Final Bargaining Report, Tentative Agreement and MOU

Final Bargaining Report, Details of Tentative Agreement & Memorandum of Understanding

39,000 CWA and IBEW members struck Verizon on April 13th because after 10 months at the bargaining table, management had totally refused to address the most important issues for our members. These issues included, most importantly, job security, limiting contracting out of both plant and customer service work, closing of call centers, preserving the Force Adjustment plan, protecting pensions and retiree health care, limiting the company’s ability to transfer us away from our families, abusive supervisory practices, and finally, winning a first contract for retail workers at Verizon Wireless.

The company believed they could win our cooperation on limiting health care costs-AND shove the rest of their demands down our throats at the same time. The unity and determination of our members for 6 ½ weeks on the street-in the great tradition of 1971 and 1989-proved that management was wrong. Our members stood up and fought back, and turned back virtually every concession that remained on the table when we went on strike on April 13th .

Most important, we preserved our job security language, kept call centers open, increased the amount of call center work performed by union members across the footprint, reversed plant contracting initiatives, protected our pensions, 2 gained 1500 new union jobs, AND won a fair first contract for the Verizon Wireless workers.

What follows is a detailed bargaining report. As you read it, you should be proud of what you and your fellow members accomplished for yourselves, and for the entire labor movement, over the last seven weeks. You proved that when working people stand together and fight back, they can win.

Click here for the detailed summary of the Tentative Agreement

Click here for the Memorandum of Understanding

Back To Work Agreement

BACK TO WORK AGREEMENT
For CWA District 1 NY and NE
May 29, 2016

Employees whose tours begin Tuesday night, May 31, 2016, and extend into Wednesday, June 1, 2016, will report to work for those tours.

All other employees will return to work for their tours that are scheduled to begin Wednesday, June 1, 2016.

Returning employees will return to work on the same tours to which they were assigned immediately prior to April 13, 2016.

In unusual circumstances, the Company will excuse employees, without pay, from reporting for a reasonable period not to exceed 72- hours from 5:00 pm, May 31, 2016. Members in this situation need to notify their supervisor prior to the start of their tour.

Employees on approved leaves of absence, approved medical leaves, suspensions or scheduled vacations shall report to work following expiration of such leaves, suspensions or vacations.

For two weeks following the return to work date, the provisions of the Collective Bargaining regarding overtime caps will not be in effect in order to reduce the work backlog resulting from the strike. Overtime will be assigned with due consideration to the safety and health of employees.

No employee will lose service or pension credit or life insurance as a result of participating in the Strike.

Unused vacation days and Excused Work Days remaining from 2015 which were still available on April 13, 2016, and which were not paid in lieu of during the Strike, may be taken pursuant to normal scheduling no later than September 30, 2016.

Floating holidays that were scheduled during the Strike may be rescheduled no later than September 30, 2016 and taken no later than December 31, 2016.

Verizon Declares Surplus of Field Technicians in FAA 1

Verizon has declared a surplus of 169 Field Technicians in FAA 1 (New York City). This surplus has been determined by the Company to be due to a process change, not an external event. The provisions of FAP Articles 8(b) and 10 will not apply.

If the surplus condition requires the use of the Enhanced Income Protection Plan (EIPP) under step three of the Force Adjustment Plan, the EIPP packages will be distributed to employees in the surplus titles and FAAs involved by January 14, 2015. An employee’s election to leave the service of the company and receive EIPP payments must be in writing and transmitted to the Company within 15 days of the offer, in this case January 28, 2015. The off-payroll date for employees who accept the offer will be February 8, 2015.

Verizon Corporate Profit Sharing Award

The Corporate Profit Sharing Award will be distributed March 13, 2015. Deadline to defer is February 5, 2015. Members should have received a letter from Verizon stating that the Corporate Profit Sharing Award will be paid to eligible employees on March 13 in your regularly scheduled paycheck. The actual amount of the award will be announced in March.

Employees who choose to defer their award into their Verizon Savings Plan must take action between January 5th, 2015 and February 5, 2015. Go to  http://netbenefits.com/Verizon to sign in.

Employees who choose not to defer will receive their CPS award on March 13th, 2015.

Click here for the letter from Verizon with more details.

Verizon Declares Surplus (Process Change)

Verizon has declared a surplus in FAAs 1-6.  This surplus  has been determined by the Company to be due to a process change, not an external event. The provisions of FAP Articles 8(b) and 10 will not apply. CWA Local 1101 titles affected by the surplus appear in column marked FAA1.

