Verizon employees had been working for almost 10 months without a contract when they went on strike April 13 over outsourcing and the hiring of more nonunion contractors and employees.
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Workers will receive a 10.5 percent increase in wages over the contract term, and Verizon agreed to hire an additional 1,400 US workers.
The contract includes 1,300 new call center jobs, a almost 11 percent wage raise and the first-ever contract for Verizon wireless store workers.
A tentative agreement has been announced for the almost 40,000 network technicians and customer service representatives of the company’s Fios internet, telephone and television services units, who walked off the job on April 13.
Among the sticking points, union officials had said, are the company’s efforts to contract out call center work to the Philippines, Mexico and the Dominican Republic; outsourcing line work, including installing and maintaining telephone poles, to nonunion contractors; closing call centers; and assigning wireline technicians to out-of-state work for as long as two months at a time.
“This contract is a victory for working families across the country and an affirmation of the power of working people”, Chris Shelton, president of the Communications Workers of Americans, said in a statement. Verizon made several major concessions in the deal. The company, however, won cost savings through changes in healthcare plans and limits on post-retirement health benefits.
Workers agreed to get back on job although the agreement still has tentative status.
The employees of Verizon covered by the contracts will receive a wage increase of 10.5% during the duration of the agreements, which is set to expire on August 3, 2019.
According to releases from the Communication Workers of America (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), 1,300 of the new positions will be East Coast call center jobs. They are hoping to end a walkout that has lasted almost seven weeks.
Seven weeks after picking up picket signs, about 40,000 East Coast workers came to terms with Verizon on a variety of issues including pay, benefits and the size of the workforce. Workers will likely return to work on June 1.
The unions say the company is more than profitable enough – with almost $18 billion in net income a year ago – to support a large work force with good benefits and wages. Previously, Verizon, which employs 177,000 workers, had argued that it was shifting its resources to wireless services.
The strike is over for some Verizon workers. The agreement provides a 10.5 per cent raise over three years. “We will be sharing the details of it with our members for approval in the immediate days ahead”.
The tentative agreement ending the nation’s biggest strike in decades includes almost 11 percent raises, the promise of hundreds of new jobs and stability for the next four years.
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New York-based Verizon Communications Inc. said it was a good deal for workers, customers and the telecom giant alike. The carrier also said it will cut back on the number of call center closings it had planned, and will scale back on using contracted employees.
