A fight for middle class jobs at Verizon
Tuesday, Aug. 9 by Hannah Hager
http://www.loudountimes.com/index.php/news/article/a_fight_for_middle_class_jobs_at_verizon343/

For nearly a decade, Verizon told its costumers, “we never stop working for you.” But this week, 45,000 of its employees have done so.

Contract negotiations between the telecommunications giant and two groups representing the unionized Verizon employees, Communications Workers of America and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, fell through Aug. 7, resulting in a strike of Verizon union workers up and down the East Coast.

From Massachusetts to Virginia, workers are donning red shirts and carting placards reading, “CWA On Strike For Middle Class Jobs,” in front of Verizon stores, including its campus in Ashburn.

The workers are striking because Verizon is preparing to make wide-spread wage cuts and to increase the amount employees contribute to their health care plans and pensions, among other things.

Leesburg resident Steffan Ahalt has worked for Verizon for more than 10 years. He said he sometimes works seven days a week for the company that now wants to eliminate several of his paid holidays and sick days.

He estimates that Verizon’s new health care proposal would result in him having to meet a $7,500 annual deductible in order to provide health insurance for his family.

The concessions Verizon is currently proposing translates to a $20,000 decrease in benefits, said another Verizon worker and fellow striker, George. George wished to be identified only by his first name.

The strike only affects the company’s wireline division, which includes FIOS, its television and Internet services. Verizon’s wireless division is not, and never was, unionized.

Ahalt said he’s most frustrated that Verizon won’t meet CWA at the negotiation table. CWA represents nearly 35,000 of the workers and IBEW represents the remaining 10,000 employees. Ahalt and three other men will walk back and forth in front of Verizon’s Market Street location until CWA and Verizon can reach an agreement, they said. Their red shirts are emblazoned with cobra snakes alongside an inscription, “Will strike if provoked.”

But neither Ahalt, George nor “Faye,” who is striking with nearly 10 other workers in front of Verizon’s Ashburn campus, want to be on strike.

“With the economy the way it is, I’d rather be working,” Ahalt said. CWA pays the workers $120 per week to strike while negotiations ensue. Negotiations could continue for days, weeks or months.

George insists that if the union worker’s wages drop, so will the wages of Verizon’s contract workers.

“This is a fight for middle-class jobs in the U.S.,” he said.

Faye, who also did not wish to be named, echoed his sentiments saying that if Verizon wins, its workers – union and non-union – will suffer, and that worker’s winter holiday packages will be severance packages.

“They’re taking everything back that we’ve earned over the years,” she said.

Faye was joined by Caroline Greenfield, and the two women blocked the entrance into Verizon’s Ashburn campus Sept. 8 asking, “Do you really want to cross a picket line?”

Faye has been with Verizon for 10 years and Greenfield for nearly 30 years. Greenfield marched in front of the entrance waving at the cars who occasionally honked their horns in support of the union workers.
“They’re literally selling us off piece by piece,” Faye said.

The union workers are perplexed that Verizon, a company that is currently profitable and has a former chief executive officer, Ivan Seidenberg, who made the Forbes list of top CEO compensations at $37 million, is asking its workers to make concessions on their compensations.

Waving at the copper electrical lines above, Ahalt said Verizon has already paid for its infrastructure work throughout Loudoun, as its FIOS plan is completely built out. The company is now accruing profit on that initiative, he said.

“For someone who’s making billions of dollars a year, we just want [our wages] to stay the same,” he said.

Caroline Greenfield and other members of the Communications Workers of America union are on strike against Verizon who is asking the workers to make compensation concessions. Times-Mirror Staff Photo/Laura Peters
Attachments:

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

NewsAll Unity@Verizon News Articles
Sep 7, 2011

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CWA has begun running advertisements to highlight the critical role the Verizon workers played in restoring vital services following the attack. Many of these workers have suffered serious health issues related to the work they did in the following days, weeks and months. Verizon - a corporation already making billions in profits each year - now wants to punish those and other workers by eliminating sick days and forcing workers to pay thousands of dollars a year in health care costs. Read More

