Verizon has declared a surplus in FAAs 1,2,3,4,5 & 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 FAA 1.

There are a total of 92 declared surplus in FAA 1. They are as follows: Accounting Financial Clerk (8); Administrative Assistant (17); Cable Splicer Technician’s Helper (1); Central Office Technician (14); Drafter (3); Engineering Drafter (1); Facilities Specialist (4); Frame Specialist (10); Materiel Equipment Technician (4); Network Services Coordinator (2); Office Assistant (4); Senior Administrative Assistant (5); Special Assistant (14); Special Representative (3); Translations Administrator (2).

The EIPP packages will be distributed on September 3, 2013. The election period will be until September 17, 2013, and the off payroll date will be September 29, 2013.

The surplus numbers for the different FAAs affected are listed in the document below.

Click here to see NYS surplus numbers by FAA

Mantoloking resident Peter Flihan really doesn’t like Voice Link, Verizon’s wirelesss replacement for traditional telephone service in this superstorm Sandy-ravaged borough.

Flihan, who doesn’t have a computer at home, can’t use his fax machine. His alarm company had to find another alternative to connect his security system to a central station because Voice Link doesn’t support it.

He doesn’t like the voice quality either. “The static is horrendous,” Flihan said. And sometimes, when he makes a call, he’s connected to a message that says “Welcome to Verizon,” he said. “I dial the second time, I usually get the person.”

Superstorm Sandy destroyed Verizon’s network of copper telephone lines and switch equipment in Mantoloking. Rather than rebuild the cables, Verizon made a decision to offer Mantoloking residents a new product called Verizon Voice Link.

The service, which also is being deployed in New York’s Fire Island, another area hit hard by Sandy, sends a homeowner’s calls over Verizon Wireless’ network, rather than copper or fiber-optic lines that run on utility poles or underground, respectively.

Voice Link uses a home’s existing wiring, and jacks and telephone handsets and can run on a battery-backup during a power outage.

Read the full story here.

ALBANY — The State Public Service Commission has set a hearing Aug. 24 that will help determine whether Verizon’s cellular-based telephone system on Fire Island should be expanded statewide as an alternative to rebuilding its landline system.

The hearing is scheduled for noon at the Ocean Beach Community House, 157-164 Bay Walk, Ocean Beach, Suffolk County.

The proposal to expand the cellular-based system statewide has come under attack by state Assemblyman Kevin Cahill, D-Kingston, who recently complained that the wireless Voice Link system puts residents at risk and keeps businesses from conducting commercial activities.

A press release from Cahill two weeks ago noted that Voice Link does not “allow for the transport of data, which is required to send a fax, use a credit card reader, or to utilize home security systems. Furthermore, it is unknown how well these devices will work in rural areas or in emergencies like Hurricane Sandy.”

The commission in May gave Verizon limited approval to replace Fire Island’s traditional landline telephones with its Voice Link wireless service.

Verizon, in its application for statewide use of Voice Link, had asked the commission to establish terms “under which Verizon could discontinue its current wireline service offerings in a specified area and instead offer a wireless service as its sole service offering in the area.”

Peter Sikora, a legislative director for District 1 of the Communications Workers of America union, contends that a pallet of 500 Voice Link telephone units delivered earlier this year to a Verizon warehouse in Monticello shows that the company plans to push its service in Ulster and Sullivan counties.

“Verizon seems to be going full force on installing Voice Link, which has a lot of problems,” he said. “You can’t get DSL through it, you can’t get Life Alerts, credit card processing, fax machines, any kind of data transmissions, and also there is no auxiliary power in a blackout.”

Verizon spokesman John Bonomo on Monday said there are 545 customers with Voice Link service on Fire Island. He said the hearing will be opened with a presentation by the utility.

“We think it will be a perfect opportunity for us to explain why we think Voice Link is a good solution for voice services and for the restoration of voice services on Fire Island and at the same time be able to hear any of the residents’ or summer vacationers’ concerns,” he said.

As per the collective bargaining agreement of October 10, 2012, a wage increase of 2.75% goes into effect today, August 4, 2013. The increase is applied to all steps of the basic wage schedule.

The next wage increase is 3% and goes into effect one year from now, Sunday, August 3, 2014.

Verizon Communications Inc. ’s pension deficit has been sliced by almost half this year because of rising interest rates, according to the Chief Financial Officer, Fran Shammo.

An increase in discount rates, used to calculate the present value of future pension obligations, helped reduce the telecommunications company’s unfunded liability by roughly $4 billion, he said.

Verizon reported an unfunded liability—the difference between its pension obligations and the amount in assets held by the plan—of $8.5 billion at the end of last year. The company owed roughly $26.8 billion and held assets of $18.3 billion.

“The unfunded liability will continue to close,” if interest rates keep rising, he added in an interview with CFO Journal. That would mean fewer and lower cash contributions to Verizon’s pension plans.

Rising rates have benefited most companies with pension obligations. Corporations use a so-called discount rate based on corporate bond yields to calculate the present value of payments they expect to make to retirees over the life of their plan. The higher the discount rate, the lower the company’s pension liabilities.

Rates rose to 4.74% in June from 4.41% in May. And that narrowed the gap of underfunded liabilities by a combined $47 billion for the 100 largest defined benefit plans, according to Milliman Inc., an actuarial firm. Their deficits now total $179 billion.

Verizon has moved aggressively to reduce the burden of its pension obligations. Last October, the company bought an annuity that transferred roughly a quarter of its pension liability to Prudential Financial Inc.

Verizon on Thursday reported that second-quarter earnings rose 23%.

Source: Verizon