45,000 Verizon Workers Strike

[Hissyspit]

Source: Reuters

45,000 Verizon workers strike

By Reuters
Sunday, August 7th, 2011 -- 3:33 am

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Unions representing 45,000 Verizon Communications workers called for a strike as negotiations failed for a new labor contract that expired at midnight on Saturday.

Verizon and the unions -- The Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers - had been in talks since late June.

The workers who went on strike on Sunday are technicians and customer support employees in Verizon's wireline business, which provides Internet and land phone lines to homes and businesses in the U.S. Northeast.

Verizon is looking to keep costs in check at its wireline business, which has been declining for a decade as customers have disconnected their home phones in favor of cellphone and Internet services.

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/08/07/45000-verizon-workers-strike/

[cui bono]

1. Hope they are successful. n/t

[cstanleytech]

3. It would be nice

but and this is going to be gloomy but i wonder if they might be trying to get out of the landline business like At&T because down here AT&T is trying to bail out on dsl it seems as they arent rolling out their uverse service and cable is kicking their ass in speed.

[Lasher]

4. Verizon sold their landline operations here in West Virginia.

And awhile back they did the same in New England.

[tavalon]

41. Up here in Seattle too,

and the company they sold it to has an internet presence that sucks. Half the time I can't get on the website, and I finally gave up and called their customer service and I got the most help with the most genuine friendliness I've ever had with a customer service rep. I had been looking around for another carrier but Comcast and Clear were my only choices and Clear doesn't have good coverage in my area and do I really have to explain why I don't want Comcast?

Anyway, in case any of you are phone techs and think that we're all grumpy and never happy, I decided to stay with Frontier because of that phone tech. And with his help, not only did I get my internet problem fixed quickly but we were laughing and talking and neither of us were treating the other as a moron. So, that one interaction caused me to decide to stay with them. Customer service (both ways) is more important than people give it credit for or are willing to pay for unfortunately.

Now as a fellow private sector union member, Hit Them Hard and Stay Strong, they will do it to you if they can. No mercy. You deserve a good contract, given that you work for one of the devil's minions and that's the only thing they understand. Stay strong for all of us and don't, under any circumstances, let Barack Obama do your negotiating. He's a wonderful man and I think after he leaves Washington, he will end up with a post Presidential career as amazing as Jimmy Carter, but as a negotiator, he sucks.

[Lasher]

49. Verizon is obsessed with mechanization.

Frontier, not so much. With either one it usually takes several days to get a cable trouble fixed. I just called in a repeat trouble for my MIL. I could easily fix the actual cable trouble myself in an hour if I hadn't injured my foot awhile back.

[fasttense]

6. They are cutting up the services and locations in order to create regional monopolies.

AT&T gets this part of the business and Verizon gets this other part and then we can go squeeze, gouge and over charge the consumer because we are monopolies.

[BiggJawn]

12. Regional monopolies under the umberella of a national monopoly...

I have an idea. Why don't they name this new monstrosity "The Bell Telephone System"?

Everything Old Is New Again...

[X_Digger]

36. No, vz is just moving away from the business.

They don't own the companies that they sold the wireline business to (Frontier communication, etc).

[christx30]

54. I do tech support for Frontier

and Verizon sold all of their landlines in 14 states, including Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Illinois. Verizon is going to keep selling until they are 100% wireless.
Can't really say I blame them. I wouldn't want to run a DSL service. It's a headache. Cx callin for slow speeds or can't get online. I do at least 30 repair tickets per day, at a cost of $200 each. Gotta take care of the people that have a contract with you. But it's not profitable.

[MilesColtrane]

2. Solidarity

[lib2DaBone]

5. Stop the Robber Barons and Teabaggers...

.. all workers should be on strike in this country. It's the only way to stop the abuse by the greedy bankers and nut jobs.

[patrice]

7. Health care and Pension plan - both problematic areas nation-wide - were sticking points.

"The two sides were unable to agree on issues related to healthcare contributions, pension plans and work rules, according to Verizon and the CWA."

[IamK]

11. i did not think it was pay....

the average union tech makes 90,000+ (includes some OT) and another 55k in benefits.. not bad...

[Enthusiast]

15. That sounds suspiciously like right wing propaganda.

Can you provide an unimpeachable source to support your claims?

