IN THE NEWS: Union Support Building at Verizon Business

Despite Verizon's efforts to build a wall between its union workers and its non-represented workforce at Verizon Business, a majority of former MCI employees at Verizon Business have shown union support at many locations throughout the country.

The workers have been signing up for union representation at an accelerated pace following Jan. 25 demonstrations outside the company's New York City and Boston headquarters. At the rallies, hundreds of Verizon's CWA- and IBEW-represented workers showed support for the workers by circulating a petition signed by more than 3,000 union members at Verizon.

This prompted 150 Verizon Business technicians to sign an "open letter to management" stating why they wanted a union. One of the signers, John Lindner, is a field tech from Long Island who is currently stationed in Iraq. "While I am defending the country," he said, "my co-workers are defending our job security and are fighting for better working conditions." His comments were echoed by a Verizon Business tech who attended the rally in New York. "I want to express the thanks that I and other workers at Verizon Business felt when our union co-workers came downtown in great numbers and in the cold to support our bid for fair wages and benefits and, most importantly, the right to organize."

"The Verizon Business techs have rejected the company's fear tactics by showing support for union representation," said CWA District 1 Vice President Chris Shelton