Verizon Bargaining 2011: Report # 65

Bargaining continued in Rye, NY this week as the Mid-Atlantic CWA/IBEW bargaining committee met with the Company each day in an attempt to move closer to a fair contract settlement for both the company and our members.

Verizon continues to push its agenda of demanding givebacks from our members in almost every area of our contracts. It has demanded significant changes to economic issues including healthcare and pensions which would result in cost shifting thousands of dollars a year to every active member. Verizon also demands that our retirees contribute the same for their healthcare coverage. They have demanded changes in non-economic issues like eliminating the 18% vacation scheduling percentage and increases in the amount of overtime our members can be forced to work. Verizon has stuck with its agenda to gut our contracts.

Verizon has rejected every proposal the Union has passed across the table in this round of bargaining. The standard response has been that Verizon cannot agree to any proposal that adds cost to the business. The company’s bargaining chair has repeatedly stated the corporation needs each of the cuts it has proposed in order for the business to survive. Your Union bargaining committee has seriously looked at many of the retrogressive demands the company has placed on the table and made meaningful counter-proposals in an attempt to reach agreement. However, we have told them many times that bargaining is not a one-way street. We have told Verizon that in order for us to address the company’s needs, it in turn, needs to address the needs of our members. To date Verizon has remained unresponsive to our members’ needs.

We cannot stress enough this fight will not be won at the bargaining table alone. Only through members standing up and demonstrating they will do whatever it takes, will we see this Company move away from their most egregious retrogressive demands. Following last week’s mobilization and rally activities we have seen a demonstration of how our members’ activity in the workplace has an effect at the bargaining table. At the end of this week, Verizon passed a comprehensive package of proposals to the Union. We will evaluate fully the company’s latest proposals before we respond.

We are in the fight of our lives with Verizon. It is obvious from the company’s demands it has a plan for the business that does not include us. After months of hearing the company tell us how the business is in trouble and how we need to accept the concessions its demands in order to survive, we recently learn that the Chairman and CEO, Lowell McAdam tripled his compensation from 7.2 million to 23.1 million annually. This is a slap in the face to every member. We need to send this company a clear message, we are determined if there is no place in this business for us, then we will make certain there will be no business without us either. Bargaining will recess for the next two weeks due to the Passover/Easter holiday. The Union bargaining committee will use this time as an opportunity to fully examine the latest comprehensive package of proposals placed on the table by Verizon and formulate our response.