The workers are represented by the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. They are striking against Verizon demands for pension and health care givebacks and its efforts to dump its landlines, where the workers are employed.
“Since bargaining began on June 22, Verizon has refused to move from a long list of concession demands. As the contract expired, nearly 100 concessionary company proposals remained on the table,” the unions said.
They said they had to go on strike “until Verizon stops its Wisconsin-style tactics and starts bargaining seriously,” referring to the ban on collective bargaining for state and local workers GOP Gov. Scott Walker pushed through the Wisconsin Legislature.
“CWA and IBEW members are prepared to return to work when management demonstrates the willingness to begin bargaining seriously for a fair agreement. If not, CWA and IBEW members and allies will continue the fight,” the unions added.
The two unions represent approximately one-fourth of Verizon’s workforce, but the firm is trying to get out of the landline business and has spun off landlines in Illinois, Vermont, West Virginia and elsewhere to smaller less-well-capitalized firms. Verizon earned a net of almost $7 billion in the first half of this year. It provides telecom service from Maine down through Virginia.
Details of Verizon’s giveback demands were not immediately available, but CWA Local 1111 President Sean McAvoy told a local TV station in Elmira, N.Y., they include freezing the pension plan for covered workers and eliminating it entirely for all others. He said Verizon also wants to dramatically increase health care costs for active workers and retirees, and base wage increases on subjective evaluations by supervisors.
Forced to strike, workers showed up by the thousands in rallies just outside Washington, D.C., in Harrisburg, Pa., in Boston and elsewhere on Monday. Tens of thousands brought downtown Manhattan to a halt on Saturday – just before the contract expired – with a rally outside company headquarters.
In Richmond, Va., CWA Local 2201 members conducted informational picketing at company facilities, and passed out handbills at Olive Garden and Red Lobster restaurants, since the restaurants’ CEO is a member of the Verizon board. In Valley Forge, Pa., CWA Local 13000 picketed management classes to train scabs. A retiree brought in to do the training changed his mind, and the classes were canceled.
This article was written by Press Associates, Inc., news service. Used by permission.
Share
The workers are represented by the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. They are striking against Verizon demands for pension and health care givebacks and its efforts to dump its landlines, where the workers are employed.
“Since bargaining began on June 22, Verizon has refused to move from a long list of concession demands. As the contract expired, nearly 100 concessionary company proposals remained on the table,” the unions said.
They said they had to go on strike “until Verizon stops its Wisconsin-style tactics and starts bargaining seriously,” referring to the ban on collective bargaining for state and local workers GOP Gov. Scott Walker pushed through the Wisconsin Legislature.
“CWA and IBEW members are prepared to return to work when management demonstrates the willingness to begin bargaining seriously for a fair agreement. If not, CWA and IBEW members and allies will continue the fight,” the unions added.
The two unions represent approximately one-fourth of Verizon’s workforce, but the firm is trying to get out of the landline business and has spun off landlines in Illinois, Vermont, West Virginia and elsewhere to smaller less-well-capitalized firms. Verizon earned a net of almost $7 billion in the first half of this year. It provides telecom service from Maine down through Virginia.
Details of Verizon’s giveback demands were not immediately available, but CWA Local 1111 President Sean McAvoy told a local TV station in Elmira, N.Y., they include freezing the pension plan for covered workers and eliminating it entirely for all others. He said Verizon also wants to dramatically increase health care costs for active workers and retirees, and base wage increases on subjective evaluations by supervisors.
Forced to strike, workers showed up by the thousands in rallies just outside Washington, D.C., in Harrisburg, Pa., in Boston and elsewhere on Monday. Tens of thousands brought downtown Manhattan to a halt on Saturday – just before the contract expired – with a rally outside company headquarters.
In Richmond, Va., CWA Local 2201 members conducted informational picketing at company facilities, and passed out handbills at Olive Garden and Red Lobster restaurants, since the restaurants’ CEO is a member of the Verizon board. In Valley Forge, Pa., CWA Local 13000 picketed management classes to train scabs. A retiree brought in to do the training changed his mind, and the classes were canceled.
This article was written by Press Associates, Inc., news service. Used by permission.