America's New Two-Tier Job Structure

Today, CWA reached a tentative agreement with Verizon that protects the job and retirement security of 34,000 members from Virginia to Massachusetts. The details drive home that the current two-tier job structure in America is really between workers who have collective bargaining rights and those who don't. 

"The tentative agreements meet our goal of maintaining the standard of living and employment security of Verizon members over the next three years and reaffirm the fact that workers’ bargaining rights are necessary to maintain the middle class in America,” said CWA President Larry Cohen.

It’s a sentiment that President Cohen repeated in an interview with The New York Times.

“Because of what’s going on in America, every employer, regardless of its financial wherewithal, believes it’s obligated to cut the costs of front-line employees,” he said. “But we held our own. This is an incredibly profitable company, and the reality of today in America is if you hold your own, that’s a victory.”