There are a total of 190 declared surplus in FAA 1.  They are as follows: Accounting Financial Clerk (8); Administrative Assistant (38);  Building Servicer (3); Cable Splicer Technician’s Helper (1); Central Office Technician (38); Coin Telephone Collector (14); Drafter (2); Facilities Specialist (4); Materiel Attendant (1); Materiel Equipment Technician (11); Material Systems Technician (5); Network Services Coordinator (5); Office Assistant (11); Senior Administrative Assistant (11); Special Assistant (19); Special Representative (6); Storekeeper (1); Translations Administrator (12).

If the surplus condition requires the use of the Enhanced Income Protection Plan (EIPP) under step three of the Force Adjustment Plan, the EIPP packages will be distributed to employees in the surplus titles and FAAs involved by November 26, 2014.  The election period will be until December 10, 2014, and the off-payroll date will be December 21, 2014.

The surplus numbers for the different FAAs affected are listed in the document below.  Click here to download the full list of titles in each FAA.

Rally to Protect our Jobs and Our Future

Where will you be Thursday, Dec 4?
Rally to Protect our Jobs and Our Future
Verizon Headquarters, 1095 Avenue of the Americas6pm

Click here to download flier
Verizon CEO McAdam made more last year than the company paid in taxes.
Verizon is refusing to extend the FiOS build, leaving many communities without access to essential high speed internet service.
There’s plenty of work, but the company has its priorities wrong. Good jobs, quality service, and high speed access for everyone. It’s not complicated!

Thursday, December 4th show Verizon we remember 1989, and we’re ready to fight for our future in 2015.

Local 1101 Election Results

November 7, 2014

Local 1101 members voted overwhelmingly to re-elect President Keith Purce, Secretary-Treasurer Kevin Condy, Business Agents Ken Beckett, Peter Torres, and Val Valentino. Heather Trainor was elected Business Agent for AT&T Mobility/Avaya and Bill Stefandel was elected Business Agent for Southern. Vice Presidents Mike Baxter, Pat LaScala, and Al Russo, and Business Agents Kathy Brindle and Joe Ventola ran unopposed and won by acclimation. (see results below).

We’re facing huge challenges to protect our jobs and our contracts. We’ll face those challenges head on. To win we need to stand together and fight. I know I can count on all of you.

Thank you to everyone who voted.

Keith Purce, President

_________________________________________________________

1101 Officers Election Tentative Results
(Awaiting final certification)

President

Keith Purce  – 1449

Angel Feliciano – 835

Secretary-Treasurer

Kevin Condy – 1544

Richard Mancino – 724

Business Agent Northern

Peter Torres- 1497

Henry Robinson – 746

Business Agent Eastern

Val Valentino – 1540

John Joseph- 686

Business Agent Western

Ken Beckett- 1453

Donnie Hoffman- 662

Business Agent AT&T Mobility/Avaya

Heather Trainor – 1520

Doug Grant – 604

Vice President Northern

Mike Baxter (unopposed)

Vice President Southern

Al Russo (unopposed)

Vice President Bronx

Pat LaScala (unopposed)

Business Agent Health and Education

Kathy Bridle (unopposed)

Business Agent Southern

Bill Stefandel (unopposed)

Business Agent Bronx

Joe Ventola (unopposed)

Update On Proposal For Special Incentive Offer to the NY/NE CWA

Email from Verizon to CWA members 11-5-2014

This is a follow-up to my recent letter to you regarding the Company’s Oct. 2 proposal for an enhanced incentive offer. On Oct. 29 the Company gave the union a slightly revised proposal and provided a deadline of Nov. 7 to reach an agreement. More than a month after the Company made its initial proposal, at 5:00 p.m. on Nov. 3 – with just four days left to reach an agreement – the Company received a voluminous information request. The union is now seeking, among other things, 12 months of data relating to overtime records, meal allowance and daily travel allowance for approximately 11,000 associates. As a practical matter, it seems unrealistic that the information requested could be compiled by the Company, reviewed and analyzed by the union, and an agreement reached within four days given the Nov. 7 deadline. The reality is that the union could have made this information request in early October if it was really necessary for them to determine their response to the Company’s proposal. Moreover, none of the other unions which agreed to the special incentive on behalf of the 22,000 associates they represent found it necessary to request such information in order to reach an agreement. As we spend time focused on the voluminous information request, there is little time left to reach an agreement.