[JustAnotherGen]

17. The folks in NJ

Have to make that. I don't think it's propaganda. It's actually a fair wage. That's what a high paid "consultant" or sr analyst makes in wireless. consultant is just a job title though for a full employee that has a high knowledge base. Ie. They aren't consultants as those outside of VzW normally think of them. So a wireline tech SHOULD be making that as they have an on par hands on skill set to say a network analyst that looks at trends on spreadsheets. Make sense?

Not propaganda - it's a fair and LIVING wage for someone living in Central NJ where two bedroom condos start at about 280k.

[IamK]

26. from the union....

http://files.cwa-union.org/national/freechoiceatvz/070430_comparison.pdf


Verizon “Core” (union)
Base Pay 5 year tech earns a minimum of $68,328.00; with
voluntary overtime, the salary range is between
75,000 to well over $100,000

Education 100% employer-paid tuition reimbursement at
any accredited institution on any subject.

After 8 years, you may get associates degree in
telecommunications (paid by company on
company time), and pay jumps 6.6%
Overtime Paid daily in most contracts; OT is voluntary

Pay Progression Step increases every 6 months while progressing

[Betty88]

64. Voluntary overtime...

I am CWA, I don't do the same work that the people on strike do, but they work "downstairs" from my office. Yes we make a nice dollar, we work for it. When I first started there were 8 people on my shift, now there are two. We cover 24/7 365.

Voluntary overtime, well technically it is voluntary, try getting out of it. What do you think happens when the only other person on your shift goes on vacation? Someone HAS to work the OT to fill the shift, what happens if the person who relieves you does not show up for the next shift, you HAVE to stay unless you can find someone to replace you, good luck short notice.

Education, yes this is cool, try and find time to take advantage of it. And BTW you can do it on company time unless it effects the business needs.

Every year more and more of work moves over seas, I work with computers and networks that can be admined remotely. I watched 14 guys that did the core work laid off about 3 years ago, now 4 guys cover it. Wonder why it takes so long to get anything done? I believe its only a matter of time before they lay the other 4 guys off, give us a 3 day over the net class and expect us to cover the work "downstairs"

Our contract is up in April and I have a feeling we might be walking too.

[Enthusiast]

77. Nice post, Betty..................nt

[IamK]

27. duplicate

[NBachers]

25. Yeah, the same lies were spread about me when I struck as a Teamster at the newspaper

How many of their pay stubs have you seen?

[stockholmer]

39. I think he pretty much refuted your accusations, and many on here are missing a big point

Unions protect workers (to a degree) from the ravages of fiat-based currency devaluation. $90,000 a year has less than half the purchasing power it did just 15 or 20 years ago.

[PSPS]

33. Your 'figures' are laughably high, of course. But pay isn't a sticking point anyway.

[IamK]

46. they are not my figures, they are what the union has on their web site... n/t.

[ooglymoogly]

59. not believable

based on second hand inside knowledge.

[boppers]

71. Well, it is somewhat about pay.

Verizon is asking for greater "contributions", which comes out of worker pay.

[dotymed]

34. This just really, IMO, reinforces the problems caused

by America's lack of universal healthcare. If we did have it (like all other "civilized nations"), so many of our problems would be manageable. We would have actual job mobility, citizens not dying every minute because they cannot afford health care. That should be a major "inalienable right."

The status quo is much more profitable and tends to keep Americans in line much better than the citizens of other countries.

What a crock of capitalistic, corptocratic bullshit. We must band together and take our government back (if we ever really had control). Either way, our common values are much larger than our petty differences, "let's roll."

[midnight]

8. Verizon is a member of ALEC they want to destroy unions.

[primavera]

31. Verizon is about as reichwing as they come

I hope their workers don't get machine gunned for striking.

[marmar]

9. Solidarity Kick !!!!

"History is a great teacher. Now everyone knows that the labor movement did not diminish the strength of the nation but enlarged it. By raising the living standards of millions, labor miraculously created a market for industry and lifted the whole nation to undreamed of levels of production. Those who attack labor forget these simple truths, but history remembers them."
- Martin Luther King Jr.

[lib_wit_it]

76. Nice pic & K to the R on the OP.

[Yon_Yonson]

10. It time to stand up against corporate amerika and their political whores

SHUTE EH DOWN NOW! All the unions and non unions should stand in solidarity across this country and call a GENERAL STRIKE. Hit these greedy fucks in their pocketbooks and make them bleed greenback. This could be the spark that will change American history.

