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About Northwest labor press. (Portland , Ore.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 2, 2011)
Bargaining re-starts 7LUHG RI %HHVRQ&KLURSUDFWLF :RUNLQJ LQ 3$,1" 0RVW,QVXUDQFH 3ODQV$FFHSWHG 3 528'/< 6 (59,1* 3 257/$1' : 25.(56 ) 25 2 9(5 < ($56 PAGE 22 KHOSVEULQJWKH UHOLHI\RXQHHG 7UHDWPHQWIRUSDLQGXHWR RYHUXVHDQGUHSHWLWLYHPRWLRQ &KLURSUDFWLFDGMXVWPHQWV 7UHDWPHQWIRUDFFLGHQWDQG VSRUWVUHODWHGLQMXULHV 5HKDELOLWDWLRQH[HUFLVHV 7KHUDSHXWLFPDVVDJH ,QWHUQDOGLDJQRVLVDQGWUHDWPHQW /DEWHVWVDQG[UD\V 'U'DQ%HHVRQ&KLURSUDFWRU 6(7KLUWHHQWK$YHLQ6HOOZRRG &$// Unions return to work at Verizon NEW YORK (PAI) — Some 45,000 unionized Verizon workers, members of the Communications Workers (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) returned to work at a minute past midnight Aug. 23, ending their two-week strike. The old contract was reinstated, pending the outcome of re- started bargaining between the tele- com firm and the two unions. “We have reached agreement with Verizon on how bargaining will pro- ceed and how it will be restructured. The major issues remain to be dis- cussed, but overall, issues now are fo- cused and narrowed,” the two unions said in a statement three days before. “We appreciate the unity of our members and the support of so many in the greater community. Now we will focus on bargaining fairly and NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS moving forward,” they added. The unions did not say what big is- sues are still on the table, but Verizon demanded huge changes in health care coverage and pensions, among others. It also did not want to retrain landline workers in newer technolo- gies. But in an indication that not all was hunky-dory, CWA, just two days be- fore the return to work — and after the two sides agreed to do so — de- manded Verizon renounce a statement by Company Vice President for Hu- man Resources Marc Reed that con- tained crowing. Reed claimed the unions “agreed to bargain in good faith” when, as records previously provided by CWA and IBEW show, the situation before talks broke off was exactly the other way around. The unions were willing to bar- gain, but Verizon had not budged from demands that would have cost each worker $20,000 a year — or $1 billion in givebacks overall. The two-week strike was marked by mass outpouring of union and community support for the workers nationwide. Though Verizon’s main coverage area runs from Maine through Virginia, informational picket lines sprang up at more than 400 Veri- zon facilities nationwide, including Portland, Seattle, and Honolulu, Hawaii. Community groups, realizing the Verizon workers are fighting for mid- dle-class jobs, joined the protests. Some politicians, including Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., joined the picket lines. Details of the return-to-work agreement include “indefinite exten- sion” of the current contracts between Verizon and the two unions. But either side, on seven days notice, may end the old contracts, starting a month af- ter the return to work. The two sides also set up a process to resolve company claims of pick- eters’ alleged law-breaking — and CWA had previously issued a strong statement to its own members criticiz- ing those scattered incidents. Both sides agreed to dump Na- tional Labor Relations Board com- plaints, court suits, and other legal ac- tions against each other, except that the unions can still file unfair labor practices charges with the NLRB against Verizon for incidents of com- pany “retaliation for protected activ- ity” that occurred before unions and Verizon signed the back-to-work pact. SEPTEMBER 2, 2011
