By Elesha Barnette
A battle of wills between the second largest wireline telephone company and the two largest telecom unions has taken an unusual and unfortunate turn into a racial issue. The Communications Workers of America (CWA) the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) have attacked two members of Verizon’s board of directors – an African American and a Hispanic – and the businesses they run – while not launching similar attacks on any of Verizon’s White directors or the businesses they run.
The underlying labor dispute has nothing to do with race – instead it is the traditional stuff of union negotiations. Since last summer, Verizon and CWA have been negotiating over issues such as healthcare contributions, pension plans and work rules. In August 2011 45,000 of Verizon’s union wireline workers went on strike after failed attempts to reach an agreement on a new labor contract.
Read the full story here.
Read the related story below, the other side:
Unions Shine a light on Corporate Practices of Verizon Members
By William Rogers
Last week members of the Communication Workers Union and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers called attention to two Verizon board members whose business practices reflect disdain for people whose work has made them rich and a sense of privilege that justifies taking handouts from the government while ignoring their own social responsibilities.
The two unions, which represent 45,000 Verizon East Coast workers, have been negotiating a contract with the company for more than a year. Verizon is demanding concessions that destroy retirement security for new hires, make retirement less secure for current workers, reduce health care benefits, gut contract provisions that protect good-paying middle class jobs, and take away rights that give workers a voice on the job.
Read the full story here.
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