Search News
For the Media
For media inquiries, call CWA Communications at 202-434-1168 or email comms@cwa-union.org. To read about CWA Members, Leadership or Industries, visit our About page.
Verizon Directory Workers Finally Get Their Union
“We want a union!”
That simple message was what Brooke Cavanaugh and Bob Hale brought to CWA’s 2001 convention last July in Minneapolis, where they spoke on behalf of 1,700 workers at Verizon Information Services, Verizon’s directory sales company.
They received a standing ovation as delegates expressed support and encouragement after hearing of the VIS workers’ struggle to unionize.
Now the two Baltimore VIS employees have a union, and so do most of their co-workers throughout the former Bell Atlantic territory.
Top level talks between CWA and VIS finally resolved 14 months of legal wrangling over interpretation of negotiated organizing rights for Verizon workers, paving the way for majority card check recognition for the yellow pages advertising employees, who work as sales representatives, graphic artists and support personnel.
Over the past two months, CWA was certified to represent VIS workers in 20 offices in the mid-Atlantic states from New York through Virginia based on showing that a majority in each office had signed union authorization cards. The new units include about 1,500 workers.
Negotiating committees are now formulating goals and talks are set to begin shortly, said Executive Vice President Larry Cohen, CWA’s organizing director.
Cohen said organizing leaders were quickly able to get hundreds of authorization cards signed. “The leadership in this group has remained extremely strong and the VIS employees have only grown more determined to have a union despite more than a year of delays and frustration,” he said.
VIS workers have kept up an active mobilization campaign and have received support from the AFL-CIO in the form of community “Street Heat” actions, including the presence of the federation’s three top officers, John Sweeney, Rich Trumka and Linda Chavez-Thompson, at protest rallies.
Cohen said other locals where CWA already represented VIS workers “have been incredibly helpful” in the organizing drive and in establishing a better relationship with VIS management. “This is a real demonstration that locally based organizers supporting strong inside committees is the most effective approach to organizing,” he said.
The organizing breakthrough resulted from months of talks with the company involving Cohen, Vice Presidents Larry Mancino of District 1, Pete Catucci of District 2, and Vince Maisano of District 13, along with the strong support and participation of President Morton Bahr.
In January, the parties worked out differences on the organizing issues and agreed to a process for building more cooperative labor relations.
That simple message was what Brooke Cavanaugh and Bob Hale brought to CWA’s 2001 convention last July in Minneapolis, where they spoke on behalf of 1,700 workers at Verizon Information Services, Verizon’s directory sales company.
They received a standing ovation as delegates expressed support and encouragement after hearing of the VIS workers’ struggle to unionize.
Now the two Baltimore VIS employees have a union, and so do most of their co-workers throughout the former Bell Atlantic territory.
Top level talks between CWA and VIS finally resolved 14 months of legal wrangling over interpretation of negotiated organizing rights for Verizon workers, paving the way for majority card check recognition for the yellow pages advertising employees, who work as sales representatives, graphic artists and support personnel.
Over the past two months, CWA was certified to represent VIS workers in 20 offices in the mid-Atlantic states from New York through Virginia based on showing that a majority in each office had signed union authorization cards. The new units include about 1,500 workers.
Negotiating committees are now formulating goals and talks are set to begin shortly, said Executive Vice President Larry Cohen, CWA’s organizing director.
Cohen said organizing leaders were quickly able to get hundreds of authorization cards signed. “The leadership in this group has remained extremely strong and the VIS employees have only grown more determined to have a union despite more than a year of delays and frustration,” he said.
VIS workers have kept up an active mobilization campaign and have received support from the AFL-CIO in the form of community “Street Heat” actions, including the presence of the federation’s three top officers, John Sweeney, Rich Trumka and Linda Chavez-Thompson, at protest rallies.
Cohen said other locals where CWA already represented VIS workers “have been incredibly helpful” in the organizing drive and in establishing a better relationship with VIS management. “This is a real demonstration that locally based organizers supporting strong inside committees is the most effective approach to organizing,” he said.
The organizing breakthrough resulted from months of talks with the company involving Cohen, Vice Presidents Larry Mancino of District 1, Pete Catucci of District 2, and Vince Maisano of District 13, along with the strong support and participation of President Morton Bahr.
In January, the parties worked out differences on the organizing issues and agreed to a process for building more cooperative labor relations.