Verizon striking

[ShellyLynn3630]

Whats the deal with the verizon employees stricking. Gosh I hope this doesnt make my cell bill go up any more than it already is.

 

[zstyles]

They are striking over health care benefits only in union locations. I have a friend who is actually being brought in to cover the jobs for these union employees...its mostly in New York City and its Verizon Business(if you didn't know Verizon is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world) not just wireless, but a multitude of telecom parts. He is flying to NY today to cover the job and is going to be gone for an unknown amount of time, but the company is paying his 300.00 a night hotel, food and flight. My friend said he saw some of the union demands and they are pretty outrageous..

 

[DisHokie]

verizon landline and verizon wireless are totally separate.. wireless employees are not unionized and won't be affected by this at all... my mother is an engineer in upper management with verizon (not wireless) and will be dealing with this.. that being said she doesn't even get discounts on wireless b/c they are separate!

this isn't fun for anyone involved.. my mom will be working nonstop until this is over!

 

[DisHokie]

and i agree.. the demands are pretty ridiculous!

 

[Free4Life11]

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/08/verizon_workers_outline_differ.html

Verizon is looking to tie pay increases to performance review and require union workers to contribute to health-plan premiums. The company is also seeking to freeze pensions at the end of the year, eliminate the sickness and death benefit program, cut in half the sickness disability benefits from 52 weeks to 26 weeks and reduce sick time, according to a memo signed by William Huber, president of IBEW, Local 827.

The concessions equate to $1 billion if the loss of sick days and other benefits are factored in, Johnson said. That’s roughly $20,000 per worker.

Though wireline business may be in decline, picketers pointed out that the company as a whole is doing well, reporting billions of dollars in annual profits.

"So tell me, where is their loss?" said Dino Cantillo, a facilities technician and 17-year employee. Cantillo noted that Verizon’s CEO, Ivan Seidenberg, earned more than $18 million in total compensation in 2010 – roughly $49,000 every day.

 

[lisaross]

My husband ia a Verizon Employee. We are in NYC and he is on strike - not a a good thing - the Company cut talks - not good.....

 

[czycropper]

They're striking in NJ as well at the Basking Ridge Headquarters. One of our neighbors is a corporate attorney at corporate and he's been working all kinds of hours for the last week on the negotiations.

 

[melmar136]

They are striking over health care benefits only in union locations. I have a friend who is actually being brought in to cover the jobs for these union employees...its mostly in New York City and its Verizon Business(if you didn't know Verizon is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world) not just wireless, but a multitude of telecom parts. He is flying to NY today to cover the job and is going to be gone for an unknown amount of time, but the company is paying his 300.00 a night hotel, food and flight. My friend said he saw some of the union demands and they are pretty outrageous..

Ok, just have to clarify here....I work for Verizon, and am out on strike right now. I REALLY don't want to get into the whole +/- of unions, but had to say that Verizon makes BILLIONS of $$$ a year in profits. And, as you see, they obviously have the money to ship in workers and pay $300 a night each for a person's hotel, food and flight. But, they can't seem to pay the workers who only want a fair contract???

I can tell you that Verizon came to the bargaining table with over 100 concessions they wanted the union employees to make. These include huge contributions to an inferior health care plan, a freeze in pensions, no wage increase over the course of the contract (usually 3 years), and here's a big one, no job security, and the ability to transfer jobs. (hmmm, to India, perhaps?! or to non-union locations, since the new Ceo is from Verizon Wireless where they HATE unions) That is only a sampling.

I understand that in this economy, the idea is, "well, you have a job, so just shut up, and go to work." And trust me, I'd love to. As a single mom, this is really going to hurt me financially, if we are out of work for a while. But, why should a company that some people have spent their lives at (we have people with 40+ years of service on the job) have everything that they have worked so hard for, just taken from them? Coporate greed, plain and simple.

I'm not sure why people get all over the middle class workers when corporations like these are taking huge government buyouts, given 'golden parachutes" to top executives, care ONLY for the bottom line, etc. So many corporations just do whatever they want to their workers now. Verizon has done it to all of their lower level managers already. They WISH they had some sort of union protection. I hear it everyday. And once the strike is over, they'll be letting a bunch of them go, I'm sure! They've done it before.

Verizon is not a struggling company. Let's take a look:
•2011 annualized revenues are $108 billion and annualized net profits are $6 billion.
•Verizon Wireless just paid its parent company and Vodaphone a $10 billion dividend.
•Verizon’s top five executives received compensation of $258 million over the past four years
Oh, and by the way, they pay NO federal taxes.

The union members aren't asking for anything MORE than they deserve or currently have. They aren't asking for unreasonable demands, just to keep most of what they already have.

 

[Deealee]

They are striking over health care benefits only in union locations. I have a friend who is actually being brought in to cover the jobs for these union employees...its mostly in New York City and its Verizon Business(if you didn't know Verizon is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world) not just wireless, but a multitude of telecom parts. He is flying to NY today to cover the job and is going to be gone for an unknown amount of time, but the company is paying his 300.00 a night hotel, food and flight. My friend said he saw some of the union demands and they are pretty outrageous..

