Verizon faces strike (possible 80,000 off work)

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters)

Verizon Communications Inc., the No. 1 U.S. telephone company, and two unions Saturday held last- minute talks before a midnight deadline that could put 80,000 line technicians and telephone operators on strike in the Northeastern United States.

The current contracts representing 35 percent of Verizon's work force expire at midnight EDT on Aug. 2. The two sides, which have said they are committed to reaching a fair settlement, resumed talks at 9:30 a.m. EDT in Washington and New York. ---

New York-based Verizon, the dominant local telephone company from Maine to Virginia, said it needs to be able to cut costs and shift work or employees to different regions to meet customer demand. On Tuesday, the company said it could cut as many as 4,000 to 5,000 jobs in 2003 to save money. ---

Some Verizon employees are already on strike in the Mid-Atlantic region.

http://www.cwa-union.org/verizon/

Looks like Cingular is doing better by folks - there's a CWA discount if ya go 'orange.'! :-)

http://www.cwa-union.org/

Managers from all over the country including Hawaii have been traveling to New York and other Verizon District 1 and 2 areas since early this week to prepare to take over in the event of a strike.

I personally think Verizon intends to force a strike over 1) job security because of the arbitration they recently lost in the old NYNEX unit and 2) benefits. Benefits will be a the biggest cause of any strikes throughout the old Bell System in the coming year.

I hope everyone here will take notice of the actions you can take to help the Verizon workers. These things may include things like switching your local and long distance service to another "union friendly" carrier. I would hope some of the District 1 & 2 locals will post any mobilization efforts they have in the Activism forum here at DU.

Good Luck Districts 1 & 2. We're behind you 100%. Don't let corporate greed win!

Since I'm a union worker I will not be going back east. Several management people I know are lining up to go there in case of a strike. They say they're looking forward to making extra money doing this.

I tell them they're crazy. First of all the unions are more militant out there. Secondly the west coast does not have the humidity the east coast does. My father's from New York so I know this. Those scabbing may find this the to be most miserable time of their lives.

Extremely humid.

They ain't lived until they've tried to cross an East coast picket line! Those boys don't shit around!

You're going to have to take on some of the costs too. I'm in management for another company and I've taken a pretty big hit on benefits and bonuses, not to mention that my options are utterly worthless.

I'm not saying, "take a bath," but be fair. That's all I ask. This industry has been hit really hard and I want to see it do well. Times right now are tough for everybody.

Exxon/Mobil and Texaco reported record profits. I'm sure Verizon has some over-paid execs and stockholders lurking in the background. I'm online with Verizon DSL right now. Rates haven't gone down.

about average for a large corporation. It's still obscene, and if the union can do anything about those salaries (which I doubt) more power to them.

Rates have not gone down on Verizon DSL? The price should have dropped earlier this year from $50 to $35. If that's not what you're paying, call your business office. Rates have plummeted in a lot of areas.

If you already work for the company, it ain't scabbing, it's just going to work that day.

Let me ask you, can you detail what the differences are from your perspective?

when you cross a union sanctioned pickett line to go to work. Of those management employees who are going back east to replace striking workers some are volunteers some are not. I do sympathize with those management types who were given no choice but those who cross willfully are damned fools.

This argument is probably moot so far anyhow. The last I heard both sides were still talking and there is no walkout.

During a "work stoppage" (their term) the Company puts management people into the union jobs. The management employees don't have much of a choice.

Been there done that. In fact, even now that I'm retired I got mail from Verizon asking me if I'd want to go back to work during a strike. I politely threw the letter in the trash. Although I could have used the money.

looks like the union will continue to work without a contract but that managers (like me) will report to our strike assignments for training in case of a walkout.

As I understand the issue, it is primarily about loss of jobs. In markets like NYC, the number of Verizon lines has dropped while competitors have taken 20% of the market. Management wants to reduce the number of workers to account for fewer telephone lines. They are allowed to lay off in response to an "external event" according to the contract. The arbitrator ruled that competitive losses were not an external event.

To this extent I have to support management. However, management may be also trying to shift work from high-cost states like NY to places like WV, or to cut staff for other reasons. On these issues I would have to support the union.

And for those of you who are criticizing Verizon, name me another company in the industry with a better record, even though Verizon has the union strongholds in the northeast.

They most likely "stopped the clock" at 11:59 pm. Meaning, they will continue to work under the old contract as the current contract as it has not yet "expired".

...these corporations never lay off the overpaid managers. Many of these companies are so top-heavy with executives, that if they laid off even ten of them, they could probably afford to keep many workers (who are actually producing something) working.

They will get them for handling the crisis so well. My take, had they handled it well it would not have gotten to this point. I see it as a lack of foresight on behalf of management.

CWA seems to be on better terms with Cingular.

Problem is - unions and working folks have been attacked since the Reagan era in the 1980s. Although I've had my disagreements with some union stances in the past, I support the worker bees on this one.

Acontract talks continued for 79,000 Verizon Communications workers in the Northeast, unions agreed not to walk off the job or start picketing after their current three-year contract expired at 12:01 a.m. today.


Neither side provided detailed indications of how close they were to agreement on a new labor pact. Top company and labor negotiators adjourned talks with federal mediators in Washington shortly after 1 a.m. and were to meet again at 10 a.m. today. This morning's developments staved off - at least for now - a threatened strike that could snarl telephone repairs and installations for Verizon customers from Maine to Virginia.

Paul R. Feeney, communications director for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which along with the Communications Workers of America was negotiating with Verizon, said,

''We will not be setting up pickets at midnight at any Verizon location, and we will be encouraging all our employees to report to work as scheduled until they have further instructions from our office.'' However, Feeney, a member of IBEW Local 2222 in North Quincy, said he had ''absolutely no idea'' how long the unions would agree to hold off on a strike, which more than 92 percent of members have authorized.

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/215/nation/Unions_delay_strike_move_at_Verizon+.shtml