Wrapping Up Mobilization 2004

Braving the cold in Cheektowaga

2004 ended with a bang for Verizon members. The VZ-California bargaining committee reached a tentative agreement (see below), and locals across the country wrapped up a great month of more than 70 creative demonstrations at Verizon Wireless locations.

There's no doubt that the company took note as we informed scores of customers about Verizon Wireless' shabby treatment of its employees.  The head of VZW human resources even called us to talk about customers' calls to Ivan Seidenberg's office. (More about that below.)

The new year will see plenty more mobilization, with negotiations continuing for the CWA North-Central unit and a dozen other contracts expiring during the year.  (See the contract list at www.cwa-union.org/Verizon) And, of course, we'll be continuing our campaign to give Verizon Wireless workers a free choice on unionization.

A few final December stories before we jump into the new year:

Smashing union-busting!

Smashing Union-Busting -- Literally!

Local 802 Musicians are serious about smashing union-busting. Three Local 802 organizers smashed their Verizon Wireless cell phones in front of Verizon's headquarters while about 40 CWAers from 1101 and 1105 chanted "Stop Union-Busting!"  

Managers inside the VZW store looked on, as did a curious crowd on the street.

To make sure that Verizon could "hear us now," the 802 organizers went into the store to explain to management why they won't do business with Verizon Wireless. They also informed them that 11,000 musicians all have cell phones, and their union will be letting members know about Verizon's union-busting in the next issue of the union newspaper.

The day before, the Musicians had visited a Cingular store, where they were warmly greeted by CWA-represented employees as they signed up for union wireless service.

Santa Knows Who's Naughty and Nice

Santa and his helpers from CWA Locals 1022, 1023, 1034, and 1040 paid a visit to VZW CEO Denny Strigl's Princeton, NJ, mansion. As Santa's caravan pulled up to the house blasting "You're a Mean Once, Mr. Grinch," they were greeted by a police officer in the driveway and some corporate security folks taking pictures. 

Santa has a coal delivery for Denny's stocking

Inside, Denny was hosting a huge dinner party -- and on the very night Santa came to deliver the news that he was naughty! The driveway was full of catering trucks and luxury cars. After caroling and distributing a flyer (see below) to Denny's neighbors, Santa and crew drove out of sight, horns honking.

Visit us on the web for more photos: www.cwa-union.org/verizon/photos

Agreement Reached in California

On Dec. 23rd, the CWA VZ-California bargaining committee reached a tentative agreement with the company. Highlights of the 5-year agreement include:

• General wage increases of 1% (2005), 2% (2006), 2.5% (2007), 2.5% (2008), 2.5% (2009)
• 4% Lump Sum
• Improved and Expanded Recognition Language
• Enhanced Employment Security Language including Transfer Opportunities and Job Security
• An additional Personal Holiday effective 2008
• Expanded language for Union Leave and FMLA
• Improved Minimum Pensions
• Health Insurance Improvements
• New Tech Title for FIOS work, "Fiber Network Field Technician"
• Improved language on the administration of overtime.

For more details:
www.cwa-union.org/district9/Verizon.htm

Congratulations to the bargaining committee and to all the members who mobilized in support.

Formal North Central Negotiations Recessed Until Jan. 3

Latest updates: district4.cwa-union.org

Flyer detailing Denny Strigl's naughty behavior:

Merry Christmas, Denny! Denny Strigl seems to have his own personal Santa Claus. Strigl, the CEO of Verizon Wireless, is already doing quite well: $5.2 million last year, plus up to $12.6 million in stock options. But all that bounty didn't stop Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg and his elves from giving Denny even more by moving him from the Verizon Wireless payroll onto Verizon Communication's richer compensation plan. The company explained that the change was made "in order to align Mr. Strigl's benefits with those of other executive officers of Verizon." In other words, the big boys at Verizon are making out better than Denny, and he wants his! But when the employees at Verizon Wireless want to discuss organizing a union to upgrade their pay and benefits, Denny has very different gifts for them:       LaVerne Conley & Thai Nguyen LaVerne Conley and Thai Nguyen were illegally fired by Verizon Wireless for discussing unions with their co-workers. Merry Christmas!    Other pro-union employees at Verizon Wireless face surveillance, harassment, and threats. Season's Greetings!      1,500 Verizon Wireless workers got a trip to the unemployment line when the company moved their jobs to hundreds of miles away. Employees at the now-closed customer service centers in Orangeburg, NY, and Morristown, NJ, had been organizing a union. Happy Holidays! (In 2001, the company also closed down a call center in Woburn, MA, when the employees there tried to organize a union.)

Verizon Wireless Exec Won't Face Facts

Can Verizon hear us now--after CWA's month-long series of VZW store protests during the holiday season? The answer appears to be yes . . . and no.

On Dec. 14, the union received a call from the company's executive director of human resources, Matt Antonek. Antonek said he was calling in response to messages left with Ivan Seidenberg's office. He was clearly not pleased with the public demonstrations, which generated such calls and growing publicity about the company's record of labor law violatons. Antonek claimed that CWA's retail store activities were directed at VZW employees who, in his view, have repeatedly "rejected" the union.

In a 20-minute call, we reviewed with Matt the nearly 10-year history of management interference with worker organizing activity at VZW and its predecessor companies, starting with the attempted extermination of CWA and IBEW units at NYNEX Mobile/Bell Atlantic Mobile in 1995. Not only did Matt dispute the company's culpability in past unfair labor practice cases, he rejected the NLRB's claim that VZW has violated federal law once again by firing Thai Nguyen in New York and LaVerne Conley in Pittsburgh--the subject of two upcoming hearings.

Matt would not acknowledge any recuring pattern of unlawful activity--even in the way VZW tries to keep workers in the dark about pay and performance reviews, other than their own.

In 2001, for example, VZW signed and posted an NLRB settlement agreement in Massachusetts promising not to "promulgate, maintain, or enforce rules stating that the amount of an employee's raise or bonus, or the contents of his or her appraisal, are confidential."  In October, however, the NLRB in New York had to issue another complaint against VZW because the company's associate director of customer service in the now-closed Orangeburg center, Loraine Smith, "prohibited employees from discussing their terms and conditions of employment."

Our conversation with Matt was politely terminated--when it was time for another mobilization conference call, to plan further activities aimed at curbing such misbehavior by the company in the future--and securing justice for LaVerne, Thai, and other VZW workers who have bravely stood up for their rights around the country.