Strike hits Verizon as 45,000 walk out

**Curt James** · 08-07-2011, 03:01 PM

Strike hits Verizon as 45,000 walk out

By the CNN Wire Staff
UPDATED: 03:40 PM EDT 08.07.11

About 45,000 unionized workers at telecommunications giant Verizon walked off the job Sunday after contract talks stalled over the weekend, the company and union leaders said.

Contracts with the Communication Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers from Virginia to Massachusetts expired at midnight Saturday.

The walkout does not affect Verizon's wireless customers, and Verizon spokesman Peter Thonis said the company's phone lines were up and running Sunday with managers replacing the striking workers.

CWA spokesman Bob Master told CNN that some conversations were still going on, but he called the bargaining "the worst we've ever seen in 50 years." He said the company is demanding rollbacks of wages, benefits and union rules while posting profits of up to $6 billion.

"Verizon is not General Motors or Ford," Master said. "This is a company that has made billions upon billions of dollars. Because of the recession and anti-union climate, they have decided to try and drive down the middle-class standards of our members."

The CWA is the larger of the two unions on strike, representing more than 30,000 workers. Master accused Verizon of wanting to subcontract jobs to nonunion workers and outsource others "to places like Mexico and the Philippines."

Verizon said it needs workers to pick up a share of health benefits, which it says cost it $4 billion per year for 800,000 employees. It said its benefits would remain "near the top of those offered by comparable companies" even with the concessions demanded.

"It's regrettable for our employees and our customers that the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers have decided to walk away from the table instead of continuing to work through the issues," Marc Reed, Verizon's executive vice-president of human resources, said in a written statement.

Thonis said customers should expect "no major impact" from the walkout. Repair calls may take longer, but "nothing detrimental," he said.

From CNN.com

**irish_2003** · 08-07-2011, 03:08 PM

this seems to be a trend with unions.....push wages and benefits so high that companies don't want to employ in the US anymore....i hope the union loses and verizon hires all the unemployed people that have been out of work for a while that will be more than happy just to be working again.....

this whole collective bargaining is bullshit...it's nothing more than a way to renig on an agreement....think about the pro athletes who are in player's unions with CBA's yet they sign and then holdout later renigging on the agreement.....it's complete bullshit....a deal is a deal.....

**murf23** · 08-07-2011, 05:14 PM

6 billion in profit and they want union workers to take paycuts and pay for their own health care . They have good benifets which they earned through previous negotiations . So they should just give that back now ? THANK GOD FOR THE UNION . Hey Irish i really would like to tell ya what I think about you and your opinion but this is not anything goes so i wont . You hope 45 thousand ppl get fired for trying to keep what they earned huh ? You are a real **** Bro . With out the Unions they would not have half of the benifets or pay they have today . Do you think they are rich with the salery they are paid ? They along with myself are the middleclass and we barely have enough to survive these days . So take your opinion and choke on it and thats me being nice

**irish_2003** · 08-07-2011, 05:25 PM

those profits go to the shareholders......everyone can buy stocks if they choose to.....the unions did their jobs 20 years ago and before....they're no longer needed......the unions are killing my state and thank god for gov scott walker and getting the budget passed to make public union workers pay like everyone else does......

**LAM** · 08-07-2011, 05:26 PM

Originally Posted by irish_2003

this seems to be a trend with unions.....push wages and benefits so high that companies don't want to employ in the US anymore

how do you figure? it is a myth or I should say more misinformation spread by the GOP that union workers are substantially more costly than non-union workers, that was debunked decades ago. The employment cost index of union workers is 113.7 and non-union is 111.4. union workers are formally trained while there non-union counterparts are not so the difference in the cost is negligible.

Employment Cost Index News Release

Verizon's profits have doubled since last year and now they want to shift more of the burden of benefits onto the workers. it's the same old story US corporate GREED. Verizon is the 36th most profitable company in the US.

**irish_2003** · 08-07-2011, 05:31 PM

you can't get mad at companies or people for getting rich.....you should only be mad that you didn't make the right moves to be in their financial positions.....like people that hate oil companies....then buy fucking oil stocks and make money with them.....you liberals blaming the successes many for the failures of others is just as bad as me blaming all the nations problems on rap music and it's culture (which is true)

**LAM** · 08-07-2011, 06:15 PM

Originally Posted by irish_2003

you can't get mad at companies or people for getting rich.....you should only be mad that you didn't make the right moves to be in their financial positions.....like people that hate oil companies....then buy fucking oil stocks and make money with them.....you liberals blaming the successes many for the failures of others is just as bad as me blaming all the nations problems on rap music and it's culture (which is true)

it's not the 60's and 70's anymore. back then unions had a lot more power but since the days of Reagan and his union busting crusade all that has changed.

the lack of unionization in the US is why we have the highest percentage of low paid workers in the OECD at 25% of the labor workforce and why a good majority of the workforce is making 1980's wages. unions bring up the wages for everyone in the workforce, currently only 13% of the US workforce is unionized.

