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Verizon Attack Betrays CWA, Workers’ Rights
Actions Put Public Spotlight on Verizon Union-Busting
In rallies and actions across the country on June 20, thousands of CWA members and other union supporters told Verizon management that its attack on CWA and workers who want union representation must stop now.
From Denver to Baltimore to New York, CWA officers and members, joined by leaders and supporters of the AFL-CIO, called on Verizon to end its hostile, anti-union campaign and focus instead on improving quality service for customers.
Jobs with Justice activists in Milwaukee, Denver, New York, Baltimore and other locations staged actions outside local Radio Shack stores, urging consumers to buy their wireless service directly from the professionals at Verizon Wireless. Participants at CWA’s Customer Service and Marketing Conference in San Francisco leafleted a Radio Shack store there.
In Cleveland, CWA District 4 Vice President Jeff Rechenbach and John Ryan, Cleveland AFL-CIO, addressed a crowd of JwJ and CWA activists.
Customers and passers-by received leaflets outlining Verizon’s campaign of broken promises and asking consumers to support the effort by service representatives at Verizon Wireless to gain a voice on the job. Radio Shack is a major distributor of Verizon Wireless service.
These solidarity events are part of CWA’s ongoing campaign to spotlight Verizon’s refusal to abide by the contract it agreed to more than 10 months ago. They also were a part of the AFL-CIO’s “7 Days in June” effort, which spotlights how many employers violate workers’ basic rights to a real voice on the job.
Following last summer’s 18-day strike, Verizon agreed to a process that would enable workers at Wireless, Information Services and other parts of the company to make a fair and timely choice about union representation. Verizon pledged it would remain neutral and not attack CWA or workers for choosing a voice on the job.
Since then, Verizon has been doing everything it possibly can to be a roadblock to workers who want representation, said CWA Executive Vice President Larry Cohen. “Verizon repeatedly insists that it is letting ‘the process’ outlined in our contract work. Far from it, Verizon has abused the process to create delays and invent loopholes that it hopes will keep workers from ever having the opportunity to freely exercise their choice for union representation,” Cohen said.
At a rally outside Verizon’s New York headquarters, CWA President Morton Bahr said CWA’s message to Verizon was clear: “By focusing its energy on violating workers’ rights and trying to bust the union, Verizon is letting workers and consumers know that it can’t be trusted.”
Activists attending the rally also heard from AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka, CWA District 1 Vice President Larry Mancino and Brian McLaughlin, president of the New York City AFL-CIO, along with elected officials and other labor supporters.
In Baltimore, CWA’s Cohen was joined by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, CWA District 2 Vice President Pete Catucci, and other CWA leaders at a rally outside Verizon’s regional headquarters.
“Verizon wants Americans to trust it as a household name, yet it is violating workers’ basic freedom to improve their lives with unions,” Sweeney said. He pledged the support of the 13 million working men and women of the AFL-CIO in the fight for fairness at Verizon and called on the company to abide by the contract negotiated last year.
In a letter to Verizon Chairman Charles Lee, Sweeney criticized the company for “aggressively pursuing a strategy designed to deny workers an opportunity” to freely and fairly choose union representation.
He warned that Verizon was “jeopardizing the opportunity to maintain a positive relationship with CWA and the workers it represents” and noted that many of Verizon’s principal competitors have built a positive relationship with CWA that has added real value to their operations.
CWAers in Dallas held a “bargaining kick off” rally outside Verizon offices in Irving, Texas. Bargaining for a new contract covering some 5,000 workers at the former GTE Southwest gets underway June 28. Speakers included AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson, CWA Vice Presidents Andy Milburn, District 6, and T.O. Moses, telecommunications, and local negotiators.
CWA has filed multiple charges with the National Labor Relations Board over Verizon’s illegal tactics and is working with members of the New York State legislature to focus attention on Verizon’s service quality problems.
In New York, where nearly 600 Verizon Information Services workers chose CWA representation through card check and certification by the American Arbitration Association, Verizon continues to block this choice, even filing a federal lawsuit to prevent workers from having a voice on the job. In New Jersey, Verizon again filed suit in federal court, this time to block an NLRB election among 300 Information Services workers in that state.
At Wireless, Verizon has stalled the process for defining call center and technical units for months and continues to drag out the arbitration process. The company even has a 30-page Internet site dedicated to spreading an anti-CWA message.
