Last week and again this week, the CWA District 1/IBEW Local 2213 and IBEW New England Regional Committee and the CWA District 2-13/ IBEW Mid Atlantic Regional Committee met with the Company together on the issues of Job Security and Call Sharing. There were also several off table discussions with Union and the Company chairs regarding these same issues. Both Regional committees presented the company with counter proposals on the Company’s issue of Call Sharing last week. The Union’s proposals looked to provide flexibility the Company is demanding within call centers that handle similar calls from customers. In return the Union demands a return of the work from contractors to the bargaining units. CWA District 1 and IBEW NY and NE also made several other proposals last week on Job Security, Jobs and Absence. Last week, all Union proposals were rejected by the company and the company responded with a counter comprehensive proposal.

Yesterday, District 1 and IBEW NY/ NE Bargaining Committee again rejected the company’s proposals and gave the company a new counter proposal on Call Sharing, Absence, Job Security and Jobs.

Your Union Bargaining team is working hard and is committed to finding ways to address both the concerns of the Company and the needs of our members in this round of negotiations. The Company continues to have only one goal, givebacks. Their agenda continues to include retrogressive demands across virtually every area of our contracts from job security to pensions to Health Care and work rules. The Company has no interest in any of the Union’s issues.

Verizon is doing more than its part to destroy middle class jobs in this country. The Company is still not hearing us so it is more important than ever that we take this fight to a new level. Our members must continue to mobilize. Every member needs to commit to spending 4 hours per week participating in mobilization activities.

Next week we will be asking every member to get involved as we intensify our Mobilization. If you have not been involved it is time to get involved. Call your Local or talk to your steward and find out what you can do today to help.

IT IS TIME TO GET ANGRY
IT IS TIME TO GET INVOLVED
IT’S TIME TO FIGHT BACK
Mobilize! – Mobilize! – Mobilize!

CWA 1105 Bargaining Update, Friday June 8th 2012; 1:30pm
A message from Keith Edwards…. Tape Number: 718-904-1105

Bargaining resumed Monday, June 4th 2012 with your Regional Bargaining Team putting a counter proposal across the table concerning the call sharing proposal. Our proposal gave this corporation the flexibility to share calls but also put protections around our job security, no movement of work, a guarantee of tours, which includes weekends over time hours and additional jobs, The Company’s response was this counter was too expensive for this greedy maggot corporation and would put them in the red.

Verizon wants the ability to share calls nationwide, close locations when they want and send work out of state where they pay the least amount of money.

Reuters news wire this week reported that Verizon was looking to cut its workforce by 1,700 people or almost 1% through a buyout offer for technicians and call center employees. Verizon even stated it could resort to involuntary layoffs it too few accept the voluntary package.

Even while we sit across the table trying to bargain a fair contract, this company sneaks around and makes statements without advising the National Union, When we addressed this issue with the Verizon bargainers, they knew nothing about it and this is a company who leads consumers to believe they have integrity.

This corporation continues to show their un-professionalism, their distain for their employees and this Union and their lack of integrity.

Unfortunately, because there is no trust factor at the bargaining table, we must question every item in Verizon’s proposal so we can get the true intent of their proposal.

Today, the company notified us that they rejected our counter proposal on call sharing and gave us another counter. The bargaining team will review the company’s counter and will determine our next course of action.

Please keep in touch with this tape for I will update it with more information when it becomes available and always remember:

In Unity There is Strength

 Monday, May 21, 2012 

Again this week, the CWA District 1/IBEW Local 2213 and IBEW New England Regional Committee and the CWA District 2-13/ IBEW Mid Atlantic Regional Committee met with the Company together and discussed the issues of Job Security and Call Sharing.  There were also several off table discussions with Union leadership and the Company chairs regarding these issues.  

The Company continues to demand the elimination of Job Security, elimination of the Movement of Work Protection, elimination of the 35-mile transfer provision and the elimination of New Contracting Initiatives agreement.  Both Regional committees also met throughout the week to work on joint proposals for the Company’s Call Sharing proposal and the Union’s Jobs proposal.  

