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Vol. 80/No. 23      June 13, 2016

 
(front page)

Seven-week Verizon strike won solidarity, tentative deal is set

Militant/Willie Cotton
Strikers rally in Brooklyn April 14 on second day of walkout against telecommunications giant.
 
BY CANDACE WAGNER
After 48 days on the picket line, 39,000 strikers returned to work May 31 and June 1 after officials of the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers reached a tentative contract agreement with Verizon Communications Inc.

Verizon bosses were surprised by the widespread sympathy the strike won among working people, despite the bosses’ attempt to paint the strikers as greedy, labor aristocrats who should be happy with their “generous” wages and benefits.

Among the central issues were proposals by Verizon to contract out more work; shut down call centers, moving them to other countries with substantially lower wages; cut pensions and increase health care costs.

On April 28, Verizon issued a “last, best, and final” offer and sent it to every striker, urging them to cross the picket lines. But the overwhelming majority of union members stayed strong. Verizon Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo told stockholders April 21 that the strike was putting “pressure on earnings.” The Obama administration stepped in to press for a settlement.

According to a Communications Workers union summary, workers will get a 10.9 percent wage increase over the four-year contract. Current employees will keep their pensions. And the company will hire 1,300 new call center workers during the contract term. The summary says that union officials agreed to “new health care costs for members.” For the first time some 70 retail workers at Verizon Wireless stores will be covered by the contract.

The union officials agreed to lift the contractual cap on overtime work for two weeks to deal with the backlog from the strike.

Many workers who spoke to the Militant said they are waiting to read the full agreement before deciding what they think. Workers will vote on the contract by June 17.

In a related development, negotiations continue for 15,000 AT&T West workers in California and Nevada. Their contract expired April 10. Some 1,700 members of CWA Local 9509 in San Diego ended a nearly one-week grievance strike May 26.  
 
 
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