This is a Mobilization Call from CWA Local 2204 with additional comments by their Local’s President, Chuck Simpson…

“HERE IS WHAT VERIZON WANTS US TO AGREE TO:
*No Wage Increase Offer and No retroactivity on any negotiated items
*Sales Commission Plan for Consultants
*Significantly increase deductibles, co-pays & implement premium sharing for Health Care Plans
*Eliminate the HCBC & RHCBC positions
*Significantly increase co-pays in our prescription drug benefit plan
*Major diminishment in our benefits including Incidental Absence, Short Term Disability and Medically Restricted Plans
*Eliminate the Pension Plan
*Eliminate the Pension Cash Out Option
*Eliminate the Sickness Death Benefit
*Eliminate the Job Security Protections
*Increase the movement of work provision to 5%
*Change the contractual relocation provision to any move more than 85 miles
*Increase the forced Overtime limits
*Reduce evening and night differential payments and eliminate Saturday differentials altogether
*Eliminate Short Notice Excused Days and the 18% vacation provision
*Allow Electronic Recording of Call

VERIZON WILL NOT BACK DOWN UNTIL IT FEELS THE PUSH BACK FROM LOCAL MOBILIZATION

 We need to continue to mobilize in our local work groups on a daily basis– Whether it is informational pickets, walking into the garage together, wearing the same color, standing up together, picketing at a Verizon Wireless store, whatever we do we need to do it in a Strong, Unified showing so each supervisor gets the message and needs to report the activity to the company that the employees are upset and are pushing back– No later than Friday January 20th we want a report of what each work groups planned activities are so we know that our members are involved in this fight—Please reply to me with that info to my email address– If we do not stand up and fight back the company will succeed in taking our bargaining rights away from us–  Make no mistake, that is their plan–  They want a non union company where you work for lower wages with no pension and health care you pay for that has large deductibles and covers less medical needs–  Why should we give back an average of $20,000 per member in compensation and benefits while the CEO and other Verizon Executive Officers make big money and still want more– We are all CWA and we need to join in this fight to make Verizon realize they are dealing with more than just the members of the bargaining committee—They are dealing with employees who know what is right and they are the front lines of Verizon—They are dealing with women and men who pride themselves on doing a good job every day by working to take care of our Verizon customers–  We are the ones who make Verizon work and we are the ones who speak to our customers as Verizon every day–  If we don’t fight back who will?”