This week District 1 will be holding their Leadership Conference and there will be no formal bargaining. The Regional Bargaining Committee will be meeting while at the conference to prepare proposals to be ready when they return to the bargaining table on Tuesday, May 29th.

The Company continues to have only one goal, givebacks. Their agenda continues to include retrogressive demands across virtually every area of our contracts, which includes major cuts to our benefit plans- health, disability and pension plans. The Company is still not hearing us so it is more important than ever that we take this fight to a new level. Our members must continue to mobilize. Every member needs to commit to spending 4 hours per week participating in mobilization activities.

NLRB Region 2 Authorizes Issuance of Complaint Against Verizon for Unfair Firings, Discipline

On Friday, we learned that the Regional Director of Region 2 of the NLRB authorized the issuance of a complaint against Verizon regarding the discipline of CWA members for strike-related activity.  CWA filed one comprehensive charge for all disciplined members in District 1 and District 2-13.  There were 63 members that were disciplined and the Region authorized the issuance of complaint in all but five cases in which two of those cases were in District 1 and in those cases, we did not produce evidence.

This is a first step.  The Region will first attempt to settle these cases with the Company.  They will then issue a complaint, which will be heard by an Administrative Law Judge (ADJ).  Following the ALJ’s decision, either side may appeal to the Board in Washington.

Even though this is a first step, it is a tremendous important step. It shows that the Region believes that based on the evidence presented to them by both sides, it is highly likely that the Company violated the law when it disciplined our members.  We are confident that the judge will agree.

We need Every Member to Give the Union 4 hours Per Week

Call your Local or talk to your steward and find out what you can do today to help.

If you have not been involved it is time to get involved.

IT IS TIME TO GET ANGRY

IT IS TIME TO GET INVOLVED

IT’S TIME TO FIGHT BACK

Now more than ever we need to mobilize!

Mobilize! – Mobilize! – Mobilize!

Last week, the CWA District 1/IBEW Local 2213 and IBEW New England Regional Committees and the CWA District 2-13/ IBEW Mid Atlantic Regional Committees met with the Company together to discuss issues in a new approach to bargaining. For the past 11 months the two committees have been meeting separately with the company. The Union committees decided on this approach and also decided to give the company an aggressive comprehensive package to be used for discussion purposes to help jump start these negotiations.

The Union presented a ‘what if” scenario and offered “what if” the Union proposed a phase in to premiums to help offset the cost of Health Benefits. In this “what if” scenario the union proposed that the company would withdraw their retrogressive demands on pensions, job security, disability benefits, retiree medical benefits and other retrogressive demands and the union would agree to some cost sharing of Health benefits which would include a phase in level of employee contributions.

The Company spent little or no time evaluating the Union’s comprehensive package. The Company rejected the Union’s comprehensive package and responded with a new proposal which included minor changes to their last proposal. The Company’s new proposal lowered some deductibles and out of pocket maximums for individual and family plans.

It is important to note that the company’s initial proposal would drastically change our Benefit Plans by changing components of the Benefit Plan. These components are: Deductibles; Co-Pays; Co-Insurance; Out-Of-Pocket Maximums and they added contributions as a component. The Company’s earlier proposals had higher deductibles, higher co-pays, higher co-insurance and higher out of pocket maximums plus the new component – high employee contributions.

The earlier company proposals would add thousands of dollars a year to what our members would have to pay for benefits by adding these higher components. In addition, the company wants each employee to pay excessive premiums (contributions) for these benefits.

It is not just about premiums (contributions). It is about these other components that make up a Benefit Plan We have Great Benefit Plans which the company wants to destroy.

So, when they make a proposal which slightly lowers the deductibles and out of pocket maximums from a point that was too high in the first place and only slightly decrease contributions for only one plan and not the others- they are not making a serious counter proposal to the Union.

