Mass., Verizon Business Techs Celebrate
Organizing Victory
September 8, 2008
 Verizon Business technicians – along with labor, community and political leaders – came together at the Greater Boston Labor Council’s annual Labor Day breakfast to celebrate the successful outcome of their two-year struggle to achieve union recognition.
“It was nice to know that we will soon have the same rights and benefits as other Verizon techs,” said Verizon Business technician Kevin Leppmann.
More than 600 technicians currently employed by Verizon Business, formerly MCI, were given the opportunity to become union members under the three-year agreement reached by Verizon, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Communications Workers of America on August 10. The new members will be covered under the same contract that covers Verizon workers in 10 states in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic.
“It finally gets our foot in the door at Verizon Business,” said Myles Calvey, business manager of Boston Local 222 and Second District International Executive Council member.
The victory is the culmination of a tough organizing drive that began when Verizon first bought out MCI in 2006. Despite employing more than 65,000 CWA and IBEW members, Verizon kept the MCI unit, renamed Verizon Business, separate from their regular operations and totally nonunion. “The company wanted to keep a pretty thick wall between us and the techs who had representation,” Leppmann said.
But after a year of seeing their benefits and sick days cut, while promised pay raises failed to materialize, employees began organizing. “We were getting kicked in the face and we didn’t have any way to redress our grievances,” Leppmann said.
Despite intense opposition by management, including closed-door meetings, the majority of technicians had signed union cards by March 2007.
One of the officials who help supervise the card count was Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, who attended the Labor Day breakfast. “Sen. Kerry pushed Verizon early on to recognize the union, which was a big help, so it was nice to see him there,” Leppmann said.
The 10-year employee of the telecom will officially become a member of Boston Local 2222 at the end of December, when the agreement is set to cover the 600 Verizon Business technicians. “To finally have a voice at work, it’s a good feeling,” he said. More than 100 of the new members in New England and New Jersey will be represented by the IBEW.
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