Sep 2, 2011

This Labor Day, Verizon Strike Has Bigger Lessons for U.S. Economy
For working families, this Labor Day brings a continued free fall from the middle class standard of living that American workers once enjoyed. Read More

Sep 1, 2011

CWAers Keep Up Pressure on Verizon as Bargaining Resumes
As bargaining with Verizon reconvened in Rye, N.Y., this week for 35,000 CWA members and 10,000 more at IBEW, negotiators went back to the table with a clear message: workers will not allow the company to destroy their collective bargaining rights or decades of hard-won progress made in past negotiations. Read More

AFSCME President: 'All Of Us Are Proud to Stand With CWA'
http://www.cwa-union.org/news/entry/battle_for_fair_contract_at_verizon_unites_local_global_union_members

More than 500 CWA members, allies from AFSCME and around the globe and a "pig" representing Verizon's greed, marched to a VZW store in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday to demand a fair contract for Verizon workers.

Below: CWA President Larry Cohen help leads chants and cheers in front of the Verizon Wireless store. Photos by Jay Mallin.
Showing Verizon and downtown Washington, D.C., what solidarity looks like, 500 CWA, AFSCME and UNI Global Union members marched and rallied Wednesday in support of Verizon workers fighting for a fair contract.

"All of us are proud to stand with CWA," AFSCME President Gerald McEntee told the cheering, chanting crowd on a day of torrential rains. "Are we going to help them win this fight? You bet we are."

The courageous two-week strike by 35,000 CWA and 10,000 IBEW members on the East Coast in August forced Verizon and Verizon Wireless to extend the workers' current contracts and resume bargaining. Despite billions in profit, the company is demanding draconian benefit cuts, wage freezes and language changes that would roll back a half-century of negotiations that created good, middle-class jobs at Verizon.

Thanking local and global allies for standing with CWA, President Larry Cohen introduced McEntee and AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka, then led the crowd in chanting, "Workers, united, will never be defeated!"

The march began at 5 p.m. a few blocks from the White House and headed to a Verizon Wireless store. Scores of green-shirted AFSCME members joined the parade as marchers passed the union's headquarters.

Passersby honked in support as the crowd stretched over a block, chanting for a fair contract and demanding an end to Verizon's union-busting. Later, the march continued, passing the White House and ending at the AFL-CIO.

UNI President Philip Jennings told the crowd that his members were eager to join with CWA for the march and rally, and that fighting for workers' rights around the world, "is what we do at UNI," and that ultimately workers will prevail against corporate greed and political attacks.

"What we're seeing is not sustainable. It is not fair. But this is a struggle that we can win. If anyone can change the world, it's the trade union movement," Jennings said.

Speakers made it clear that attacks on one group of workers is an attack on all, be they public and private sector. "AFSCME members work hard, and we want Verizon's management to know what we do," McEntee said. "We pick up their trash. We repair their roads. We drive their kids' schools buses and we answer their 911 emergency calls. And we stand with the hardworking members of CWA, who are calling for honest negotiations and fair treatment."

View more photos from Wednesday's march and keep up to date on Verizon mobilization and negotiations at CWA's Unity@Verizon website.

More than 500 CWA members, allies from AFSCME and around the globe and a "pig" representing Verizon's greed, marched to a VZW store in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday to demand a fair contract for Verizon workers.
Attachments:

