Verizon headquarters in Manhattan on May 12, 2015.
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The vote to strike does not mean work in the wireline business, which includes FiOS Internet, telephone and TV services, will come to a halt as the board of the unions Communications Workers of America (CWA) and global Brotherhood of Electrical Workers that represent the employees have yet to approve it.
Verizon workers in nine states have voted to go on strike if necessary over a dispute about a new contract which is being seen as a huge negative by analysts and investors.
At a gathering in New York, the trade unions declared that often 86 per cents of Verizon’s 39,000 wireline company workers have selected as tends authorize a strike. “They reject management’s harsh concessionary demands”.
About 45,000 Verizon workers went on strike in August 2011 for about two weeks.
The unions say the telecom giant is demanding that workers sharply increase their health care contributions and make concession on pensions. A spokesperson for Verizon said that the company had made a solid offer to the union that recognized the changing landscape of the communications business and offers a solid path toward success and therefore it believes that the unions should reconsider its proposed stand.
According to Young, quite a few aspects of this contract were set up more than 10 years ago and weren’t relevant any longer in such an industry which was constantly facing structural change and increased pressure.
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The contract is also going to be affecting wireline workers from Washington, DC, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware and Connecticut. In view of the threat of a strike, Verizon is training non-unionized workers to take over additional roles to ensure services are not disrupted if the unionized staff would walk off their jobs.
