U.S. Labor Laws Broken: Verizon ‘Fights Us Every Step of the Way’

After fighting for freedom in Iraq and Afghanistan, John Lindner wonders why he has to fight so hard for basic rights in his own country.

A Verizon Business field technician, Lindner and his colleagues simply want the same chance to have a voice at work that employees have in most other parts of Verizon Communications. A strong majority of the techs throughout the northeast signed cards showing their support for CWA, as verified by members of Congress and other elected leaders, but Verizon refuses to give them recognition.  

Instead, the company has engaged in illegal management surveillance, threats and harassment of union supporters, as affirmed by the National Labor Relations Board after investigating CWA's unfair labor practice charges in New York and Pennsylvania.   

"As a father of four, living in New York City, where everything keeps going up except my salary, a union card would make all the difference to my family's economic security," Linder said, speaking at a congressional forum on global unions in December. "Many of the guys I work with side-by-side, who do the same work as I do, already have a union card — and their paychecks reflect it. The difference is that they work for Verizon Telecom, and I work for Verizon Business.

"My country called me to serve, telling me I had to fight to protect freedom here in the United States," Lindner said. "Imagine the irony of returning home, and finding that my freedom to join a union is being denied."