CEOs Rake in More than Their Corporations Pay in Taxes

by Tula Connell, Aug 31, 2011

Former Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg made $18.1 million while the corporation got a $705 million federal tax REFUND.

Of last year’s 100 highest-paid U.S. corporate chief executives, 25 took home more in CEO pay than their company paid in 2010 federal corporate income taxes, according to a new report from the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS).

As IPS puts it:

Corporations don’t dodge taxes, the people who run corporations do. And these CEOs are reaping awesomely lavish rewards for the tax dodging they have their corporations do.

“Executive Excess 2011: The Massive CEO Rewards for Tax Dodging shows the 25 tax-dodging CEOs the IPS report spotlights averaged $16.7 million in pay last year, well above the $10.8 million Standard & Poor’s 500 CEO average. Most of their companies registered substantial profits. Yet these same companies actually came out ahead at tax time. They collected, on average, $413 million in refunds from the IRS.

At Verizon, where CEO compensation totaled $18.1 million, the corporation got a federal $705 million federal income tax refund.

Read the rest of this story

D.C. OPC Files Petition Seeking Comprehensive Review Of Verizon’s Quality Of Service

D.C. Office of the People’s Counsel
Sandra Mattavous-Frye, People’s Counsel

1133 15th Street, NW, Suite 500 | Washington, DC 20005| www.opc-dc.gov

In response to consumer concerns throughout the District, on August 26, 2011, OPC filed a petition asking the DC Public Service Commission to convene a comprehensive review of Verizon DC’s quality of service. “We have received numerous complaints from consumers in Wards 4, 6, and other areas, including complaints forwarded to OPC from Council members’ offices relating consumer frustration with poor quality service and restoration response,” said People’s Counsel Sandra Mattavous-Frye.

Because consumer complaints about Verizon are wide ranging, OPC is requesting a formal investigation that broadly examines numerous service related issues including the causes and resolution of telephone service outages and the reported poor quality of telecommunications services. “By encouraging the Commission to use the full breadth of its statutory authority, I believe the investigation will be able to address the condition of the telephone system infrastructure in the city and identify the types of corrective actions necessary to enable the provision of safe and reliable service,” stated the People’s Counsel.

OPC will also ask the Commission to scrutinize Verizon’s efforts to resolve longstanding problems, such as whether Verizon is deliberately failing or refusing to adequately repair or upgrade infrastructure or service, Verizon’s efforts to compensate District ratepayers and consumers for losses sustained, and whether Verizon has sufficient manpower to address the problem. “OPC understands that thousands of consumers continue to rely on traditional landline telephones. The introduction of cellular service and FiOs services are welcome technology alternatives, however these services are not a one-size-fits-all communications solution,” said People’s Counsel Sandra Mattavous-Frye.

The People’s Counsel commented that “As the landline provider with the greatest access to District homes and businesses, I expect and the Commission must require a higher standard of Verizon. It is unfortunate that consumers must provide affidavits, and that a sitting Councilmember must weigh in seeking regulatory support, rather than have the option to communicate directly with the service provider to address their concerns. Based on comments to OPC, Verizon has been unresponsive to pleas from the community therefore we must seek Commission action if there is any hope of gaining relief for District of Columbia consumers.”

About the Office of the People’s Counsel

The Office of the People’s Counsel is an independent agency of the District of Columbia Government representing energy and telecommunications services consumers.

“1101 Takes Care Of Its Own”

Local 1101, CWA
275 Seventh Avenue (17th Floor)
New York, NY 10001
(212) 633-2666 FAX: (212) 633-8337
E-Mail: feliciano@cwa1101.org

Angel Feliciano, Executive Vice-President

1101 TAKES CARE OF ITS OWN

Local 1101 has a long, proud history of taking care of its own.

Throughout emergencies, strikes, and anything else in between, taking care of our Brothers and Sisters has come first. This time will be no different!

We have 8 Members who have been suspended for alleged strike activity, three of who have been reinstated! We have negotiated a process that will address every case, and I assure you they will be cared for, but, in the meantime, we have to take care of our 8 Members.

Therefore,we are asking every member to contribute $5 a week into the fund to make sure that these Members do not suffer financial harm. Send your checks made out to the “Local 1101 Special Projects Fund”, or hand them to your Stewards or Chief Steward.

Remember,our brothers in arms did what they needed to, we must do the right thing by them!