I work for At&t and am watching this very closely. Can you people tell me where I can get a strike shirt. I am in the CWA but I will wear any shirt to support you guys. Hang in there... Loudoun News Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A fight for middle class jobs at Verizon
> Tuesday, Aug. 9 by Hannah Hager
> http://www.loudountimes.com/index.php/news/article
> /a_fight_for_middle_class_jobs_at_verizon343/
>
> For nearly a decade, Verizon told its costumers,
> “we never stop working for you.” But this
> week, 45,000 of its employees have done so.
>
> Contract negotiations between the
> telecommunications giant and two groups
> representing the unionized Verizon employees,
> Communications Workers of America and
> International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers,
> fell through Aug. 7, resulting in a strike of
> Verizon union workers up and down the East Coast.
>
> From Massachusetts to Virginia, workers are
> donning red shirts and carting placards reading,
> “CWA On Strike For Middle Class Jobs,” in
> front of Verizon stores, including its campus in
> Ashburn.
>
> The workers are striking because Verizon is
> preparing to make wide-spread wage cuts and to
> increase the amount employees contribute to their
> health care plans and pensions, among other
> things.
>
> Leesburg resident Steffan Ahalt has worked for
> Verizon for more than 10 years. He said he
> sometimes works seven days a week for the company
> that now wants to eliminate several of his paid
> holidays and sick days.
>
> He estimates that Verizon’s new health care
> proposal would result in him having to meet a
> $7,500 annual deductible in order to provide
> health insurance for his family.
>
> The concessions Verizon is currently proposing
> translates to a $20,000 decrease in benefits, said
> another Verizon worker and fellow striker, George.
> George wished to be identified only by his first
> name.
>
> The strike only affects the company’s wireline
> division, which includes FIOS, its television and
> Internet services. Verizon’s wireless division
> is not, and never was, unionized.
>
> Ahalt said he’s most frustrated that Verizon
> won’t meet CWA at the negotiation table. CWA
> represents nearly 35,000 of the workers and IBEW
> represents the remaining 10,000 employees. Ahalt
> and three other men will walk back and forth in
> front of Verizon’s Market Street location until
> CWA and Verizon can reach an agreement, they said.
> Their red shirts are emblazoned with cobra snakes
> alongside an inscription, “Will strike if
> provoked.”
>
> But neither Ahalt, George nor “Faye,” who is
> striking with nearly 10 other workers in front of
> Verizon’s Ashburn campus, want to be on strike.
>
> “With the economy the way it is, I’d rather be
> working,” Ahalt said. CWA pays the workers $120
> per week to strike while negotiations ensue.
> Negotiations could continue for days, weeks or
> months.
>
> George insists that if the union worker’s wages
> drop, so will the wages of Verizon’s contract
> workers.
>
> “This is a fight for middle-class jobs in the
> U.S.,” he said.
>
> Faye, who also did not wish to be named, echoed
> his sentiments saying that if Verizon wins, its
> workers – union and non-union – will suffer,
> and that worker’s winter holiday packages will
> be severance packages.
>
> “They’re taking everything back that we’ve
> earned over the years,” she said.
>
> Faye was joined by Caroline Greenfield, and the
> two women blocked the entrance into Verizon’s
> Ashburn campus Sept. 8 asking, “Do you really
> want to cross a picket line?”
>
> Faye has been with Verizon for 10 years and
> Greenfield for nearly 30 years. Greenfield marched
> in front of the entrance waving at the cars who
> occasionally honked their horns in support of the
> union workers.
> “They’re literally selling us off piece by
> piece,” Faye said.
>
> The union workers are perplexed that Verizon, a
> company that is currently profitable and has a
> former chief executive officer, Ivan Seidenberg,
> who made the Forbes list of top CEO compensations
> at $37 million, is asking its workers to make
> concessions on their compensations.
>
> Waving at the copper electrical lines above, Ahalt
> said Verizon has already paid for its
> infrastructure work throughout Loudoun, as its
> FIOS plan is completely built out. The company is
> now accruing profit on that initiative, he said.
>
> “For someone who’s making billions of dollars
> a year, we just want to stay the same,” he
> said.
>
> Caroline Greenfield and other members of the
> Communications Workers of America union are on
> strike against Verizon who is asking the workers
> to make compensation concessions. Times-Mirror
> Staff Photo/Laura Peters

