CWA, IBEW, Verizon make progress on main issues
Verizon’s unions are reporting “slow but significant progress” in talks aimed at averting a strike by the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers against Verizon Communications. The two sides have extended an Aug. 2 contract and continued talks.
A local union head in New York told Newsday that agreement had been reached on the issues of health care coverage for active and retired members, wages, and outsourcing jobs.
But, said George Bloom, president of CWA Local 1104, the issues of subcontracting jobs and efforts to organize employees of Verizon Business and Verizon Wireless still had a “ways to go.” The issue of organizing Verizon Business and Verizon Wireless workers—where much of the company’s strongest and most profitable growth has been—has been a contentious one.
"They have fought us every step of the way on any organizing drive we started," Bloom said. The unions, meanwhile, have agreed to work under the old contract while talks continue but have said they’re “ready to walk" at anytime if negotiations bog down, "and the company knows it.” The two unions cover about 65,000 workers from New England to Virginia.
For its part, Verizon says it is “fully engaged” in talks and that business was proceedng as usual with repairs and installations proceeding on schedule and no impact being felt on telephone service.
For more:
- See the story in Newsday
Related articles:
Unions seemed set for a possible strike heading into the weekend. Union report
Union issues like Verizon's job outsourcing have generated a load of comments at FierceTelecom. Union report
Verizon has said it was working hard to avert a strike. Verizon report
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Comments
Posted by Anonymous | August 5, 2008 - 7:56pm
In a previous thread I heard talk about union workers that just sit around. I work in a AT&T Central Office on the Midnight to 8am shift. When working the weekend I cover 16 central offices covering a geographic area that is 2500+ square miles including travel time. I have 100 minutes to clear a customer generated ticket including travel time. Sitting around? At times yes but much less often than you think.
I am expected to know 3 different switches, numerous ways of delivering a T1, a number of different DS0, not to mention the infrastructure that includes Dacs (4 flavors), SLC systems 7 flavors, Power delivery systems that include generators and huge battery back up systems, not to mention the fastest routers on the planet, and a network of Sonet based systems with minimal technical support. If I miss the 100 minute window? There is an investigation in which every minute of my time is accounted for, one misstep can result in disciplinary action. Each step in the trouble shooting process is put under a microscope and "Monday morning quarterbacked". Whatever time I do have without a hot ticket I spend learning the latest equipment that delivers YOUR next coolest application or doing routine maintenance.
Am I paid well and do I have good benefits? Yes. Do I earn them? Hell yes! Would I want a different job? No, the mental challenge suits me and I get to work on leading edge equipment that changes rapidly and yet contributes to society in ways that you have never thought about. Does that mean that for that privilege my family should suffer?
I believe that fair is fair. No matter what you might think of unions, there are some people out there that just don't care (as there are in your workplace union or not). I'd challenge you to find group of people that have been able to respond to the marketplace for 120 years and still deliver what you often take for granted. It takes a team of committed individuals at all levels of the company. Any thing else would not have produced the same result.
Contrary to what many of the union detractors might say the advanced services that you demand require stable intelligent people with commitment in order to deliver. Perhaps in a world of "throw aways" you can deliver the same product for short periods of time but in the real world you have to have intelligent people working with expertise at a variety of tasks to keep the largest network in the world running. Sitting on our hands? I think not.
I don't know (nor do you) what the union is asking for or what the company is asking for but I will bet that in the end the solution will be reasonable for both. You may find the process distasteful but in reality, it is no different than how you go ask your boss for a raise, we just choose to do it together and live with the limitations that it places on each of us for the sake of stability.
Were I in an environment where you were paid commensurate with your ability to deliver I would make much more but since I choose to work in a union environment I don't. Why? I value the stability and protection that the union provides. It allows me to provide for my family in a manner that we only have to worry about these issues every 3 to 5 years. From my standpoint the value of that is sufficient to trade off the extra income for the daily fear of some front line manager playing favorites and affecting my ability to provide for my family. When I go to work we all understand the expectations (both the company and the employee)I know, as the company does what framework that we work within.
It's not a lot unlike writing a computer program, you set the flow before the program begins, if there is a anomaly then it results in an error and just like a well written program there is an exception handler (the grievance process or a meeting between the union and the company to deal with market pressures that were not anticipated). In those rare cases where there is no unhandled exceptions there are the contract processes that is currently being exercised.
In reality the existence of a union formalizes the interface between management and the front lines each, in the end, each have the stability of knowing expectations. Were we to communicate on this level in our personal lives the divorce rate would be much lower, the need for war would be less and our kids would be much better off.
Posted by Anonymous | August 6, 2008 - 10:03am
Unions make the wage of living my husband is union and my son isn't i wish he was. that sets the stage on wages if there wasn;t no union then we all would be under paid.No matter where u work union or not there is always going to be someone sitting around .The big ceo guys and the presidents of these companys like the don't sit around on no they go golfing and run million dollar party what a laugh
Posted by Anonymous | August 6, 2008 - 9:17pm
The union has already sold these guys out. The union wants access to the non-union workers of verizon. More union dues, more money for the union.If they were gonna walk, it would have happened by now. If anyone recalls the outcome of the last UAW strike, the workers got the shaft. The union got a ton of money to manage UAW healthcare. Can't blame GM when the union starts pleading poverty and cutting benefits. CWA has hundreds of millions of dollars, and verizon has billions. DO you think either is working for the little guy? I hope that I am wrong about this but..... The unions are not relevent anymore.Clock stoppage and working without a contract doesn't sound like a fierce lion.The union is using you like a little red shirted army of chess pieces. The current union guys will sell out the retirees and the new hires in a heartbeat.When it comes right down to it, its every man for himself. That is why socialism never really works.