The issue the Company and the union are negotiating about is straightforward. The Company is not seeking the union’s agreement to declare a surplus; the Company already has the right to declare a surplus. Rather, the Company is just seeking the union’s agreement to give an enhanced incentive to eligible employees who voluntarily decide to leave. If we are unable to reach an agreement, the Company will proceed under the collective bargaining agreement to declare a surplus and offer the standard EIPP. The Company would prefer to reach an agreement, but without an agreement covered associates will not be eligible for a special incentive offer which would have added a minimum of $40,000 to the standard EIPP payment.

Sincerely,
Marc Reed
Chief Administrative Officer

Negotiations over Verizon’s “Special” EIPP

October 29, 2014

The Company has made an offer to further negotiate over the “Special” EIPP. They have also sent an e-mail to all of our members attempting to negotiate with the membership to try and divide us. The Union has agreed to re-open negotiations but the Company’s action make these negotiations harder not easier. We will of course keep you apprised of the situation as it unfolds. We have set a deadline of November 7th.

Dennis Trainor, Assistant to District 1 VP Chris Shelton

VZ email to our member’s

CWA District 1 in NY/NE Rejects Special Incentive Offer

Four weeks ago the Company approached the union to seek its agreement to a special incentive offer.  The offer would allow certain associates who wanted to leave the payroll to do so with significant economic benefits not otherwise available under the existing collective bargaining agreement. The economic offer was the same as the offer the Company made a year ago. However, the scope of the offer changed in two significant ways:

  • The offer in 2013 was limited to 4 titles in certain Force Adjustment Areas (“FAAs”) while this year the Company proposed making the offer available to 26 titles in certain FAAs.  At the bottom of this communication is a list of the titles and FAAs covered by the current offer.
  • The offer provided the union with the flexibility to accept either a statewide offer by surplus title and FAA or the offer by union local and surplus title.

Unfortunately, the union has informed the Company that it is unwilling to agree to the special incentive unless the Company agrees to expand its FiOS build-out.

The Company has already invested more than $4B in New York State and more than $20B nationally in its FiOS build and continues to increase the number of small businesses and consumers who have access to fiber within its current FiOS footprint. Our focus now needs to be on driving penetration by increasing sales and retaining customers within the FiOS footprint where we have already invested significant capital and have a tremendous opportunity for future growth.

The Company has reached agreements with CWA District 2/13 covering the Potomac area, Pennsylvania and Delaware Local 13100, in addition to IBEW locals covering New England, New Jersey and Pennsylvania Livesource associates. In the negotiations leading to those agreements, the Company was flexible in responding to union demands to increase the scope of the offer so that associates in additional titles and locations would have an opportunity to consider the offer. In light of these agreements, we informed CWA District 1 of the following:

  • If it was important to them, we would be willing to make the incentive offer available to Field Techs in FAA1 as well as consider other requests for FAA and/or title expansion of the offer where it makes business sense.
  • At the CWA’s option, the offer could be available on both a local by local and title by title basis (for example, for some locals the offer could be made available to the Operators they represent even if the local chose not to make the offer available to Field Techs).

The CWA has suggested that by communicating with you regarding the status of these negotiations, the Company was trying to get the union to “cave-in to a one-sided offer” and that we should come to the table with a “serious proposal.” This makes no sense. Certainly CWA District 2/13 and the IBEW representing more than 22,000 associates from Massachusetts to Virginia did not “cave-in” by agreeing to a special incentive which gives their members the chance to voluntarily leave with significant additional financial benefits. The Company has made a serious proposal to address an ongoing associate surplus which is of great concern. Quite frankly, we find it puzzling that CWA District 1 would find a proposal aimed at dealing with a force surplus in a totally voluntary way, with financial benefits to its members, as “one sided” or not “serious.”  In fact, in 2010 CWA District 1 agreed to the special incentive in New York, Massachusetts and New Jersey with the same economic terms – certainly that was not a “cave-in” to a “one-sided” offer. It is also puzzling that a more flexible option allowing each local to determine whether its members would participate would be viewed as an attempt to “divide and conquer” the union.

The only thing that rejecting the special incentive achieves is preventing associates who would like to leave voluntarily from doing so with a substantial additional economic benefit while increasing the likelihood that the Company will have to find other means to reduce expenses relating to this associate population. We are hopeful that CWA District 1 will reconsider its position.

Sincerely,

Marc Reed

Chief Administrative Officer