Telcom News: Verizon Business Techs Are Now Union

After a long fight for union recognition, nearly 600 former MCI technicians at Verizon Business officially gain CWA representation this month as a result of CWA's contract at Verizon, which was ratified last September.

The technicians, who had been seeking union representation for over two years and perform the same jobs as union-represented workers, received strong support from CWA and IBEW members in their campaign to "tear down the wall" between union and non-union sectors at the company.

The agreement also includes new opportunities for existing CWA members at Verizon to provide customer support and service at Verizon Business. Overall, the pact should create 2,500 new union jobs at Verizon by converting 1,200 temporary and part-time jobs to full-time, eliminating subcontracting in a number of areas, and bringing new FiOS jobs into CWA bargaining units.