IBEW Reaches Settlement with Verizon
(Washington, DC) The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers announced tonight that it has reached a tentative five-year agreement with Verizon covering approximately 22,000 members in New England, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
"This agreement is, at its core, a triumph for trade unionism in the telecommunications industry," said IBEW International President Edwin D. Hill.
The highlights of the contract are:
Wage increases totaling a minimum of 10.6 percent depending on inflation over the life of the agreement;
Preservation of existing job security provisions including for those workers recently reinstated as a result of an arbitrators decision that Verizon had not followed proper layoff procedures -- and restrictions on the companys ability to shift work;
Continuation of no health insurance premiums for active and retired workers;
Pension formula increases totaling 11 percent over the life of the agreement;
Corporate profit sharing payments of $3,000 per employee minimum.
"We said during the negotiations that a unions primary mission is to fight for jobs and a more secure future for its members. This agreement does that, and it was achieved thanks to the strong solidarity of union members during this long and difficult process," Hill said. "This is an important step in maintaining high quality, unionized jobs in the telecommunications industry and shows that collective bargaining enhances a companys chances of success in the competitive marketplace."
Hill praised the Communications Workers of America (CWA) noting that the two unions worked in complete unity throughout the negotiations. He also saluted the dedicated efforts of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service to keep the collective bargaining process on track.
"We are pleased that this agreement was reached without a strike and the resulting impact that a work stoppage would have had on our customers," Hill added.
The IBEWs lead negotiators were Joseph Penna, director of the unions Telecommunications Department; Myles Calvey, chairman of IBEW System Council T-6 representing workers in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, and Dominic Turdo, president and business manager of Local 827 in New Jersey.
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