Verizon Communications Inc. and two labor unions representing about 39,000 striking landline workers rejected one another’s latest proposals toward a new contract Monday, though they remain open to a new round of talks.
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Last month, Verizon staff along with the Communication Workers of America (CWA) made a decision to go on strike as union and the United States telco failed to agree on a new contract.
That’s why I know how important it is that CWA members are taking action against Verizon’s greedy practices and failure to negotiate in good faith.
On April 29, Verizon announced it was “deploying thousands of additional employees and contractors to serve its customers during the strike”. By the time the issues were finally resolved, the union says it didn’t have much time to organize before the agreement expired.
Workers are not overpaid, he said alluding to commercials and statements made in recent weeks. “[He replied] to say they’re looking forward to repaying us in the future”.
Employees who are transferred would receive $2,000 to help them with the commute, although employees who qualify for home relocation benefits would get an extra $5,000 in the consolidation, according to the Verizon proposal.
For the past month, about 38,000 Verizon workers have gone on strike. Thomas DiNapoli, who leads a public pension fund that owns $539 million worth of Verizon shares, recently sent a letter to the company’s CEO stating: “A protracted strike of this magnitude would undoubtedly affect the morale and productivity of Verizon employees”. Talking about the prolonged strike, a CWA representative said: “We think the strike is quite strong and the people are not crossing the lines and we have not seen anything that resembles concerns by members about going back to work”. “And you keep standing up, not only for the working people, but for your union brothers and sisters, and the middle class across this country”, says David Gash, president of the Harrisburg Region Central Labor Council.
Verizon workers strike update revealed the demand of union workers for an abrupt investigation regarding forced fiber upgrades.
Since the strike began, Verizon’s nonunion employees have been filling in and, according to Verizon, “have resolved tens of thousands of fix dispatches and have fulfilled thousands of new FiOS orders”.
Despite the claims on both sides, the Verizon strike ordeal has affected not only the company but its entire workforce as well.
Verizon spokesman Richard Young attributed the vandalism to the strikers.
Verizon offered workers what it called a “last, best offer” last week. The situation will largely affect the Verizon business given that a majority of striking workers are in charge of some of the company’s most critical operations.
“They make money hand-over-fist – they can’t even count it, they make it so fast – and they still want to take it away from us that built the cushion that they’re living on”, said Liz Denn, president CWA Retired Members Local 13032. “We believe collective bargaining should be done across the table, not on YouTube”.
And workers shared memes capturing their frustration with Verizon.
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Next week, in addition to manning the picket lines, CWA and IBEW activists will head to the Verizon shareholders’ meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
