Verizon Strikers Win New Contract

More than 40,000 striking Verizon workers returned to work on June 1, after the company and union negotiators signed a tentative agreement.  

“This contract is a victory for working families across the country and an affirmation of the power of working people,” said Chris Shelton, president of the Communications Workers of America. “It proves that when we stand together we can raise up working families, improve our communities and advance the interests of America’s working people.”

APWU President Mark Dimondstein commended the Verizon workers for “standing firm over the course of a 46-day work stoppage, despite the fact that the company brought in 'replacement workers' and discontinued the strikers’ health coverage.

“They won a great victory by standing up for themselves, their families and working people everywhere.” Dimondstein also praised the APWU locals that organized members to support Verizon workers and walked with them on picket lines in many cities.

The strike by members of the CWA and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers began April 13.  Union members will vote to ratify the tentative agreement.

Under the terms of the proposed agreement, Verizon agreed that no additional jobs will be outsourced overseas and the number of calls routed to domestic call centers will be increased. "This agreement makes a lot of progress in reversing the outsourcing trend," said IBEW Local 827 Business Manager Robert Speer.

Verizon also granted raises and agreed to drop its demand that technicians had to be available to travel outside their home areas for up to two months at a time.

The company raked in $39 billion in profits in the last three years, but still demanded concessions from workers during contract negotiations. “Verizon relented only because the workers’ power disrupted their operations,” Dimondstein said.