2010 Wage Report page 59.

"We estimate that in countries with a union density of less than 15 per cent, the incidence of low pay is, on average, close to 25 per cent. This low-pay incidence is reduced by 3 percentage points for the countries with a medium level of union density (between 15 and 50 per cent) and is almost halved to 12.3 per cent in countries with high coverage (higher than 50 per cent). It is striking that the effects of union membership become particularly strong when the majority of workers are affiliated with trade unions, in comparison to the relatively small difference between the countries with low and medium levels."

2010 Report Page 80.

"Another emerging concern is the fact that wage stagnation before the crisis may actually have contributed to the crisis and also weakened the ability of economies to recovery quickly. Although there are many other factors involved in triggering the global financial and economic crisis, one view is that the crisis had its structural roots in the decline in aggregate demand that preceded the crisis. Redistribution from wages to profits and from median-wage earners to high wage earners reduced aggregate demand
by transferring income from individuals with a high propensity to spend to people who save more. Before the crisis, some countries were able to maintain household consumption through increased indebtedness, while other countries based their economic growth mainly on exports. This model, however, has proved to be unsustainable. In the future, countries may find it in their interests to base their economic growth on stronger household
consumption, and on household consumption that is anchored in earned income rather than based on increasing debt.

Our previous Global Wage Report 2008/09 showed that the connection between wages and productivity is stronger in countries where collective bargaining covers more than 30 per cent of employees, and that minimum wages can reduce inequality in the bottom half of the wage distribution. Our current report shows that collective bargaining and minimum wages can also contribute to reducing the share of workers on low pay. At the same time, there are considerable challenges still facing unions trying to reach out to vulnerable workers and in the establishment of an effective system of minimum wages."

Global Wage Report 2008-9 ILO
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/pub...cms_100786.pdf

Global Wage Report 2010-11 (ILO)
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/pub...cms_145265.pdf

**Mudge** · 08-08-2011, 12:20 AM

Originally Posted by irish_2003

you can't get mad at companies or people for getting rich.....you should only be mad that you didn't make the right moves to be in their financial positions.....like people that hate oil companies....then buy fucking oil stocks and make money with them.....you liberals blaming the successes many for the failures of others is just as bad as me blaming all the nations problems on rap music and it's culture (which is true)

So the people stuck working for these companies should make nothing, and then invest in the companies they work for with their meager earnings?

**Pittsburgh63** · 08-08-2011, 12:43 AM

"Verizon wanting to subcontract jobs to nonunion workers and outsource others "to places like Mexico and the Philippines."

^^^ This shit makes me sick... Just what we need, send more f'ing jobs to the Mexicans. Can't think of a better way to promote a strong economy.

**LAM** · 08-08-2011, 12:48 AM

Originally Posted by Pittsburgh63

"Verizon wanting to subcontract jobs to nonunion workers and outsource others "to places like Mexico and the Philippines."

^^^ This shit makes me sick... Just what we need, send more f'ing jobs to the Mexicans. Can't think of a better way to promote a strong economy.

one of many reasons why we need to tax the fuck out of company's that outsource.

**min0 lee** · 08-08-2011, 06:23 AM

Originally Posted by irish_2003

this seems to be a trend with unions.....push wages and benefits so high that companies don't want to employ in the US anymore....i hope the union loses and verizon hires all the unemployed people that have been out of work for a while that will be more than happy just to be working again.....

this whole collective bargaining is bullshit...it's nothing more than a way to renig on an agreement....think about the pro athletes who are in player's unions with CBA's yet they sign and then holdout later renigging on the agreement.....it's complete bullshit....a deal is a deal.....

I really don't understand your logic.

**Zaphod** · 08-08-2011, 06:30 AM

Originally Posted by irish_2003

those profits go to the shareholders......everyone can buy stocks if they choose to.....the unions did their jobs 20 years ago and before....they're no longer needed......the unions are killing my state and thank god for gov scott walker and getting the budget passed to make public union workers pay like everyone else does......

How are unions killing your state? Or is that what you've been told they are doing? You so-called conservatives like to spout "truths" with nothing to back up what you are saying.

**REDDOG309** · 08-08-2011, 06:36 AM

Originally Posted by irish_2003

this seems to be a trend with unions.....push wages and benefits so high that companies don't want to employ in the US anymore....i hope the union loses and verizon hires all the unemployed people that have been out of work for a while that will be more than happy just to be working again.....

this whole collective bargaining is bullshit...it's nothing more than a way to renig on an agreement....think about the pro athletes who are in player's unions with CBA's yet they sign and then holdout later renigging on the agreement.....it's complete bullshit....a deal is a deal.....

Originally Posted by irish_2003

those profits go to the shareholders......everyone can buy stocks if they choose to.....the unions did their jobs 20 years ago and before....they're no longer needed......the unions are killing my state and thank god for gov scott walker and getting the budget passed to make public union workers pay like everyone else does......

Originally Posted by irish_2003

you can't get mad at companies or people for getting rich.....you should only be mad that you didn't make the right moves to be in their financial positions.....like people that hate oil companies....then buy fucking oil stocks and make money with them.....you liberals blaming the successes many for the failures of others is just as bad as me blaming all the nations problems on rap music and it's culture (which is true)

I never type this many wrong words right when I'm drunk typing.
BTW what do you do for a living?