Sincerely and fraternally


ExecutiveVice-President

Come Join Us In Celebrating Labor Day Saturday, September 10

March with CWA Local 1101 up Fifth Avenue to show support for Labor and the Middle Class.

Kickoff time will be 10:15 a.m.. Our location is on 45th Street, between 5th and Vanderbilt Avenue.

Come One! Come All!

United As One! – CWA Local 1101

Don’t Forget To Wear RED for Solidarity

Labor Day Parade Flyer / Line Of March / Labor Mass / History Of Labor Day

Pledge to help lead the America Wants to Work campaign for good jobs

Bargaining Begins Wednesday!

By George Bloom, President, CWA Local 1104 reprinted from The Hub, www.cwa1104.com

We would like to quell any rumors that the CWA or the IBEW asked to come back to work because our members were crossing picket lines. Nothing could be further from the truth. It was Lowell McAdams and Larry Marcus who asked if we could end the strike and work under the current agreement indefinitely so the company could go back and review all of its concessionary demands. There was no quid pro quo other than to take down the picket lines. The union has not sold out and has not agreed to any retrogressive demands. We did agree that we would resume negotiations in the near future and would review the companies’ new proposals. As we have stated the corporation has blinked because we hurt them severely in wireless stores and Spin Doctor Marc Reed can tell all the lies he wants to the press; we know the truth our resolve is stronger than their commitment. All members should read the op-ed on our website by Ralph Nader “Verizon Goes From Wireless to Shameless”. I think he nailed it. Send a copy to friends and family.

Verizon has sent a strong message to the membership that they do not want us here. That being said next week begins the winter regulations on forced overtime. No one will be forced more than 10 hours in any week September through May. Since next week is the week ending September 3rd, this rule applies. There is no emergency until the local officers are notified and that hasn’t happened. With the impending hurricane everyone should make sure their family is safe and when working follow safety procedures to the extreme limit—your life may depend on it. If you need help make sure you get it.

Wireless Doesn’t Run Without Wireline

Verizon Tape

August 26, 2011

Transcript: Executive VP Angel Feliciano

Bargaining is scheduled to resume Wednesday, August 31st.

Contrary to rumors and misinformation being circulated, we are not working under an expired contract. We are working under an extended contract, which means all provisions of the contract are in tact, including medical, arbitration and job security.

As always, Local 1101 takes pride in the slogan “1101 takes care of its own”.

With eight members suspended for alleged strike activity, this time will be no different. We are asking every member to contribute, as we have done in the past, every week to a fund to take care of our members.  Your Chief Steward will have more information.

With the approaching storm, the bus trip to Washington this Saturday has been cancelled.

We hope each and everyone one of you is safe and sound as the storm reaches us.

Verizon Workers End Walkout as Company Agrees to Bargain Fairly

Two-Week Strike, Public Pressure Force Verizon Back to Restructured Talks

Verizon workers returned to work this week stronger than ever in their fight for a fair contract, fortified by the bravery they showed in striking during a recession and by the public’s strong embrace of their courage and solidarity.

The 35,000 striking CWA members and 10,000 IBEW members returned to work Aug. 23, many of them wearing red and marching into their worksites together.

That kind of solidarity during their two-week walkout forced Verizon to reset its bargaining position, extend the contract and agree to negotiate in good faith. Public support also put tremendous pressure on Verizon, as passersby waved and honked in solidarity with workers, joined them on the picket line and delivered ample supplies of food and water to picket sites.

CWA and IBEW reached agreement with Verizon last Saturday, Aug. 20. Workers returned to work Tuesday under the terms of their existing contract. The strike was the largest U.S. walkout since 73,000 autoworkers struck GM in 2007.

CWA and IBEW members made it clear that they wouldn’t stand for any attempt by one of the nation’s most profitable companies to destroy collective bargaining, and with it good-paying, middle-class jobs.

Verizon tried to downplay the impact of the walkout on its business, but customers and workers reported big backlogs and delays in FiOS installations and repairs. Verizon has run full-page apologies to customers in the Washington Post and other newspapers serving the Verizon East region.

Pickets at Verizon Wireless stores coast to coast also affected the company’s bottom line, as strikers and allies on picket lines reported that many would-be customers took flyers and decided not to go inside.

The company has frequently downplayed the importance of its wire line business to justify making deep cuts in workers’ pay and benefits, but the argument fell apart following the East Coast’s major earthquake this week, when wireless telephone service was virtually shutdown. Landlines were largely unaffected, or services were back on line quickly.