The Company’s proposal would add $4,000 to $5,000 for the cost of health care to our members for each year of the contract with only small increases in wages.

The Company only proposed a small wage increases for the 2nd and 3rd year of the contract and NO INCREASE in the first year of the contract.

The Company still wants to eliminate the EPO plan where 6,000 of our members are enrolled, forcing them into other plans. Most of our members went into the EPO plan when the company eliminated the most popular HMOs. Now that the EPO is the most popular HMO type plan, they want to eliminate it, forcing our members into other plans that are not as popular for their areas.

The Company wants you to pay more. They want you to feel it in your wallet. They want you to think twice about visiting the doctor or seeking medical attention.

By rejecting the Union’s “What if” proposal the company not only wants to destroy your benefit plans and have you pay thousands of dollars more for those reduced benefits with high premiums but they also want to:

Eliminate Pensions:

• Cut pension accruals in half. For anyone currently on the payroll your pension will be capped at 30years. Beginning October 1, 2012, your pension plan will only accrue at 50 %.
• Eliminate the Pension Lump Sum option.
• Modify the 401(k) Plan and the CPS.
• Eliminate the Sickness Death Benefit

Eliminate Job Security:

• Eliminate the Job Security Provisions for all employees.
• Eliminate the Movement of Work Protection Eliminate the 35 mile transfer provision
• Eliminate provisions in Force Adjustment Plan
• Eliminate New Contracting Initiatives agreement – which would allow them to increase the level of contracting

The Company has many other issues that are still on the bargaining table and some of them are:

• ABSENCE – The Company only wants to give 5 paid days per year and still discipline members who use those 5 days.
• CALL SHARING – Verizon still demands their call sharing proposal but have not addressed any of the security provisions from the Union nor have they given us any additional jobs.
• ELIMINATE THE NEXT STEP PROGRAM

Every member must tell every manager – every day – that we will not allow Verizon to destroy our benefits and to destroy the middle class jobs that CWA and IBEW have fought so hard to create over the last 50 years of collective bargaining.

It is more important than ever that our members continue to mobilize and that EVERY member commit to spending at least 4 hours per week participating in mobilization activities.

There are new mobilization activities planned for this week and every member must be involved in every activity

If you have not got involved it is time to. Call your Local or talk to your steward and find out what you can do to help.

IT IS TIME TO GET ANGRY

IT IS TIME TO GET INVOLVED

IT’S TIME TO FIGHT BACK

Now more than ever we need to mobilize!

Mobilize! – Mobilize! – Mobilize!

1105 Tape
CWA Bargaining Update
Thursday April 12, 2012
A message from Keith Edwards….

Bargaining will resume on Monday after 2 weeks due to no rooms being available at the hotel.

I want to go back to the table with more support than ever this time.

Verizon is out to break this Union. Destroy their employee’s lives and take away ALL the benefits you currently have.

All of the retrogressive demands they had in August still remain on their agenda.

MEDICAL- THEY ARE STILL DEMANDING A PREMIUM PAYMENT OF ABOUT $94.00 A WEEK FOR FAMILY COVERAGE, RAISING DEDUCTABLES TO $2,000.00 PER PERSON AND INCREASING OUT OF POCKET EXPENSE FROM $700.00 to 6,000.00 ( YES six thousands dollars)!

The response by this GREEDY CORPORATION is that

“WE WANT THE EMPLOYEES TO FEEL THE PAIN WHEN THEY GO TO THE DOCTOR”’

PENSIONS-
Their most recent offer was to freeze all pensions at 30years.
Any member with less than 30 years would get only 50% of the pension value for the difference and then be frozen. BUY OUT OF YOUR PENSION WOULD BE TERMINATED.

ABSENCE -Verizon only wants to give 5 days paid per year and still discipline members who use those 5 days.

ELIMINATE EVERYONE’S JOB SECURITY.

ELIMINATE THE NEXT STEP PROGRAM.

