CWA and IBEW Press Proposals at Verizon Annual Meeting; Demonstrations in Boston and VZ Workplaces

For More Information: Jeff Miller or Candice Johnson, CWA Communications, 202-434-1168, jmiller@cwa-union.org and cjohnson@cwa-union.org

Washington, D.C. -- At the Verizon Communications annual meeting in Overland Park, Kan., today, the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers are asking shareholders to support two key resolutions on governance. One calls for the chairman of the board to be an independent director of the company (Item 7, submitted by the IBEW) and the second calls on the board of director to prohibit the nomination of two or more persons to the board who sit together as board members of another public company (Item 6, submitted by CWA).

While shareholders take up these issues, CWA and IBEW members will be rallying in support of these proposals and to safeguard good jobs and quality service at Verizon. In Boston at 1 p.m., union members will rally outside the 185 Franklin Street Verizon office, and at Verizon locations throughout the mid-Atlantic states, members are mobilizing and leafleting about the impact of Verizon's actions – specifically its decision to freeze the pension plan of non-represented workers.   

Item No. 7 calls on the board of directors to require that an independent director be Verizon's chairman of the board. The unions cited both New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ rules that require corporations that want to be traded on those exchanges to have a majority of independent directors. "We believe that no matter how many independent directors there are on a board, that board is less likely to protect shareholder interests by providing independent oversight if the Chairman of that board is also the CEO, former CEO or some other officer or insider," the unions said.

Item No. 6 spotlights the problem of interlocking directors and calls on the board to end the practice of allowing more than one director in common with another public company.

Speaking in support, CWA Representative A.J. Villegas termed the item "a very important issue to preserve good corporate governance at our company and certainly in the best interests of shareholders. Since 2001, Verizon has had four directors in common with Wyeth, or a predecessor, and two directors in common with Honeywell. Our concern is that these interlocking directors can create the potential for a serious conflict of interest." 

Pamela Harrison, a Verizon retiree and chair of the CWA Local 1103 Retired Members' Chapter, is speaking on behalf of Verizon retirees, criticizing the company's decision to freeze the pension plan for non-represented workers.