Workers in nine eastern states and Washington, D.C., walked off the job on April 13.
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The tense standoff between Verizon and its striking workers has turned increasingly worse in Delaware and along the East Coast, and Verizon has alleged picketers that have cut the cable and phone lines and harassed replacement technicians, Delaware Online reports.
“Terrified that the public might find out about what has happened to the good middle-class jobs the company has shipped overseas, Verizon sent private armed security forces after peaceful CWA representatives and called in a SWAT team armed with automatic weapons”, the union wrote in a statement. This will come after they have a meeting with Labor Secretary Tom Perez.
“The best way to resolve this labor dispute is at the bargaining table, and I am heartened by the parties’ mutual commitment to get back to immediate discussions and work toward a new contract”, said Secretary Perez in a statement late Sunday”.
“But CWA’s delegation this week uncovered call centers in the Philippines staffed with workers during USA daytime hours taking every imaginable type of customer service call related to the company’s wireline services”, including the one where workers were paid “just $1.78 an hour to answer calls from frustrated customers based in the United States”.
“We’re saddled with labor contracts from 50 years ago that no longer work today”, he said, adding that most of the workers on strike are part of Verizon’s landline and copper services units.
Some 45,000 Verizon workers went on strike for about two weeks in August 2011. At the time, Ms. Erwin had said that the company would resume new installations in a week or two.
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Chris Shelton, president of Communications Workers of America, or CWA, says his union was contacted by call center workers in the Philippines who work for Verizon. He said that the temporary workers lacked the expertise required to install the FiOS service for customers. Reportedly, Verizon is outsourcing jobs and cutting benefits.
