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Verizon Unity Campaign Targets Bargaining Rights at Wireless
About 50 CWA and IBEW activists from District 1, 2 and 13 delivered more than 12,000 post cards to CEO Ivan Seidenberg at Verizon headquarters in New York City, on July 29, as part of their joint mobilization for jobs and bargaining power throughout the company.
The postcards, each signed by a union-represented employee, expressed pride at helping build the company, a desire for job security and demands that Verizon:
"Despite Mr. Seidenberg's assertion to the contrary, Verizon - including Wireless - is one company," said District 1 Vice President Larry Mancino. "Our members will never let up until Verizon acknowledges that fact, negotiates a real card check agreement for Wireless and lives up to it in spirit and deed."
Also on July 29, nearly 1,000 CWA members, through the union's e-activist network, sent Seidenberg an e-mail asserting, "We will never give up until Verizon Wireless is union." The e-letters point out that "Union activists have been singled out and fired. Other employees are afraid to voice their support for the union. The 50 Wireless employees who belong to CWA are harassed by management on an almost daily basis."
The number of e-mails to Seidenberg is expected to grow exponentially as word of the campaign spreads through e-activist's "Tell a Friend" feature. Also, on July 29, CWA activists at worksites across the country distributed a flier explaining the importance of the Verizon Wireless campaign and asking members to e-mail Seidenberg. CWA's sister unions in Union Network International have also joined the campaign. They have a stake, too, since extremely anti-union Vodafone, the largest worldwide cellular company, owns 45 percent of Verizon Wireless. The Communication Workers Union, in the United Kingdom, posted a news item about Verizon Wireless on their website, www.cwu.org, and asked their members to join in the e-activist campaign.
CWA Executive Vice President Larry Cohen, District 1 Vice President Larry Mancino, District 2 Vice President Pete Catucci and District 13 Vice President Vince Maisano launched the mobilization when they met with 300 CWA and IBEW leaders from the three districts on March 18 in Philadelphia.
Maisano later spoke to union leaders representing the Verizon West bargaining council, now in bargaining on behalf of Verizon Southwest workers in Texas. All stressed the importance of the CWA members throughout the company uniting around campaign issues.
The postcards, each signed by a union-represented employee, expressed pride at helping build the company, a desire for job security and demands that Verizon:
- Stop the planned sale of its upstate New York properties.
- Stop contracting out DSL tech support jobs.
- Train union members for work in Voice over Internet Protocol.
- Stop anti-union "brutality" and let workers at Verizon Wireless form a union.
"Despite Mr. Seidenberg's assertion to the contrary, Verizon - including Wireless - is one company," said District 1 Vice President Larry Mancino. "Our members will never let up until Verizon acknowledges that fact, negotiates a real card check agreement for Wireless and lives up to it in spirit and deed."
Also on July 29, nearly 1,000 CWA members, through the union's e-activist network, sent Seidenberg an e-mail asserting, "We will never give up until Verizon Wireless is union." The e-letters point out that "Union activists have been singled out and fired. Other employees are afraid to voice their support for the union. The 50 Wireless employees who belong to CWA are harassed by management on an almost daily basis."
The number of e-mails to Seidenberg is expected to grow exponentially as word of the campaign spreads through e-activist's "Tell a Friend" feature. Also, on July 29, CWA activists at worksites across the country distributed a flier explaining the importance of the Verizon Wireless campaign and asking members to e-mail Seidenberg. CWA's sister unions in Union Network International have also joined the campaign. They have a stake, too, since extremely anti-union Vodafone, the largest worldwide cellular company, owns 45 percent of Verizon Wireless. The Communication Workers Union, in the United Kingdom, posted a news item about Verizon Wireless on their website, www.cwu.org, and asked their members to join in the e-activist campaign.
CWA Executive Vice President Larry Cohen, District 1 Vice President Larry Mancino, District 2 Vice President Pete Catucci and District 13 Vice President Vince Maisano launched the mobilization when they met with 300 CWA and IBEW leaders from the three districts on March 18 in Philadelphia.
Maisano later spoke to union leaders representing the Verizon West bargaining council, now in bargaining on behalf of Verizon Southwest workers in Texas. All stressed the importance of the CWA members throughout the company uniting around campaign issues.