Verizon wireline workers authorize strike amid contract negotiations

An official from the Communications Workers of America union, Dennis Trainor said that their members were clear & determined.

Verizon workers in nine states have voted to go on strike if necessary over a dispute about a new contract, a union official said at a rally Saturday.

Although the contract that the CWA and the global Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) have with Verizon, which covers 38,000 workers at the telco, expires at midnight on Saturday, August 1, neither side has been able to come to an agreement yet. “They reject management’s harsh concessionary demands”. It includes employees who work in landline telephone operations and the popular FiOS network, which bundles together Internet, phone and television services.

The unions say the telecom giant is demanding that workers sharply increase their health care contributions and make concession on pensions. A spokesperson for Verizon said that the company had made a solid offer to the union that recognized the changing landscape of the communications business and offers a solid path toward success and therefore it believes that the unions should reconsider its proposed stand.

Numerous aspects of the contracts that were set “decades ago” were no longer relevant in an industry that was facing increased pressure and structural change, Young said.

The contract is also going to be affecting wireline workers from Washington, DC, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware and Connecticut.

Verizon has five days to iron out differences with unions representing 39,000 workers of Verizon. In view of the threat of a strike, Verizon is training non-unionized workers to take over additional roles to ensure services are not disrupted if the unionized staff would walk off their jobs.