Verizon's '1 Percent' Business Model Exposed at Occupy D.C. Teach-In

At an Occupy D.C. teach-in covered by C-Span and other media this week, a CWA panelist called out Verizon for following a national business model of corporate irresponsibility that has "created austerity for many in order to generate prosperity for the few."

At an Occupy D.C. teach-in Nov. 9, CWA Research Economist Ken Peres, seated at right end of table, discusses Verizon's embrace of an irresponsible corporate business model.

CWA Research Economist Ken Peres said Verizon pocketed $1 billion in federal tax refunds even though it earned $33.4 billion in profits over the last three years.

"We did not get jobs; Verizon eliminated 40,000. We did not get increased investment; the company cut its capital investments by $1 billion," Peres said. "But they are asking workers for more than $1 billion in concessions" in bargaining.

"Corporations and government policies that reward such behavior are preventing us from doing what we need to do to get out of the recession," Peres said. To create jobs and make the economy work for the "99 percent," he urged policies supporting organizing and bargaining rights to raise workers' standard of living; public investment in schools, roads, bridges and infrastructure; Wall Street regulations; strong labor and environmental standards in trade agreements; investment in green jobs; and restoring real democracy by reforming U.S. Senate rules, campaign finance and corporate governance.

The panel also featured economist Dean Baker of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, who criticized proposals in Congress to cut back Social Security, and Margaret Flowers of Physicians for a National Health Program, who argued for real reform to make health care affordable for all Americans.

CWA members have joined with Occupy movements in communities across the country to promote workers' rights and other critical issues. In New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and other cities, Occupy activists are standing with CWA in calling for fair contracts at Verizon and Verizon Wireless, and pressing T-Mobile to respect workers' right to organize.

Last week in New York, hundreds of Occupy Wall Street protestors marched with CWA members to a T-Mobile store in Lower Manhattan to protest the cell phone carrier's anti-worker tactics.

Click here to watch Peres' presentation, or here to watch the full panel discussion as recorded by C-Span.