They still want the ability to TRANSFER MEMBERS UP TO 85 MILES RATHER THAN the 35 MILES that currently exists.

CALL SHARING – Verizon still demands their call sharing proposal but have not entertained any of the security provisions from the Union nor have they given us any additional jobs.

ELIMINATION OF THE BIG CITY ALLOWANCE.

I could go on and on but I think you get the message. This MAGGOT Corporation wants to destroy your way of life. If you are going to allow this to happen than continue to do what you are doing-NOTHING!

If WE are going to FIGHT this Corporation ALL MEMBERS NEED TO GET OFF THEIR ASSES AND GIVE US 4 HOURS A WEEK AT LEAST TO DO WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE!!!!

Also, sign up for the Spring Training, this is not just CWA; it is a combination of Religious, Labor, Community activists that are having the same problem with corporations as well as Government attacks on workers.

We need to do what ever it takes to stop the attack on us and all American middle class workers.

Finally, all members will be receiving a Verizon 2012 Dependent Verification request. This material is TIME SENSITIVE and if ignored your dependents coverage will be terminated.

Please take the time to read all the material supplied and follow the instructions to verify dependents. EVERYONE MUST verify their dependents. Once you complete the process, make sure you receive a confirmation notice. If you run into problems please contact the local.

Please keep in touch with this site or the tape on 718 904-1105 And Remember In Unity There is Strength!!!!!

CWA District 1/IBEW Local 2213 and IBEW New England Regional Committees have been meeting at the RyeTown Hilton in Rye, NY for the last ten months.

These committees continued to meet with the Company each day in an attempt to move closer to a fair contract settlement for both the company and our members.

Verizon continues to push its agenda of demanding givebacks from our members in almost every area of our contracts. It has demanded significant changes to economic issues including healthcare and pensions which would result in cost shifting thousands of dollars a year to every active member. Verizon also demands that our retirees contribute the same for their healthcare coverage. Verizon has stuck with their agenda of gutting our collective bargaining agreements. Verizon shows no interest in any of the Union’s proposals and shows no concern for our issues. Verizon’s goal is to strip you of your benefits, your job security, your pension, your work rules and much more.

We cannot stress enough this fight will not be won at the bargaining table alone. Only through members standing up and demonstrating they will do whatever it takes, will we see this Company move away from their most egregious retrogressive demands. Following last week’s mobilization and rally activities we have seen a demonstration of how our members’ activity in the workplace has an effect at the bargaining table. At the end of this week, Verizon passed an amended proposal on pensions to the Union. We will evaluate fully the company’s latest proposals before we respond.

We are in the fight of our lives with Verizon. It is obvious from the Company’s demands that Verizon has a plan for the business that does not include us. After months of hearing the Company tell us how the business is in trouble and how we need to accept the concessions it demands in order to survive, we recently learn that the Chairman and CEO, Lowell McAdam tripled his compensation from 7.2 million to 23.1 million annually. This is a slap in the face to every member. We need to send the clear message that we are determined if there is no place in this business for us, then we will make certain there will be no business without us either.

Bargaining will recess for the next two weeks due to the rooms used for bargaining at the hotel are not available because of the Passover/Easter holiday. The Union bargaining committee will use this time to fully examine the latest proposals placed on the table by Verizon and formulate our response.

Verizon’s CEO Lowell McAdam seems hell-bent on destroying the middle class jobs CWA and IBEW have fought so hard to create over the last 50 years of collective bargaining.

Verizon’s Annual Shareholders Meeting is Thursday May 3, 2012 at 10:30 AM at the Von Braun Center, 700 Monroe Street, Huntsville, Alabama. Your admission ticket and proxy card was recently mailed to all our members who are shareholders. We are asking all of our members to vote your proxy, sign and date your card and return it to your Local. The Shareholder’s Meeting is a Thursday and there will be a “sea of red” CWA and IBEW members who are also shareholders who will deliver these proxies and our message to that meeting.