Going back to work won’t curtail workers’ mobilization efforts as they continue to fight for a fair contract and highlight Verizon’s unreasonable demands. Leafleting continues in front of Verizon Wireless stores across the country. Visit the Unity at Verizon website to join workers in their fight and click here to find them on Facebook.

Leading negotiations are CWA District 1 Vice President Chris Shelton and CWA District 2-13 Vice President Ed Mooney.

The Hill newspaper in Washington, D.C., published an op-ed column by CWA President Larry Cohen on Thursday, “Verizon Strike Has Bigger Lessons for U.S. Economy.” Click here to read it.

Verizon Strike Has Bigger Lessons For U.S. Economy

By Larry Cohen, president of the Communications Workers of America – 08/25/11 10:15 AM ET

The 45,000 CWA and IBEW members are hopeful that Monday night’s return to work at Verizon after a two- week strike will bringmeaningful collective bargaining and a good result for all concerned.  For us, the strike was about real collective bargaining rights as much as about preserving the standard of living for our families.

The unity of our members and the widespread public support for workers really speak to the general state of working families in the US.  This includes stagnating  real wages in recent years, the collapse of employer based health care,  declining retirement security and the export of good jobs to low wage contractors and offshore.  The root cause of much of this decline is the collapse of bargaining rights in the US in both the public and private sectors.  

For our members and their union, as well as Verizon management, at least on the surface, there is no larger story.  The strike was about this contract and the state of bargaining at this company.  Verizon has begun a management transition, and we are hopeful that for lots of reasons this is an opportunity for change. But the unity of our members and the popular support of their cause, to a large extent, reflects how normal cuts have become and how unusual resistance on this scale is in the United States of the 21st century.

For working women and men, and retirees in the US, there is little structural economic support.  We can pretend otherwise, but look at nearly every other industrial democracy, where high level and cost effective health care is the norm, retirement security means much higher income replacement, public policy supports retaining jobs in key industries and most important, there is widespread public and politicalsupport for collective bargaining.

We are in an economic free fall.  Pretending that we are consumers and not working Americans first will not fix it.  Tax cuts will not fix it.  Attacks on working Americans and their rights like those led by Republicans in the House of Representatives and extremist governors at every opportunity will make the landing even harder.

We need to restore workers’ rights in a meaningful way so that we all can negotiate and engage our employers in a meaningful way. Human resource leaders at major US based employers should be ashamed of looking to cut costs at every turn, then collaborating with multi-billion dollar political machines to fight every political attempt to restore balance through publicpolicy.  For example, nearly without exception, US management opposed federal legislation mandating that all employers pay for quality care.   Even those employers like Verizon that provide decent health care end up subsidizing  employers  that are health care deadbeats  by ensuring spouses who work for those companies.

Collective bargaining can make a difference.   Look back to 1938, when the United States still was gripped by the last of the recessions that made up the Great Depression. Well known economist John Maynard Keynes wrote to President Franklin D Roosevelt, stating that the jobs program and financial regulation were important, but “I regard the expansion of collective bargaining as essential.”

Keynes was not particularly a union supporter but he understood, as did economists for decades to come, that collective bargaining is a critical engine to fire up the demand curve and enable workers to improve their conditions in discussion with management, thus improving the economy. We will never have an economic recovery in this country if instead very profitable employers automatically cut wages, cut benefits and ship more good jobs overseas because their colleagues at other firms are all doing it.  That remains a race to the bottom.

We can’t have a recovery based on a “dollar store” economy. Unless workers can truly use bargaining rights to better their conditions, that’s exactly where we’re headed.  The strike at Verizon demonstrates the severity of the problem, but it will take a majority based political movement to fix it.
 
Larry Cohen is president of the Communications Workers of America, which represents 700,000 working men andwomen in communications, media, airlines, manufacturing, health care and public service.

This story from: The Hill’s Congress blog

Verizon Goes From Wireless to Shameless

By Ralph Nadar

It was only a matter of time before the “pull down” NAFTA and WTO trade agreements on U.S. wages and jobs would be followed by “pull down” contract demands by U.S. corporations on their unionized workers toward levels of non-unionized laborers.

The most recent illustration of this three-decade reversal of nearly a century of American economic advances for employees is the numerous demands by Verizon. Here are just a few of the concessions the new Verizon CEO, Lowell McAdam, is insisting upon: 

  • More power to contract out and offshore jobs to add to the 25,000 already in that category; thereby undermining job security.
  • a freeze on pensions;
  • elimination of the sickness and death benefit program;
  • reduction in sick days; and
  • a major increase in employee contributions to and deductibles under their health insurance coverage.

