What is the current situation between CWA and Verizon?
Verizon made more than $19 billion in profits over the past four years. It pays its executives extremely well — Chairman Ivan Seidenberg was paid $80 million over the past four years, more than 300 times what an average worker earns. The top five executives were paid more than a quarter of a BILLION dollars.
Verizon Wireless just paid its parent company and its partner Vodafone a $10 billion dividend.
Despite their profitability, Verizon is trying to cut middle class worker's pay and is asking for devastating cuts and concessions in contract negotiations.
- Verizon has been sending jobs offshore to Mexico, the Philippines and other countries, and now wants to contract out even more. At a time when the company is consistently profitable, Verizon wants to cut jobs here in the U.S. and move them overseas. That will harm workers and middle class families.
- At a time when workers have less job security than ever, Verizon is trying to eliminate benefits for workers who are injured on the job. Many of these employees do dangerous jobs, putting themselves at risk of permanent injury or death from a fall or accident with no way of taking care of their families.
- Verizon wants to eliminate sick days for new workers and slash sick days and holidays for all workers.
- Verizon has proposed cutting the healthcare benefits they promised retired workers.
- Despite the fact that Verizon's CEO gets free healthcare for life, Verizon executives are demanding that employees pay much higher healthcare costs — massive changes that will cost families thousands of dollars more per year.
What Do Current Union Employees Earn?
As a result of 50 years of collective bargaining, Verizon technicians and customer service representatives earn solid middle-class wages and benefits. Verizon wants to turn back the clock on these gains by freezing or eliminating pensions, cutting health benefits, and changing the rules for wage payments.
What are CWA and IBEW Doing to Address Rising Health Care Costs?
For many years, CWA and IBEW have worked with Verizon to address rising health costs and would like to continue to do so. CWA and IBEW have proposed creating what is a health plan at Verizon that would reduce health care costs by focusing resources on keeping employees healthy and providing quality of care. Leading companies like Pitney Bowes have realized vast savings through such an approach.
Verizon has refused even to discuss such an approach, insisting instead on shifting costs onto employees through higher premiums, co-payments, and deductibles that could cost Verizon employees with families up to $6,800 annually. Verizon wants to eliminate retiree health benefits for new hires, and raise contributions from current retirees and current employees when they retire.
How are CWA and IBEW addressing the changes in the telecommunications industry?
The unions recognize that the telecommunications industry is rapidly evolving. New technologies like FiOS, cable telephony, and wireless 4G LTE are growing. Young consumers are abandoning land lines. High speed Internet, video and wireless are driving the market.
Despite these changes, Verizon remains a highly profitable company. Verizon Chairman Ivan Seidenberg alone pocketed $80.8 million in the last four years. Even more outrageous, Verizon actually managed to squeeze a $1.3 million tax rebate out of the U.S. government despite its billions in profits. Over the past five years,
At a time like this, Verizon should not destroy middle class jobs. They should be working with their unions to provide high quality service to the public and building out FiOS as broadly as possible. They should be ensuring that the unionized workforce grows with them. They should not be slashing living standards and contracting out work to low-wage contractors or to overseas companies.