CWA says Verizon wants to cut pay to employees while top five execs earned $44M last year
Verizon Communications’ opening contract negotiation gamut of offering raises has been blasted by Communication Workers of America reps as a “smokescreen” designed to make a “media splash.”
Negotiations for three-year contracts began this week in Rye, N.Y., and Philadelphia. The 38,000 Verizon employees are represented by the CWA and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
In a June 25 statement, CWA District 1 VP Dennis Trainor said, “Verizon’s claims about the pay increases they put on the bargaining table yesterday are simply a smokescreen designed to hide the harsh reality of their concessionary demands; deep cuts to pension benefits, skyrocketing increases in medical costs and the complete elimination of job security.”
According to Reuters, the Verizon proposal includes wage increases as well as changes to company health care and pension plans. The existing employment contracts are set to expire on Aug. 1. There are a total of 27 collective bargaining agreements in play that apply to workers in nine states on the East Coast.
“Despite $9.6 billion in profits in 2014 and $44 million in compensation to their top five executives, Verizon wants to eliminate middle-class jobs and let customer service deteriorate. Their proposals would slash thousands of jobs and leave our remaining members with a diminished standard of living at the end of any new contract,” Trainor said.
Earlier in the month, the CWA claimed Verizon has stopped maintaining its landline infrastructure in an attempt to force customers to wireless service.
“As a public utility, Verizon has a duty to maintain service for all customers,” the CWA noted in a statement. “But we’ve seen how the company abandons users, particularly on legacy networks, and customers across the country have noticed their service quality is plummeting.”
Verizon denied union accusations that neglect of its landlines is impacting customer service in the Northeast.
“There is zero factual evidence for such a bold statement,” said Raymond McConville, media relations manager at Verizon. “This is very typical of them, leading into a contract negotiation. They’re trying to make some claim that we’re ignoring this part of the business, or abandoning this part of the business, and it simply isn’t true.”
Trainor and district VP Ed Mooney sent a letter to Verizon union members phrased to emphasize the divide between labor and management.
“Verizon wants you – not its top billionaire executives – to give back the pay and benefits you have fought for and won over many decades,” Trainor said. “Verizon pretends that the wireline business is separate from the wireless business. Wireless and wireline are the same business. It is one company and one telephone system. There is no wireless business without wireline.”
