and exposed its employees to an unacceptable level of risk." Metal and Waste Recycling pled guilty in Westminster Magistrates Court on April 23. It was levied a fine of £49,500 and ordered to pay £25,483 in costs.

Elderly cable thieves shut down 46 oil wells in China

The next time you fill up your vehicle with fuel and are exasperated by the price per gallon, don't blame the big oil companies. Don't blame President Obama's stance on the Keystone Pipeline. Instead, blame two elderly Chinese men.

The Shanghai Daily has reported that the two residents of a nursing home in the east China province of Shandong shut down 46 oil wells when they stole electrical cable.

The story explains the two men, both 78 years old, have no income and make their living by selling waste and scrap. "They found an electric pole lying on the ground a few days ago and went back with pliers and a handsaw to cut the power cable from the pole to sell," the story says. However, when they cut the cable it "fell onto another electrical line and caused a short circle [sic], halting operation of the 46 oil wells" in the Shengli oil field.

The men reportedly were returned to their nursing home and will not face punishment.

You can read the full story on ShanghaiDaily.com here.

NASA details International Space Station cabling installation

How many times have you heard someone joke that the job of routing and installing cabling is "not rocket science"? Well, recently it was part of rocket science when a NASA commander routed and installed several new cables aboard the International Space Station.

In two recent updates of NASA's involvement in the ISS mission, the agency reported on the cabling-installation work that Commander Dan Burbank is carrying out aboard the mission.

On March 16, NASA reported that Commander Burbank "had most of his workday (~7 hours) dedicated to one part of major ISS outfitting: upgrading the ISS Ku-band system by routing and installing cabling for the HRCS (High Rate Communication System)." NASA further said the day's work "focused on the routing of four cables in the U.S. Lab Forward Endcone ... Four cables had to be installed today: one Ethernet cable from the Ku-CU (Ku-band Command Unit) to the JSL [Joint Station LAN], one AV-3 power jumper for the Ku-CU2, and two MDM (multiplexer/demultiplexer) 1553 data cable bundles ... Three more installation and cabling tasks will be scheduled at future dates."

On March 20, NASA's report stated, "After last week's routing and installing of cabling for the HRCS ... CDR Burbank had ~2 hours set aside to install a HRCAS AV-2 connector panel ... The panel carries 16 connector plugs, to which Dan mated 9 JSL Ethernet cables of the Ku-CU and 6 Payload Ethernet Hub Gateway 1/Automated Payload Switch data cables."

NASA explained the purpose for this cabling upgrade: "When fully installed and operational, HRCS will provide substantially faster uplink and downlink speeds, improved bandwidth, two extra space/ground voice loops, two extra video downlink channels, and contingency Ku Commanding capability. It will also allow additional data to be downlinked from the payload and command-and-control MDMs through Ku-band using the MDM Ethernet cables routed by the crew during the Enhanced Processor and Integrated Communications (EPIC) work completed earlier ..."

You can read the complete report from NASA on the ISS activities of March 16 here, and from March 20 here.

We are pursuing further information from NASA and hope to provide more detail on the cabling work being done on the International Space Station.

Kenya grapples with fiber cuts

The country of Kenya has been stung by the network architecture it has chosen for its national fiber-optic infrastructure.

Winfred Kagwe of news provider The Star has reported that the permanent secretary of Kenya's ministry of information and communications, Bitange Ndemo, is proposing changes to the way fiber-optic cabling systems are designed and administered in his country.

The catalyst for these proposed changes is a string of fiber cuts, the most recent of which "nearly [cut] off the entire country for two days," Kagwe reported. He further stated that Ndemo is proposing changes intended to reduce the incidence of outages when cuts happen.

The country has not implemented a ring architecture for its fiber-optic cabling system, leaving it prone to widespread outages like those it has experienced recently. Ndemo is quoted as saying, "Initially we thought everyone would behave, so we put all the cable in the one-line format; this is what is causing the outages."

Kagwe reports that experts are saying the financial loss suffered by the outages "runs into millions."

You can read Winfred Kagwe's full report here.

FOA open letter to President Obama encourages communications-systems investment

The Fiber Optic Association included as part of its February 2012 newsletter an open letter to President Barack Obama. The brief letter emphasizes the potential for job creation that can result from investment in communications infrastructure and Smart Grid technologies.

The letter reads, in part, "Your proposal to develop and deploy a nationwide wireless broadband public safety network could create an estimated 100,000 new jobs in ICT [information and communications technology] industries." Over time, the letter adds, such a network could produce a benefit of an estimated $4 billion to $8 billion per year. It adds that an investment of $3.4 billion as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (frequently referred to as "The Stimulus Act") intended for Smart Grid deployments "could produce 30,000 new jobs" and furthermore, could ultimately lead to economic benefits that range from $48 billion to $76 billion annually.

You can see the letter to President Obama and the FOA's complete February newsletter here.

(Note: Why is the FOA concerning itself with broadband wireless networks and the Smart Grid? As our sister brand Lightwave has pointed out, there's plenty of fiber in wireless backhaul and in Smart Grid infrastructures.)