In rallies and actions across the country on June 20, thousands of CWA members and other union supporters told Verizon management that its attack on CWA and workers who want union representation must stop now.
From Denver to Baltimore to New York, CWA officers and members, joined by leaders and supporters of the AFL-CIO, called on Verizon to end its hostile, anti-union campaign and focus instead on improving quality service for customers.
Jobs with Justice activists in Milwaukee, Denver, New York, Baltimore and other locations staged actions outside local Radio Shack stores, urging consumers to buy their wireless service directly from the professionals at Verizon Wireless. Participants at CWA’s Customer Service and Marketing Conference in San Francisco leafleted a Radio Shack store there.
In Cleveland, CWA District 4 Vice President Jeff Rechenbach and John Ryan, Cleveland AFL-CIO, addressed a crowd of JwJ and CWA activists.
Customers and passers-by received leaflets outlining Verizon’s campaign of broken promises and asking consumers to support the effort by service representatives at Verizon Wireless to gain a voice on the job. Radio Shack is a major distributor of Verizon Wireless service.
These solidarity events are part of CWA’s ongoing campaign to spotlight Verizon’s refusal to abide by the contract it agreed to more than 10 months ago. They also were a part of the AFL-CIO’s “7 Days in June” effort, which spotlights how many employers violate workers’ basic rights to a real voice on the job.
Following last summer’s 18-day strike, Verizon agreed to a process that would enable workers at Wireless, Information Services and other parts of the company to make a fair and timely choice about union representation. Verizon pledged it would remain neutral and not attack CWA or workers for choosing a voice on the job.
Since then, Verizon has been doing everything it possibly can to be a roadblock to workers who want representation, said CWA Executive Vice President Larry Cohen. “Verizon repeatedly insists that it is letting ‘the process’ outlined in our contract work. Far from it, Verizon has abused the process to create delays and invent loopholes that it hopes will keep workers from ever having the opportunity to freely exercise their choice for union representation,” Cohen said.
At a rally outside Verizon’s New York headquarters, CWA President Morton Bahr said CWA’s message to Verizon was clear: “By focusing its energy on violating workers’ rights and trying to bust the union, Verizon is letting workers and consumers know that it can’t be trusted.”
Activists attending the rally also heard from AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka, CWA District 1 Vice President Larry Mancino and Brian McLaughlin, president of the New York City AFL-CIO, along with elected officials and other labor supporters.
In Baltimore, CWA’s Cohen was joined by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, CWA District 2 Vice President Pete Catucci, and other CWA leaders at a rally outside Verizon’s regional headquarters.
“Verizon wants Americans to trust it as a household name, yet it is violating workers’ basic freedom to improve their lives with unions,” Sweeney said. He pledged the support of the 13 million working men and women of the AFL-CIO in the fight for fairness at Verizon and called on the company to abide by the contract negotiated last year.
In a letter to Verizon Chairman Charles Lee, Sweeney criticized the company for “aggressively pursuing a strategy designed to deny workers an opportunity” to freely and fairly choose union representation.
He warned that Verizon was “jeopardizing the opportunity to maintain a positive relationship with CWA and the workers it represents” and noted that many of Verizon’s principal competitors have built a positive relationship with CWA that has added real value to their operations.
CWAers in Dallas held a “bargaining kick off” rally outside Verizon offices in Irving, Texas. Bargaining for a new contract covering some 5,000 workers at the former GTE Southwest gets underway June 28. Speakers included AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson, CWA Vice Presidents Andy Milburn, District 6, and T.O. Moses, telecommunications, and local negotiators.
CWA has filed multiple charges with the National Labor Relations Board over Verizon’s illegal tactics and is working with members of the New York State legislature to focus attention on Verizon’s service quality problems.
In New York, where nearly 600 Verizon Information Services workers chose CWA representation through card check and certification by the American Arbitration Association, Verizon continues to block this choice, even filing a federal lawsuit to prevent workers from having a voice on the job. In New Jersey, Verizon again filed suit in federal court, this time to block an NLRB election among 300 Information Services workers in that state.
At Wireless, Verizon has stalled the process for defining call center and technical units for months and continues to drag out the arbitration process. The company even has a 30-page Internet site dedicated to spreading an anti-CWA message.