Neither you nor your friend know what you are talking about. I'm a unionized employee and we are striking to keep what we already have.

 

[Deealee]

and i agree.. the demands are pretty ridiculous!

What's so ridiculous about them?

 

[zstyles]

Neither you nor your friend know what you are talking about. I'm a unionized employee and we are striking to keep what we already have.

Well I am just posting a conversation we had, he said he's going to enjoy going to NY to take a company paid trip though Should be interesting tomorrow when he arrive in NYC to start doing the job of the union people...he is coming in from the Tulsa Oklahoma office which was WorldCom before the merger.

 

[bonoriffic]

I'm always amazed that people think if a company is making money, that they somehow aren't allowed to make more money. That pretty much is the idea. The company answers to their shareholders, not the employees. If you feel it shouldn't be that way, you can stop participating in capitalism or travel back in time. Otherwise those are the rules the Western world runs by.

The "demands" Verizon has seems quite reasonable to most outsiders.

I used to work for a telecommunications company also.

Freeze the pension? My pension was frozen years ago, and as it is so underfunded it doesn't matter anyway. I can't even roll it over as the laws require me to take half now if I do that. Pensions are a luxury few large corporations still have.

No wage increases for 3 year? I haven't gotten a raise in 5. And I'm considered a top performer.

Contributions to a health plan? Seriously? My former employer would charge you a $1500 fine if your spouse worked and didn't use their companies health plan.

No job security? Are you serious?

 

[zstyles]

I'm always amazed that people think if a company is making money, that they somehow aren't allowed to make more money. That pretty much is the idea. The company answers to their shareholders, not the employees. If you feel it shouldn't be that way, you can stop participating in capitalism or travel back in time. Otherwise those are the rules the Western world runs by.

The "demands" Verizon has seems quite reasonable to most outsiders.

I used to work for a telecommunications company also.

Freeze the pension? My pension was frozen years ago, and as it is so underfunded it doesn't matter anyway. I can't even roll it over as the laws require me to take half now if I do that. Pensions are a luxury few large corporations still have.

No wage increases for 3 year? I haven't gotten a raise in 5. And I'm considered a top performer.

Contributions to a health plan? Seriously? My former employer would charge you a $1500 fine if your spouse worked and didn't use their companies health plan.

No job security? Are you serious?

This is the best "reasonable" reply to the current state of the economy and realistic business terms. Great reply!

"Its your right to work, but its also a companies right to make money.

 

[Jeff_G]

Hmmm there are 13.9 million people unemployed right now, I bet they would all love to have a telecommunications job paying a wage, even if they had to pay into a crummy health insurance plan, have no pension and no pay raise for 3 years....

 

[Sugardimples]

Most of us lost these benefits years ago. Welcome to reality.

 

[Deealee]

Well I am just posting a conversation we had, he said he's going to enjoy going to NY to take a company paid trip though Should be interesting tomorrow when he arrive in NYC to start doing the job of the union people...he is coming in from the Tulsa Oklahoma office which was WorldCom before the merger.

Ah yes...Worldcom. What a well run company that was

 

[Deealee]

I'm always amazed that people think if a company is making money, that they somehow aren't allowed to make more money. That pretty much is the idea. The company answers to their shareholders, not the employees. If you feel it shouldn't be that way, you can stop participating in capitalism or travel back in time. Otherwise those are the rules the Western world runs by.

The "demands" Verizon has seems quite reasonable to most outsiders.

I used to work for a telecommunications company also.

Freeze the pension? My pension was frozen years ago, and as it is so underfunded it doesn't matter anyway. I can't even roll it over as the laws require me to take half now if I do that. Pensions are a luxury few large corporations still have.


no wage increases for 3 year? I haven't gotten a raise in 5. And I'm considered a top performer.

Contributions to a health plan? Seriously? My former employer would charge you a $1500 fine if your spouse worked and didn't use their companies health plan.

No job security? Are you serious?

So your answer is a race to the bottom???

 

[Deealee]

This is the best "reasonable" reply to the current state of the economy and realistic business terms. Great reply!

"Its your right to work, but its also a companies right to make money.

It is also our right to strike.

 

[Deealee]

Most of us lost these benefits years ago. Welcome to reality.

Funny they said the same thing in 1989 when we went on strike against what was then NY Telephone Co. for 17wks. Yet here we are 22yrs later. Benefits intact and enhanced.

Maybe more of you should have fought harder to make a better reality.

 

[lisaross]

Totally Agree!!! Those with Unions are lucky to be able to fight for what they want/deserve as a group!

Funny they said the same thing in 1989 when we went on strike against what was then NY Telephone Co. for 17wks. Yet here we are 22yrs later. Benefits intact and enhanced.

Maybe more of you should have fought harder to make a better reality.