[Cool Logic]

13. "Verizon is looking to keep costs in check at its wireline business,"

Land lines are yesterday's technology; thus, the number of jobs this field is on the decline.

The CWA would be wise to turn their focus to jobs in new and future technologies.

[JustAnotherGen]

18. Well if corporate

would pay to retrain them . . . seriously - cloud wireless is going to be extremely dependent on these folks for back haul and the last mile. Give them what they want and start the necessary training now.

[X_Digger]

35. Actually, Verizon has 100% tuition reimbursement up to $10,000 per year

The only caveat is that is has to be a subject that could be applied to Verizon- they're not going to reimburse you to get a degree in Art History.

[JustAnotherGen]

44. I think it's less now

And when I was on devices - they were going to allow me to pursue a degree in Cultural Anthropology . . . I could have sworn the Masters only allowed 8k. It wouldn't have touched the tuition at Princeton though.

[X_Digger]

45. Could be, and I know it's different for different groups / divisions.

In my group, it's $10k, must be tangentially related (with a lot of latitude).

[JustAnotherGen]

50. See it needs to be straight across the board.

Not making things flat even is how I ended up with a male employee, with less education and experience working for me, but making more than me. They don't play fair and straight with people in wireless at all. I tend to think as result of that experience, they are cheating people left and right that don't have a piece of paper to prove that (directly from the intranet where managers can see our direct reports salary info), and a friendship with a lawyer who is known for suing companies for that nonsense.


I'm on their side in this. We all saw the numbers they put up two weeks ago for VZ and VZW. It's not like we aren't profitable.

[X_Digger]

53. I'm sure most of that is a legacy of the admixture that is verizon

I know that for a while, fGTE employees had different health plans than new hires. It took a couple of cycles for them to all get on the same page. Same with salaries- we still have some Hawaiian Tel transfers that are making more than their next cube neighbors (by an insane amount).

[DebJ]

74. In West Virginia, you can't go wireless. The mountains

interfere with the signals terribly. My Mom has a cell phone up there; it is mostly useless unless you are on a very major road in a 'relatively' flat area. Her internet is hideous. But no one is going to run cable through miles of mountains to service such a small population.

[City Lights]

14. Solidarity K&R! eom

[JustAnotherGen]

16. Last week

as we left the facility in Basking Ridge - we beeped our horns and gave them big thumbs up and told them to give the officers in our company hell. As someone up thread stated it's what they asking for that the "office employees" have no one to speak for them on. We KNOW that what THEY get - we ALL get. All lines of business . . . All employees. If they screw them - they screw us. And having had close contact with rank and file employees at our partner Vodafone - there's support on the other side of the pond too. Truthfully they aren't asking for enough. They need to ask the officers: Why don't we get the benes that Vodafone employees get in the UK?

[ThatsMyBarack]

19. Can you hear me now? NO!

eom ;)

[alcibiades_mystery]

20. Beat me to it!

:-)

[leftyohiolib]

21. cwa 4340 here.our contract is up in april

this might have some impact on our bargaining. go union

[Betty88]

23. cwa 1150 here

our contract is coming up too. Good luck brothers and sisters.

[Fuddnik]

22. Glad I dumped them a couple of weeks ago.

[kcass1954]

24. What the article didn't say...

Verizon is refusing to honor the terms of the old contracts until new ones are signed. You have no protections that were afforded you previously.

[GrantDem]

28. K&R For Solidarity

Good luck brothers and sisters.

[Union Thug]

29. Updates at the CWA Web site -

http://www.cwa-union.org/issues/entry/c/verizon

Solidarity!
No War but the Class War!

[Union Thug]

30. Verizon manager feels like running over striking workers

"If you see picketers, you're going to feel like running them over."


http://www.cwa-union.org/news/entry/verizon_wireless_director_talks_about_running_over_picketers_

[senseandsensibility]

32. Disgusting.

Go, workers!

[TBF]

37. Solidarity nt

[X_Digger]

38. K&R!

Ugh, this means 72 hour weeks for me (and no OT).

I wish I weren't an exempt employee.

