Verizon/Union Workers on Strike ....................

[asphaltgambler]

For those of you who are not aware ....most of Verizon's east coast cabling/connectivity techs are on strike. Their contract is up. Have a good friend that is union, who has worked for the 'baby-bells' back in the day that were later bought out by the big "V". His tenure is something close to 20 yrs. He says that Verizon is straight up trying to break the union. period.

I say that my friend has (via union bene's) it all too good. Unrealistically good.
He makes @$70k/yr + a benefit package the is worth an additional $80K. If I told you just how much vaca/personal time he gets + pension/no pay for health care.....you would die.
I must admit I have always been a little jealous of what the union "provides" him over the years but what he does for a living does not interest me. Of course he provides the union with a weekly monetary contribution

Seems to me that todays unions are dinosours. We are a global economy, like it or not. The good 'ol USA can not sustain the 1950's union mentality in this
economic climate. I think if Verizon is succesful at breaking the union this time, it may signal the end for all unions.

From what I understand, my buddy would lose most all of his acrued bene's, take a pay cut, work more hours, etc. In short he would join the rest of us in the real world

Anyone have direct/indirect experience on this??

[Rick Lee]

I quit Verizon in 2001 because they were trying to unionize the sales people. I don't get that. Why do commissioned sales people need a union? I was making $70k my first year and it had become a warm-body job because our days were occupied with so many internal BS and labor relations meetings, that there was little time left for contacting customers and selling Yellow Page ads. How in the world was a union going improve that.....when the lowest guy on the totem pole was making $70k?

[Zeke]

I was a scab during the General Telephone strike in '64. They became Verizon. Maybe I'll go get a job.

[Head416]

Originally Posted by asphaltgambler

He says that Verizon is straight up trying to break the union. period.

He makes @$70k/yr + a benefit package the is worth an additional $80K. If I told you just how much vaca/personal time he gets + pension/no pay for health care.....you would die.

If I were in charge at Verizon I'd be trying to break the union too.

[cairns]

Saw a lot of them going to lunch today. Cars going by are giving them the finger. Apparently there isn't a lot of sympathy for them- there's outright derision.

Understandable given that even if you have a job chances are you know someone who doesn't.

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by Head416

If I were in charge at Verizon I'd be trying to break the union too.

Plus a gazillion.

[asphaltgambler]

In the local major newspaper today and every day since beginning of August with full page ads, Verizon has been slamming the union with 'propaganda' - Today for the only the second time in two weeks the union posted a 3/4 page ad 'explaining' their view.

Looking to be all out war - I would guess that "V" has waaay deeper pockets for posting daily full page ads than would the union

[techweenie]

Originally Posted by asphaltgambler

In the local major newspaper today and every day since beginning of August with full page ads, Verizon has been slamming the union with 'propaganda' - Today for the only the second time in two weeks the union posted a 3/4 page ad 'explaining' their view.

Looking to be all out war - I would guess that "V" has waaay deeper pockets for posting daily full page ads than would the union

Rumor has it Verizon has hired Blackwater (now Xe) security. Not going to go down easy. I doubt $70K employees have an "$80K benefit package." That's BS. But there won't be much sympathy out there for people with $70K jobs when so many recent hires have "McJobs."

[Porsche-O-Phile]

My FIL is a (retired) executive VP for Verizon. They've been trying to break the union for years - it represents a huge drag on their bottom line and resources.

Speaking from personal experience (I used to do design work for them, PacBell/ATT and a few others) the stuff I used to routinely see union schlubs doing (or not doing, as the case may be) as I ran into them in the course of doing my duties (site visits, documenting facilities, space planning, etc.) made my blood boil. The crap those guys pull (and get away with) is absolutely incredible.

This is a smart play by Verizon. There is no shortage of people who will work as scabs right now with the unemployment rate. They're taking advantage of it and frankly I hope they prevail.

[911boost]

tech, they haven't hired Blackwater.

[cairns]

Imagine having to pay a portion of your health care- the HORROR!

The following is from International Business Times:

As the strike by 45,000 workers against Verizon Communications – the largest industrial action in the U.S. in four years -- drags on, the company has spelled out its reasons for demanding concessions from its aggrieved workforce.

“Verizon’s proposal includes a highly competitive pay and benefits package near the top of those offered by comparable companies,” the company stated on its Web site.

Verizon says its unionized technicians in the Northeast currently earn, on average, between $81,000 and $91,000 annually, with yearly benefit packages ranging between $42,000 and $51,000, including full health insurance coverage for employees and families, pension and paid vacation.

The unions counter that the annual salaries cited includes about two months of overtime.

The company insists that it needs to overhaul the benefits package for union members because the “wireline business has declined in recent years.” Virtually all the strikers work in this sector.

“Health care costs continue to rise,” the company stated. “Verizon's health care plans are classified as ‘Cadillac Plans’ by the U.S. government, and cost the company $4 billion annually covering 800,000 employees, retirees and their families.”

Moreover, Verizon took a charge of $962 million in 2010 due to a reduction in tax benefits related to health care benefits for retirees, who are believed to outnumber active workers.

“The unions and our employees must work with the company to find ways to address these economic realities,” the company said.

Verizon is proposing that union workers make contributions to their health care premiums, as more than 135,000 non-union Verizon employees already do. The company also said it needs more flexible work rules.

