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CWA Targets Verizon Union-Busting
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Verizon’s extreme campaign of anti-union hostility and betrayal has mobilized CWA members in a national effort to persuade Verizon to abide by the terms of the contract negotiated last year.
CWA members are taking advantage of every possible public platform: leafleting the shareholders meeting in Memphis; picketing outside the homes of Verizon executives and managers; testifying to state public utility commissions; and conducting workplace demonstrations. CWA is backing up the effort with a radio and newspaper campaign to let the public and consumers know that Verizon can’t be trusted.
Verizon has been working overtime to block workers from getting the union representation they want. At Wireless, the company has stalled the process for defining call center and technical units, dragging out the arbitration process. In Information Services, where hundreds of workers already have chosen CWA representation, Verizon has engaged in blatantly illegal behavior and filed a federal lawsuit to try to rescind CWA certification.
In an exchange of correspondence with Verizon Chief Executive Officer Ivan Seidenberg, CWA President Morton Bahr cautioned that Verizon’s continued anti-union activities were hurting the chances of restoring a positive relationship between the company and the union. CWA “will not tolerate this and will strike back,” Bahr said.
CWA Executive Vice President Larry Cohen called the company’s actions “the most hostile and aggressive responses of any CWA employer by far.” Cohen cited numerous examples of Verizon management’s failure to live up to the contract it signed last year, including a 50-page Internet site dedicated to spreading an anti-CWA message.
“The cornerstone of our agreements (with Verizon) is that management will not oppose CWA representation. On the contrary, there is not a single instance where Verizon management in Information Services or Wireless has respected neutrality and refrained from opposing CWA representation,” Cohen said.
The 520 workers at seven Verizon Information Services offices in New York state thought they had won their union last month. After CWA was certified, Verizon kicked off a campaign of harassment and arm-twisting, pressuring some workers to rescind their votes. CWA has filed multiple unfair labor practice charges and expects the National Labor Relations Board to issue complaints over the next few weeks. Meanwhile workers are gearing up for bargaining, said Ed Sabol, assistant to CWA District 1 Vice President Larry Mancino.
“Verizon will use any possible argument to confuse and delay the issue in an effort not to comply with the neutrality and card check provisions of the contract,” Sabol said.
CWA is pursuing NLRB action in New Jersey, where the board has ordered that a hearing on the union’s bid for representation of 300 Information Services employees go forward. Verizon has tried to block this action, filing a second federal lawsuit and appealing the NLRB ruling.
The company is using similar stalling tactics at Wireless, but that hasn’t stopped an active organizing effort among Wireless workers, Sabol said.
At Verizon’s annual meeting in Memphis last month, about 50 CWAers and members of IUE-CWA, all wearing red, leafleted shareholders before the meeting, then went inside to press their case for worker and retiree fairness. Members of CWA Local 3806, IUE-CWA Local 282 and CWA staff alerted stockholders to the company’s pattern of broken promises.
CWA told shareholders that Verizon needs to focus greater attention on operational issues, like improving the rollout of DSL Internet access. “Unfortunately, the company has been more interested in opposing its unionized workforce and other workers who want a union voice. This is a major distraction that is harmful to employees, customers and shareholders,” the union said.
Ed Creegan, CWA District 1 retiree representative, told shareholders that Verizon had broken faith with the tens of thousands of retirees who have not received a pension benefit increase in 11 years. Despite a $22 billion surplus in the pension plan, Verizon has chosen to pad its bottom line, boosting stock options and bonuses for top executives instead of increasing benefits for workers who built the company, Creegan said. Some longtime Verizon pensioners earn benefits of just $323 a month, he said.
Verizon’s extreme campaign of anti-union hostility and betrayal has mobilized CWA members in a national effort to persuade Verizon to abide by the terms of the contract negotiated last year.
CWA members are taking advantage of every possible public platform: leafleting the shareholders meeting in Memphis; picketing outside the homes of Verizon executives and managers; testifying to state public utility commissions; and conducting workplace demonstrations. CWA is backing up the effort with a radio and newspaper campaign to let the public and consumers know that Verizon can’t be trusted.
Verizon has been working overtime to block workers from getting the union representation they want. At Wireless, the company has stalled the process for defining call center and technical units, dragging out the arbitration process. In Information Services, where hundreds of workers already have chosen CWA representation, Verizon has engaged in blatantly illegal behavior and filed a federal lawsuit to try to rescind CWA certification.
In an exchange of correspondence with Verizon Chief Executive Officer Ivan Seidenberg, CWA President Morton Bahr cautioned that Verizon’s continued anti-union activities were hurting the chances of restoring a positive relationship between the company and the union. CWA “will not tolerate this and will strike back,” Bahr said.
CWA Executive Vice President Larry Cohen called the company’s actions “the most hostile and aggressive responses of any CWA employer by far.” Cohen cited numerous examples of Verizon management’s failure to live up to the contract it signed last year, including a 50-page Internet site dedicated to spreading an anti-CWA message.
“The cornerstone of our agreements (with Verizon) is that management will not oppose CWA representation. On the contrary, there is not a single instance where Verizon management in Information Services or Wireless has respected neutrality and refrained from opposing CWA representation,” Cohen said.
The 520 workers at seven Verizon Information Services offices in New York state thought they had won their union last month. After CWA was certified, Verizon kicked off a campaign of harassment and arm-twisting, pressuring some workers to rescind their votes. CWA has filed multiple unfair labor practice charges and expects the National Labor Relations Board to issue complaints over the next few weeks. Meanwhile workers are gearing up for bargaining, said Ed Sabol, assistant to CWA District 1 Vice President Larry Mancino.
“Verizon will use any possible argument to confuse and delay the issue in an effort not to comply with the neutrality and card check provisions of the contract,” Sabol said.
CWA is pursuing NLRB action in New Jersey, where the board has ordered that a hearing on the union’s bid for representation of 300 Information Services employees go forward. Verizon has tried to block this action, filing a second federal lawsuit and appealing the NLRB ruling.
The company is using similar stalling tactics at Wireless, but that hasn’t stopped an active organizing effort among Wireless workers, Sabol said.
At Verizon’s annual meeting in Memphis last month, about 50 CWAers and members of IUE-CWA, all wearing red, leafleted shareholders before the meeting, then went inside to press their case for worker and retiree fairness. Members of CWA Local 3806, IUE-CWA Local 282 and CWA staff alerted stockholders to the company’s pattern of broken promises.
CWA told shareholders that Verizon needs to focus greater attention on operational issues, like improving the rollout of DSL Internet access. “Unfortunately, the company has been more interested in opposing its unionized workforce and other workers who want a union voice. This is a major distraction that is harmful to employees, customers and shareholders,” the union said.
Ed Creegan, CWA District 1 retiree representative, told shareholders that Verizon had broken faith with the tens of thousands of retirees who have not received a pension benefit increase in 11 years. Despite a $22 billion surplus in the pension plan, Verizon has chosen to pad its bottom line, boosting stock options and bonuses for top executives instead of increasing benefits for workers who built the company, Creegan said. Some longtime Verizon pensioners earn benefits of just $323 a month, he said.