CWA Statement on Verizon CEO's Attack on Working People

The following statement can be attributed to Dennis Trainor, Vice President, CWA District 1and Edward Mooney, Vice President, CWA District 2-13:

Lowell McAdam's economic and moral theories are completely hollow, and his name-calling of Senator Sanders is another example of Verizon's boundless arrogance and greed. Mr. McAdam is directing his company to dodge taxes, separate families, shift work overseas and dismantle middle class jobs, and Senator Sanders is not only correct in his factual statements, he is boldly calling out Verizon's corporate greed. The CEO's attacks on the working people who build Verizon's massive profits and their supporters are meant to distract the public from multi-million dollar executive salaries and record profits.

CWA and IBEW were told by the company that health care cost savings was their top priority in negotiations. We have addressed this in bargaining, yet they still demand the destruction of good jobs while they book spectacular profits of $1.8 billion per month. Additionally, company executives refuse to offer any raises or other improvements to Verizon Wireless retail workers.

Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam makes over $18 million per year, which is over 200 times the pay of average Verizon workers. He even has access to a corporate jet for his personal needs. Mr. McAdam is attempting to smear Senator Sanders and the working people who built the company that enables his exorbitant pay package.

Verizon workers thank Senator Sanders for his extraordinary support. Like Senator Sanders told our striking members today: we will win.

Senator Sanders is also correct that Verizon is refusing to invest in high-speed Internet infrastructure. Verizon has left millions of households and businesses without access to FiOS. In New York City alone, Verizon broke its franchise agreement signed in 2008 to make FiOS available to all of the city's households by September 2014.

Verizon also refuses to build FiOS in cities from Massachusetts to Virginia, including Buffalo, Albany, Syracuse, Binghamton, Utica, Springfield, Reading, Allentown, Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Bethlehem, Wilmington, Roanoke, Baltimore and countless other towns in the region. Verizon's broken promises to build FiOS are destroying jobs and the future of regional economies.

Verizon has been rigging the tax system for years. From 2008 to 2013, Verizon had $42.5 billion in profits but the company utilized tax code trickery to manage an effective federal tax rate of negative 2.5%.To be clear, the company had a negative tax rate and actually got money back from the government. Now, Verizon is paying some taxes, but much less than what the majority of Americans are paying. In the last two years, Verizon did pay federal taxes — on $27.5 billion in profits — but its federal tax rate was 20%, less than most Verizon workers pay.