It is more important than ever that our members continue to mobilize and that EVERY member commit to spending 4 hours per week participating in mobilization activities.

Call your Local or talk to your steward and find out what you can do to help

IT’S TIME TO FIGHT BACK

Now more than ever we need to mobilize!

Mobilize! – Mobilize! – Mobilize!

1105 Tape
CWA Bargaining Update
Monday March 26, 2012
A message from Keith Edwards….
Tape Number: 718-904-1105

Bargaining continued last week with your Regional Bargaining Team meeting on the Company’s call sharing proposal. We gave a counter proposal which gives the Company flexibility but demanded protections that that would eliminate surpluses, eliminate movement of work, guarantee out of hour tours and Holiday work. We also have demanded additional jobs in all lines of businesses involved with their Call Sharing proposal.

Hopefully all members have been following the news in reference to the Senate Judiciary Committee sub-committee on Anti Trust and Competition policy involving Verizon’s Spectrum deal with the Cable companies.

Senator Al Franken states “I am concerned, that these transactions will greatly impact how much consumers pay for their wireless phone, high speed internet and cable television services and I urge you to closely examine all of the terms and conditions of these deals”. These words were directed to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.

As I have stated before all Verizon wants to do is cut all Union gains over the past 50 years and line their own pockets.

CEO Mc Adam is the greediest of all raising his salary to 23.1 million dollars a year that is $63,287.67 per day. YES PER DAY! That is 365 times more than the average employee, makes in a year. DISGRACEFUL!

Please keep in touch with this site or the tape on 718 904-1105 And Remember In Unity There is Strength!!!!!

CWA and IBEW REGIONAL BARGAINING REPORT #64 March 23, 2012

Mar 16, 2012

The Mid-Atlantic bargaining team met in Rye New York this week. In meetings with the Company, management rejected Union proposals on Call Sharing and Absence and passed counter-proposals on each of those issues. The bargaining team reviewed the Company counter-proposals, discussed them with the Company and asked questions so we are clear about their intentions.

We also spent a good deal of time working on proposals that address our members agenda in this round of bargaining while trying to address the Company’s issues in an effort to reach a fair agreement. These issues included Absence, Medical Restriction and Healthcare.

Your Union Bargaining team is working hard and is committed to finding ways to address both the concerns of the Company and the needs of our members in this round of negotiations. The Company seems to have only one goal, givebacks. Their agenda continues to include retrogressive demands across virtually every area of our contracts. Job security, pensions, work rules and much more are still on the Company’s retrogressive agenda.

The Company is still not hearing us so it is more important than ever that we take this fight to a new level. Our members must continue to mobilize. Every member needs to commit to spending 4 hours per week participating in mobilization activities.

On March 22nd Join the Fight for Good Jobs – Stand up to Corporate Greed.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

CWA District 1/IBEW Local 2213 and IBEW New England Regional Committees have been meeting at the RyeTown Hilton in Rye, NY for the last nine months. CWA District 2-13/ IBEW Mid Atlantic Regional Committees have been at the same hotel since September. Since, the beginning of the year the meetings have been back “on the record”. Prior to these meeting, we spent weeks in “off the record” discussions in Sub Committees focusing on several major areas of our collective bargaining agreements trying to get the company to move off of their retrogressive demands. Unfortunately there is very little progress to report.

The Company shows no interest in any of our proposals and shows no concern for our issues. Verizon’s goal is to strip you of your benefits, your job security, your pension, your work rules and much more.

Verizon seems hell-bent on destroying the middle class jobs CWA and IBEW have fought so hard to create over the last 50 years of collective bargaining.

Obviously, the company has not heard us and We need to take the fight to a new level.

It is more important than ever that our members continue to mobilize and that EVERY member commit to spending 4 hours per week participating in mobilization activities.

On March 22nd Join the Fight for Good Jobs – Stand up to Corporate Greed!

Now more than ever we need to mobilize!

Mobilize! – Mobilize! – Mobilize!