Verizon Strike Enters Day 2
August 8, 2011
More than 45,000 Verizon workers from Massachustts to Virginia went on strike Sunday. Aug. 7, protesting efforts to take away hard won gains that have helped telecommunications workers secure a spot in the middle class for nearly 50 years.
Bargaining between the telecom and its two unions, the IBEW and the Communications Workers of America, began June 22.
Says International President Edwin D. Hill:
The IBEW represents about 12,850 Verizon employees in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
Despite the strike, negotiations will continue throughout the week.
Says Hill:
Click here to sign the petition telling Verizon to stop its attack on middle-class jobs and return to the bargaining table. Check IBEW.org for future updates.
August 7, 2011 12:00 a.m.
Midnight, August 7, 2011 Contact: Jim Spellane, 202-728-6014 Northeast Verizon Workers Strike Company Refuses to Move off Extreme Demands and Negotiate in Good Faith In the face of continued demands by Verizon for contract concessions that would take much of its unionized workforce back to 1960s levels of wages, benefits and working conditions, members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Communications Workers of America tonight went on strike. Six weeks of negotiations between the IBEW, CWA and Verizon produced no progress as the contract covering 45,000 workers from Massachusetts to Virginia expired at the stroke of midnight. “If Verizon had shown any good faith effort to negotiate honestly, our members would still be on the job,” said IBEW International President Edwin D. Hill. “Instead, they turned their backs on any attempts to reach a reasonable settlement. We cannot stand by while one of the richest, most successful corporations in the world joins the race to decimate the middle class of this country. We remain ready to meet with Verizon to work out a fair agreement, but at this point, we had no choice.” Verizon has revenues of $100 billion and net profits of $6 billion. Verizon Wireless just paid its parent company and Vodaphone a $10 billion dividend.Verizon Chairman Ivan Seidenberg is paid 300 times what an average worker earns, and other top executives have been paid lucrative compensation packages. The IBEW represents 12,800 workers at Verizon primarily in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Jersey, with smaller units in Pennsylvania and upstate New York. Additional information can be found at: www.ibew.org; www.ibew2222.org; www.ibew827.com
August 6, 2011 8:30 p.m.
For immediate release: Contact: August 6, 2011, 8:30 p.m. Jim Spellane, 202/728-6014 Statement of Edwin D. Hill, IBEW International President, on Contract Negotiations with Verizon We are disappointed but not surprised that the talks with Verizon on a contract covering 45,000 employees in the Northeast region are on the point of breaking down. Verizon has not significantly budged from the extreme set of giveback proposals they put on the table on July 1. As we approach the midnight deadline, negotiators for the IBEW and CWA have yet to see any sign that the company is serious about bargaining. Verizon has advanced the spin that it needs to make itself competitive in the changing telecommunications industry. In doing so, they are asking their workers and the public to compare one of the most cutting-edge telecommunications corporations with low-wage poor service competitors. This is a company with $100 billion in revenue and net profits of $6 billion. Verizon Wireless just paid its parent company and Vodaphone a $10 billion dividend.Verizon Chairman Ivan Seidenberg is paid 300 times what an average worker earns. The top five company executives were paid more than a quarter of a billion dollars over the past four years. If a company like this is not willing to provide wages and benefits to enable its workers to be part of the mainstream middle class in America, then all who work for a living have reason to fear. In the few hours remaining before the expiration of the contract, we call on Verizon to move from its ironclad resistance to good wages, fair working conditions and decent benefits and instead view its workforce as an asset to continued profitability and progress. This group of Verizon workers is prepared to make the strongest possible stand not just for their own contract but for workers everywhere by saying no to the race to the bottom. ‘We Will Not Go Back’Thousands Rally at Verizon’s N.Y. Headquarters
August 3, 2011
More than 10,000 Verizon employees throughout the Northeast rallied outside the company’s New York City headquarters on July 30, sending a message of solidarity against what some are calling the most aggressive anti-worker agenda the company has ever put forth during contract talks.
Negotiations began June 22 between the company and its two unions, the IBEW and Communication Workers of America. Verizon, which earned more than $2.5 billion in profits last year, has demanded pension freezes, increased employee health care payments and proposals that could threaten job security for more than 45,000 workers in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions. IBEW International President Edwin D. Hill was one of a handful of labor leaders, local politicians and community activists who addressed the crowd:
The IBEW represents about 12,850 Verizon employees in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. The members' three-year contract expires August 6. Members overwhelmingly voted for strike authorization last week if negotiations come to a standstil East Windsor, N.J., Local 827 Business Manager Bill Huber is leading negotiations in New Jersey:
About 10,000 IBEW and CWA members marched at a similar rally during contract negotiations in 2008. Labor leaders say that the outcome of the contract negotiations will have a ripple effect throughout the industry, potentially setting the tenor for how similar companies will treat their worke “This is about the future of the telecom industry,” Huber said, noting that Verizon has successfully blocked organizing in its wireless division as technology has moved away from copper landlines and fiber optics – sectors rich with union density:
Click here to watch video of speeches from the rally. Visit the Web sites for Local 827 and Boston Local 2222 for more information from the rally and on the continuing negotiations. A photo album of the event is also available online. Click here to read more about the negotiations in the July Electrical Worker.
Verizon Bargaining – IBEW Membership DataSystem Council T-6 (Mass., N.H. and R.I. Locals)
Boston Local 2222 Braintree, Mass., Local 2313 Manchester, N.H., Local 2320 Middleton, Mass., Local 2321 Middleboro, Mass., Local 2322 Cranston, R.I., Local 2323 Springfield, Mass., Local 2324 Worcester, Mass., Local 2325 Approximate total members: 6,500 East Windsor, N.J., Local 827Approximate total members: 5,400 Syracuse, N.Y., Local 2213Approximate total members: 650 Philadelphia Local 1944Approximate total members: 300 Approximate total IBEW membership working for Verizon: 12,850
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