Institutional Investors Holding More than $790 million in Verizon Stock Call for Implementation of A

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

Washington, D.C. – A group of seven institutional investors holding more that $790 million in Verizon Communications stock yesterday demanded that Verizon implement the shareholder proposal that received a majority vote at the 2007 annual meeting. On October 2, The Australian Council of Superannuation Investors, an association of Australian pension funds that manages more than $220 billion in assets, sent a separate letter to the company urging them to implement the proposal.

"A majority of Verizon shareholders has spoken and has demanded a voice in setting executive compensation at Verizon," said CWA Executive Vice President Jeff Rechenbach. "CWA urges Verizon to implement this proposal to reassure shareholders and to demonstrate good corporate governance."

CWA is a significant shareholder at Verizon. Its Members' Relief Fund holds nearly $1 million worth of Verizon shares. Its employees' pension plan holds more than $1 million of Verizon shares. CWA's 60,000 Verizon members also hold an estimated $2 billion worth of shares.

The "Say on Pay" called on Verizon to allow shareholders to vote for or against the compensation of its top executive officers at each annual meeting. The vote would be non-binding but would give shareholders a voice on executive compensation and encourage meaningful conversations between the Board of Directors and institutional investors.

Shareholders in the United Kingdom, Australia, the Netherlands, and Sweden have the ability to weigh in on executive compensation in a non-binding vote. The evidence from the U.K., in particular, is that "Say on Pay" appears to moderate pay increases, enhances the ability of compensation committees to stand up to insider pressure, and adds legitimacy to the executive compensation process.

The Wall Street Journal has reported that 76% of money managers and financial analysts favor giving investors a non-binding vote on executive compensation. Editorials in major newspapers, including the Financial Times and The Economist, have called for companies to adopt say on pay.

For more information on corporate governance at Verizon, go to http://investor.cwa-union.org/verizon.

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CWA represents 700,000 workers in telecommunications and information technology, media and publishing, health care, higher education and public service, manufacturing and the airline industry.