“With the decline in Verizon's wireline business, the company must find ways to ensure superior customer service while enhancing operating efficiencies,” the company stated.

“To do so, the company is seeking changes to select union work rules that would allow expanded routing of calls and flexibility for call center representatives to handle certain types of calls without transferring customers to other centers. Currently, if a customer calls in with a question about a bill, the call goes to a rep who handles billing issues. While on the phone, if the customer asks the rep to check on a set-top box issue, under current rules, that customer has to be transferred to a tech-support representative - generally in another center. As part of our quest to increase flexibility, we're seeking the ability to have the billing rep check the box and potentially resolve the issue from their workstation. It's about simplifying the process. In the end, it eliminates a call transfer, cuts down on repair time and leads to a far better customer experience.”

Although the wireline business is rapidly losing customers, Verizon insists it's committed to its success and invested $16.2 billion in its wireline network infrastructure in 2009 and 2010.

Verizon also denied charges that it has laid off too many union workers in recent years.

“The overwhelming number of union employees who've left the company over the past three years have departed through normal attrition, the spin-off of certain Verizon wireline assets and/or a generous enhanced buyout offer,” the company stated.

The company also outright declared the accusation that its retired executives receive free health care as “false.”

“Neither active nor retired Verizon executives receive free retiree health care,” it said.

Another charge the company has faced is that it has actively prevented its largely non-unionized wireless workers from forming a union.

It says Verizon Wireless employees “have made their own decision not to organize, and that decision is based on a thoughtful analysis of the facts. It was entirely their decision. The absence of unions in the rest of the wireless industry, in the cable industry that fiercely competes with Verizon for landline services, and in high-tech industries in general, is a reflection of employee free choice, not employer coercion."

Indeed, as unions decline in the U.S., company management may have the upper hand.

Lawrence Glazer, a managing partner with Mayflower Advisors in Boston, said the unions are feeling the pressure to assert their claims and be heard.

“Benefits are under pressure throughout corporate America,” he said.

“Austerity came to most non-union companies a long time ago and is only now impacting union labor. Investors view Verizon -- the company and stock -- as a relative safe haven with a dividend that provides a reasonable floor to cushion against volatility. Any dramatic or negative outcome from the strike would not be in the best interest of the shareholders.”

Sean Snaith, a professor of economics at the University of Central Florida, believes that Verizon as a company would benefit by addressing their cost structure going forward.

“The importance of unions in the U.S. continues to atrophy and I do not think the Verizon unions will benefit as the General Motors (GM) unions did from intervention from the White House,” he said.

“In a global economy, job security is an anachronism. The best we can now aspire to is employment security and unions are not able to deliver on that front.”

[techweenie]

Originally Posted by BSiple

tech, they haven't hired Blackwater.

The rumor started when Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 1104 claimed they had.

[Dan J]

I'm a Verizon customer. I've noticed that they are quite happy to screw me any possible way they can . I kind of think that's probably the management guys and not the union rank and file.
So predictably I'm for the union guys.

[Rick Lee]

I am counting the days left in my AT&T contract before my wife and I become Verizon customers again. AT&T's service is the worst and is totally unusable here. Leaving Verizon was a mistake.

[EarlyPorsche]

The strike caused Verizon to lose business to comcast in my case!

[Superman]

I've seen and participated in enough "court of public opinion" propaganda campaigns to know for a fact that Verizon's characterization of those workers' wages and benefits is wildly exaggerated. When the Teamsters stared down the multi-national concrete supply company here, the newspapers reported something like $120K in wages and benefits, which was a factual exaggeration of about $50K, based on management claims. Shoulda sued.

Anyhoo, you guys know my colors. United we bargain, divided we beg. I personally believe the spirit (and the letter, frankly) of the National Labor Relations Act should be once again followed, and companies deliberately attempting to evade bargaining by engaging in "break the union once and for all" campaigns should be found guilty of their duty under federal law and returned, forcibly if necessary, to the bargaining table. They can drive as hard a bargain as they wish, but they have to bargain. The only power that can decertify a bargaining unit's representative is the bargaining unit itself.

[VINMAN]

Originally Posted by asphaltgambler

+ a benefit package the is worth an additional $80K.

Oh really now??

[stealthn]

Frikken unions, no place for them now a days, I am at a customer now who uses AT&T for WAN servics and we have a PRI (voice) and T1 (MPLS) down in PA, AT&T is handcuffed because Verizon is the last mile. I call Verizon and they say they are only helping hospitals and emergency services due to the strike.

I told the Verizon tool that if they can't call 911 IT'S AN EMERGENCY!

Fire them all!

They are cutting cables, shutting down power and even shut down police services - frikken Unions

[Superman]

You know what would make America stronger? Lower wages and an absence of benefits. America's real problem is that its lower and middle classes are too well off. What we really need is to transfer wealth to those who already have lots, so that they can invest that money and create even more capital. Verizon, for instance. This company is too small to be really efficient, and needs to grow in order to become competitive.

As I say, the 80% of regular citizens who are at or below a "middle class" lifestyle are just too wealthy, so we should abolish labor unions in order to drive down these peoples' wages and benefits.......in order to make America stronger.

[Freybird]

I'm out of work and would love to work for Verizon. I'll do my best to make them profitable and expect an honest wage in return. What are the chances that I'd get my a$$ kicked by angry Union boys?