Mr. Lowell McAdam would surely have trouble feeling the pain of his workers who brave the elements storm or shine to afford him a salary of over 1.5 million dollars PER MONTH plus perks and benefits. Watching Verizon profits soar year after year, noticing Verizon stock rise faster than its competitors, knowing that the company’s top five executives took in over $250 million between them in the last four years, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) took their members on strike on August 7, 2011. “Unfair and unacceptable” was their cry on the picket lines up and down the east coast.

These workers pay their taxes. While the tax lawyers for their bosses have figured out how to turn Verizon into a vast tax escapee. According to the super-accurate Citizens for Tax Justice, Verizon Communications made a total of $32.5 billion dollars in pretax U.S. profits during 2008, 2009, 2010. Far from paying the maximum federal corporate income tax rate of 35 percent on these ample profits, Verizon’s federal income tax was negative $951 million or negative 2.9 percent!

Some of these saved tax revenues have been getting into expensive daily full page advertisements (not deductible it is hoped) in the Washington Post, The New York Times, and other large newspapers. Verizon’s brazen assertions reflect the limitless arrogance of a multinational behemoth.
Verizon’s headlines its ad with these words: “They claim we’re asking union-represented employees to contribute to their own health care premiums. THEY’RE RIGHT. Verizon is proposing that its union-represented employees contribute more toward the cost of rising health care. 135,000 non-union Verizon employees already pay a portion of the healthcare premium. We’re just asking our union -represented employees to chip in like everybody else. We think that’s fair.”

There you have it – the “pull down” ultimatum to the level of the voiceless majority of Verizon workers. Of course Verizon bosses with their fat paychecks do not have to worry at all about co-payments and larger deductibles in their gold-plated health plan.
Another anti-union Verizon ad featured this assertion: “They claim we want to strip away 50 years of contract negotiations. THEY’RE RIGHT. The union contracts that have expired were drafted over 50 years ago, when people still used rotary phones. Verizon is proposing to update the contracts in a reasonable manner to reflect the changing times.”

The CWA leaders recognize that some changes need to be made and have offered compromises. But fifty years ago, a telephone company CEO never dared pay himself anywhere near the multiple that today’s Verizon executives get compared to the average workers. Maybe then the CEO would get 20 times the entry level wage. Now it is between two hundred to four hundred times.

Verizon does have one last argument. At the bottom of each full-page ad, it describes exacting concessions from its workers as “all in an effort to best position Verizon to serve our customers.” Are those the same customers who are subject to all kinds of extremely one-sided fine print that spells suppression of rights, overcharges, termination fees, penalties and other straitjackets of contract serfdom? Are those the same customers who have to wait and wait to get their service and billing complaints addressed and questions answered? Are those the same customers who can never get Verizon to put what its spokespersons say on the phone in writing?

The CWA workers went back to their jobs on August 22, 2011. Verizon had threatened to cut off their medical, dental and optical benefits by August 31.Their 2008 contract continues until ongoing negotiations with the company are concluded for a new contract. Verizon keeps saying that what they’re doing just “reflects the changing times.” The times are changing – skyrocketing executive pay packages and corporate profits – slashing benefits for the workers and their families – shredding of all moral authority by example from the top.

If negotiations break down in the coming weeks and the CWA goes out on strike again, consumer advocates and their organizations should make it explicitly clear that Verizon can’t excuse what they’re doing to workers in order to better “serve our customers.”
Verizon is going increasingly wireless. They are also going increasingly shameless!

Bargaining Update

Regional Tables: Aug. 25

Both the North and Mid-Atlantic Joint Regional Bargaining Committees are scheduled to meet in Rye Town, New York on Wednesday, August 31st to reconvene bargaining with Verizon. This “reset” of the company’s bargaining position was made possible by the mobilization efforts of our members up and down the East Coast. Our members made it clear that they would not allow this Verygreedy Corporation to destroy our collective bargaining rights nor would they allow them to destroy more middle class jobs.

Now your bargaining teams will return to address your issues at the bargaining table. While we have returned to work, this fight is far from over. We still have members who have been disciplined for strike related activities and we will not forget them. We must continue to keep the pressure on Verizon. We will continue to leaflet in front of Verizon Wireless stores across the country until we have secured a fair contract for our members.