**hoyle21** · 08-08-2011, 06:44 AM

Union members set the standard for compensation. I'm glad that I'm not a union member, but I'm also glad they are there.

**LAM** · 08-08-2011, 06:44 AM

EPI Briefing Paper
Does ‘Right-to-Work’ Create Jobs?
Answers from Oklahoma
March, 2011

http://www.epi.org/page/-/BriefingPaper300.pdf?nocdn=1

Top of Page 16

"First, to the extent that right-to-work succeeds in weakening unions and thus lowering wages and benefits, it also results in lower tax revenues for local and state government, forcing concomitant cuts in public services."

* Summary Right to Work provides people with an opportunity to work for less money, awesome! It also helps to fuel the agenda of the far, far, right to reduce revenue to the government so the Big 3 eventually have to go bye-bye... currently social security provides 40% of the income for retires today in 2011.

**min0 lee** · 08-08-2011, 07:00 AM

Originally Posted by hoyle21

Union members set the standard for compensation. I'm glad that I'm not a union member, but I'm also glad they are there.

Why?

**min0 lee** · 08-08-2011, 07:01 AM

I feel for these Verizon workers, they did the same to use at Motorola back in 1989.

**hoyle21** · 08-08-2011, 07:40 AM

Originally Posted by min0 lee

Why?

I grew up in Michigan, where all my friends parents worked for big three. I don't care for the politics that are involved. I do recognize that they allow me to make a higher wage though. Like I said, they set the standard for compensation even for nonunion employees.

**Dale Mabry** · 08-08-2011, 10:12 AM

We should get to see what the nation thinks about busting up unions starting tomorrow when the WI recall elections get underway.

**Chubby** · 08-08-2011, 10:18 AM

If there is no union then slavery might return in a new form in UCA.

**ANIMALHAUS** · 08-08-2011, 10:19 AM

Fuck the unions.

**DOMS** · 08-08-2011, 10:52 AM

Originally Posted by Chubby

If there is no union then slavery might return in a new form in UCA.

You really need to look up what slavery really is.

Drama Queen!

**Curt James** · 08-08-2011, 01:47 PM

And check out the text included with the following vid.

Uploaded by local827IBEW on Jul 31, 2011
The men and women of local 827 IBEW have been preparing for this fight for a very long time. We have been dealing with disrespect, unfair treatment, and criminal suspension up to 60 days. Verizon management lies to its employees, they lie to the elected public officials and most of all they lie to the consumer! 24.2 billion dollars in profit in 2010 and now they are on track to go up to 27 billion, all off the backs of men and women in the IBEW and CWA.
WE BUILT THIS GREAT NETWORK!!! The men and women who come to work every day and provide the best service make this companies product #1. Not the corporate fat pigs like Ivan "the terrible" 55 thousand dollar a day salary Seidenberg or the New Thief on the block Lowell 'pinkerton" McAdams!!! We will not give in or back down!!! Solidarity forever!!

**LAM** · 08-18-2011, 08:30 PM

Striking Verizon workers protest at CEO's NJ home - Yahoo! Finance

"The company has obtained court injunctions limiting picketing in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware"

lol @ democracy in the US...

**Pittsburgh63** · 08-18-2011, 09:39 PM

Reading some of the ignorant comments at the bottom of that article make me sick. People that actually think the workers are being greedy... why becausem they are entitled to the same benefits and wages they have been making. They're not asking for more... yet the company keeps making record gains in revenue, yet wants to cut pension plans and wages. It amazes me how working class america can turn on itself. United we stand, divided we fall people, WTF

**LAM** · 08-18-2011, 10:39 PM

Originally Posted by Pittsburgh63

Reading some of the ignorant comments at the bottom of that article make me sick. People that actually think the workers are being greedy... why becausem they are entitled to the same benefits and wages they have been making. They're not asking for more... yet the company keeps making record gains in revenue, yet wants to cut pension plans and wages. It amazes me how working class america can turn on itself. United we stand, divided we fall people, WTF

people (of the un-intelligent variety) have been brainwashed by the neo-liberal bullshit on tv and other media outlets in the US that they have been exposed to for decades. people that don't understand the entire neo-liberal "agenda" aren't even aware that this is happening to them...

**Chubby** · 08-18-2011, 10:47 PM

Originally Posted by LAM

Striking Verizon workers protest at CEO's NJ home - Yahoo! Finance

"The company has obtained court injunctions limiting picketing in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware"

lol @ democracy in the US...

It is Corporacy not Democracy.

**AdmiralRichard** · 08-19-2011, 12:28 AM

they should jusr riot like they do over here

**Pittsburgh63** · 08-19-2011, 04:15 AM

Originally Posted by AdmiralRichard

they should jusr riot like they do over here

They should snatch the CEO out of his bed in the middle of the night and take him to a remote location to chat. You know, the way shit was done in the good old days.

**cschaaf** · 08-19-2011, 07:36 AM

pro union here, these people negotiated to get their pay, they depends on it, you can't just rip the carpet out from under them and not expect a fight

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