Jason Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I work for At&t and am watching this very closely.
> Can you people tell me where I can get a strike
> shirt. I am in the CWA but I will wear any shirt
> to support you guys. Hang in there... Loudoun News
> Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > A fight for middle class jobs at Verizon
> > Tuesday, Aug. 9 by Hannah Hager
> >
> http://www.loudountimes.com/index.php/news/article
>
> > /a_fight_for_middle_class_jobs_at_verizon343/
> >
> > For nearly a decade, Verizon told its
> costumers,
> > “we never stop working for you.” But this
> > week, 45,000 of its employees have done so.
> >
> > Contract negotiations between the
> > telecommunications giant and two groups
> > representing the unionized Verizon employees,
> > Communications Workers of America and
> > International Brotherhood of Electrical
> Workers,
> > fell through Aug. 7, resulting in a strike of
> > Verizon union workers up and down the East
> Coast.
> >
> > From Massachusetts to Virginia, workers are
> > donning red shirts and carting placards
> reading,
> > “CWA On Strike For Middle Class Jobs,” in
> > front of Verizon stores, including its campus
> in
> > Ashburn.
> >
> > The workers are striking because Verizon is
> > preparing to make wide-spread wage cuts and to
> > increase the amount employees contribute to
> their
> > health care plans and pensions, among other
> > things.
> >
> > Leesburg resident Steffan Ahalt has worked for
> > Verizon for more than 10 years. He said he
> > sometimes works seven days a week for the
> company
> > that now wants to eliminate several of his paid
> > holidays and sick days.
> >
> > He estimates that Verizon’s new health care
> > proposal would result in him having to meet a
> > $7,500 annual deductible in order to provide
> > health insurance for his family.
> >
> > The concessions Verizon is currently proposing
> > translates to a $20,000 decrease in benefits,
> said
> > another Verizon worker and fellow striker,
> George.
> > George wished to be identified only by his
> first
> > name.
> >
> > The strike only affects the company’s
> wireline
> > division, which includes FIOS, its television
> and
> > Internet services. Verizon’s wireless
> division
> > is not, and never was, unionized.
> >
> > Ahalt said he’s most frustrated that Verizon
> > won’t meet CWA at the negotiation table. CWA
> > represents nearly 35,000 of the workers and
> IBEW
> > represents the remaining 10,000 employees.
> Ahalt
> > and three other men will walk back and forth in
> > front of Verizon’s Market Street location
> until
> > CWA and Verizon can reach an agreement, they
> said.
> > Their red shirts are emblazoned with cobra
> snakes
> > alongside an inscription, “Will strike if
> > provoked.”
> >
> > But neither Ahalt, George nor “Faye,” who
> is
> > striking with nearly 10 other workers in front
> of
> > Verizon’s Ashburn campus, want to be on
> strike.
> >
> > “With the economy the way it is, I’d rather
> be
> > working,” Ahalt said. CWA pays the workers
> $120
> > per week to strike while negotiations ensue.
> > Negotiations could continue for days, weeks or
> > months.
> >
> > George insists that if the union worker’s
> wages
> > drop, so will the wages of Verizon’s contract
> > workers.
> >
> > “This is a fight for middle-class jobs in the
> > U.S.,” he said.
> >
> > Faye, who also did not wish to be named, echoed
> > his sentiments saying that if Verizon wins, its
> > workers – union and non-union – will
> suffer,
> > and that worker’s winter holiday packages
> will
> > be severance packages.
> >
> > “They’re taking everything back that
> we’ve
> > earned over the years,” she said.
> >
> > Faye was joined by Caroline Greenfield, and the
> > two women blocked the entrance into Verizon’s
> > Ashburn campus Sept. 8 asking, “Do you really
> > want to cross a picket line?”
> >
> > Faye has been with Verizon for 10 years and
> > Greenfield for nearly 30 years. Greenfield
> marched
> > in front of the entrance waving at the cars who
> > occasionally honked their horns in support of
> the
> > union workers.
> > “They’re literally selling us off piece by
> > piece,” Faye said.
> >
> > The union workers are perplexed that Verizon, a
> > company that is currently profitable and has a
> > former chief executive officer, Ivan
> Seidenberg,
> > who made the Forbes list of top CEO
> compensations
> > at $37 million, is asking its workers to make
> > concessions on their compensations.
> >
> > Waving at the copper electrical lines above,
> Ahalt
> > said Verizon has already paid for its
> > infrastructure work throughout Loudoun, as its
> > FIOS plan is completely built out. The company
> is
> > now accruing profit on that initiative, he
> said.
> >
> > “For someone who’s making billions of
> dollars
> > a year, we just want to stay the same,” he
> > said.
> >
> > Caroline Greenfield and other members of the
> > Communications Workers of America union are on
> > strike against Verizon who is asking the
> workers
> > to make compensation concessions. Times-Mirror
> > Staff Photo/Laura Peters

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