[graywarrior]

40. The strikers are out in full force here, even in the pouring rain.

[nwnj_progressive]

42. Petition: Tell Verizon, We Won't Pay Until You Do!

Can 1,000,000 Verizon customers join the 45,000 workers out on strike? If we band together and refuse to pay our bills, we can send a strong message to wealthy corporations who say they can't afford an American middle class. http://signon.org/sign/tell-verizon-we-wont

[nwnj_progressive]

43. Retweetable version of this...

Customers, join the workers' strike! Tell Verizon: We Won't Pay Until You Do! http://t.co/qeDQ9cE #signon #VZCustomerStrike

Or RT from @gingerheatter

[littlewolf]

75. simple ... you don't pay .. you lose phone/net/wireless / whatever ... and not sure

how much it will affect the company .. most times
less then 10% of ppl join in protest ....

[Atticus]

47. How can a non-customer of Verizon support the strikers? nt

[catrose]

60. Exactly

How can we support them? Is there a strike fund we can donate to?

[swilton]

48. People Power - K&R

[bertman]

51. The Verizon execs wouldn't screw the workers out of benefits and pay, then give the

extra loot to their Executives, would they?

REC.

[handmade34]

52. side note... on Fox...

my partner was flipping through channels this morn and Fox announcing the strike showed only black strikers... looked very contrived to me... :-(

[senseandsensibility]

55. Fox contrived?

Never! LOL.

[fishwax]

56. k/r for solidarity

:kick:

[bread_and_roses]

57. Solidarity for CWA (n/t)

[Dappleganger]

58. solidarity!

:kick:

[ooglymoogly]

61. Kr thanx for posting this....Now staff is expected to cover, working 12hr days.

Thats 4hrs without pay 5 days a week.

[X_Digger]

70. 6 days a week, not 5.. ugh n/t

[PatrynXX]

62. still have a hardline

power goes out thats the only one that works. yes if you can afford a cell phone groovy. I can't right now , but when I did it was pre paid

that Nokia lasted longer than it should have. right down to a Nokia knockoff battery (literally, it says Nokia on it) counterfeit. but it lasted longer than the real one did.

[ck4829]

63. K&R

[lunasun]

65. CWA= my old union( with a different company though) - good luck folks

Remember strikes in the 80s
it is not fun but have to do it sometimes to keep standing and not wind up on your knees
CWA did a lot for the 2008 election here in Illlinois

[alp227]

66. Citing Lack of Progress, Verizon Workers Threaten Strike

Source: The New York Times

The main union representing workers at Verizon Communications warned Saturday night that 35,000 of its members could go on strike Sunday morning because of a lack of progress in contract negotiations.

Officials with the union, the Communications Workers of America, said Verizon was demanding so many concessions — on health coverage, pensions and other matters — that it would set workers back 50 years.

Verizon executives say far-reaching concessions are needed because of a long-term drop in revenue and profit in its land line telephone business and because of intense competition in television and Internet services.

The Communications Workers and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which represents another 10,000 workers at Verizon, have both threatened to strike at 12:01 a. m. Sunday, when their contracts expire, unless a settlement is reached by then. The strike would involve telephone repair technicians, customer service representatives and cable installers from Massachusetts to Virginia.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/07/us/07verizon.html

[Omaha Steve]

67. They made 62 million last year & stock at $35 a share

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/is?s=VZ+Income+Statement&annual

I'm sure the workers can read the same info and projections I can and know they don't need to give back.

K&R!

[Dystopian]

68. Verizon sucks.

And so do the elitist wannabes who coo about their six-figure salaries, retire early and lead their fake lefty-leaning progressive lives.
Never mind the 'littles' who do the real work.

I recently came home to a phone message from Verizon:
"Investigating unusual usage of your account." I ignored the call, did not reply.
I knew what was unusual.
My first international call.
Germany.

I then received a message via snail mail. It's that important.
"In an effort to protect customers, Verizon investigates and quickly attempts to notify customers of unusual usage....blah, blah. Your Verizon account has been interrupted as a security measure, etc., blah, blah."

I called the number. I did not have a 'phone plan' for international calls, so my service for international calls was suspended. WTF? I went around in circles with this guy who could not explain why something I didn't have in the first place was suspended because I used it without having it. I bit my tongue. I wanted to say, "Wow! Good thing my friend isn't in Iraq, Afghanistan or Egypt!" He finally said he could lift the suspension.

Oh. Thank you.
No thank you.

I no longer have Verizon.


peace~

[MannyGoldstein]

69. Proud to be rec 100!

Godspeed to these brave workers.

[Imagevision]

72. Verizon attempts to eliminate the middle class - stay tough workers!!!

[pam4water]

73. I wish them luck.

[MountainLaurel]

78. My SIL may be one of the strikers

So I'm following this one closely.