Verizon gets call from Bernie Sanders to reach agreement with CWA union

Verizon (NYSE: VZ) is facing yet another call to come to an agreement with the Communications Workers of America (CWA) from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Sanders, a Democratic presidential candidate, met with Verizon union employees during a demonstration near at Verizon Wireless store in New York's Times Square.

"You've got corporate America making huge profits, their CEOs getting huge compensation packages, and then with all of their money what they do is hire lawyers in order to make it harder for workers to survive in this country," Sanders said, according to an Associated Press report.

The Vermont Senator had been meeting with unions as his main presidential candidate competitor Hillary Rodham Clinton has picked up the endorsements of several major labor unions, including the 1.6 million-member American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

Sanders asked Verizon to negotiate a fair contract with CWA union members while speaking in support of Bianca Cunningham, who claims she was fired for organizing fellow workers.

Rich Young, a Verizon spokesman said that the CWA's arguments about Cunningham were "flat-out wrong" and that it has not targeted her "or any other employee for the union-related activities."

Verizon and members of the CWA and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) unions have continued negotiate the terms of a new labor contract covering 39,000 workers that expired in August.

For more:
- AP has this article

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