(Workers in other areas are organizing as well. To contact an organizer in your area, visit us online or call 1-800-424-2872.) Despite fears of management retribution, these workers are standing up strong. In the main Verizon Business office in New York City at 33 Whitehall St., 100% of the technicians wore red last Thursday, as did Verizon Business workers in other office, including Hillburn, NY, and Tulsa, OK. Two workers at the Whitehall St. office forgot to wear red but promptly went out and bought red shirts. Already, this group is collecting union cards from each other. CWA organizer Tim Dubnau reports, "They are on fire." Verizon Members Say "Solidarity"Last Thursday, CWA and IBEW held solidarity rallies in New York and Boston and released a Solidarity Statement (see below) signed by over 3,000 shop stewards and local officers, expressing support for VZ Business workers' struggle to form a strong union. Here's a firsthand report from New York:
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Verizon Announces Sale of New England Lines; Midwest May Be Next Verizon has found a buyer for its access lines in Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire: a North Carolina-based company called Fairpoint. IBEW and CWA members, with the support of state and local AFL-CIOs, have launched a full-scale campaign to stop the proposed anti-worker, anti-consumer deal. "Prevent Rural Telecom Redlining, Protect the New England Economy, Defend 3,000 Good Union Jobs." This is the message that union members are taking to the public throughout the three states. The sale would adversely affect some 2,700 IBEW members who work as technicians, clerks, operators, and service reps and 350 CWA members employed as service reps throughout the three states. For more information, visit www.stop-the-sale.org
| Power in UnityA VZB tech from New York writes: "I just want to express the thanks that I and other workers at vrz.bz felt to know that a CWA organization came downtown in great numbers and in the cold to support us in our bid for equitible fair wages and beneifits and most importantly the right to organize."Just as the 13 colonies did when this country was founded and what those great men knew then, Power is in Unity and Numbers." If you'd like to share your thoughts about why you want a union, what issues you're facing in the workplace, or anything else, please send them along. We will absolutely keep your name confidential and print only the information you're comfortable with (such as city or state). You can contact us by replying to this message or e-mailing unityatverizon@cwa-union.org
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"We Are the Heart and Brains of this Company"Excerpt from the Organizing Mission Statement signed by 150 Verizon Business technicians: "We are the heart and brains of this company. We are the ones who get the circuits up even when it means giving our families less of our time. We are the ones who sweat and suffer during outages and national emergencies to ensure our customers stay with service. Verizon Business works because we work! "WE HAVE HAD ENOUGH! With the help of our co-workers at Verizon Core and our friends at the CWA and IBEW, we, the loyal employees of Verizon Business, have decided to unite under one voice."
| Management Is Up to Its Usual Tricks Right on cue, Verizon is running an anti-union campaign. As soon as VZB workers started signing cards, management began holding "captive audience" (mandatory) meetings where managers give Verizon's official line on unions. At the meetings, managers spread the usual lies that union-busters use: That the union will force you out on strike (without mentioning that members vote whether or not to strike) That they will lose "flexibility" (that is, management having the flexibility to change schedules, work rules, benefits, and anything else) That VZB is a "pay for performance" company (also known as a "manager favoritism" company). Workers are fighting for a union to turn VZB into a "work with dignity and decent benefits" company.
| Show Your Solidarity!The Solidarity Statement below was signed by over 3,000 CWA and IBEW local officers and shop stewards and presented to Verizon Business workers. Please post the attached Solidarity Statement on your bulletin board so that management knows we're all supporting VZ Business workers. (The writing on the attachment is tiny so that we could fit all 3,000 names on! For poster-sized copies, locals should contact their District office.) Across the country, union members at Verizon worksites wrote additional messages of solidarity that we'll be making available on the Unity@Verizon website soon. (If you didn't get a chance to write a message, you can e-mail it to unityatverizon@cwa-union.org Include whatever information you'd like in your signature: name, job title, union position, workplace, city, and/or state.)
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Watch the Solidarity Rallies Right Now!
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Web links in this issue:
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Visit Unity@Verizon on the web for more: If you'd rather receive only periodic updates when we need you to take action or there's significant news, please reply to this message and tell us "periodic." |
(What's happening in your area? Send information and photos to unityatverizon@cwa-union.org and we'll publish them here.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Fighting for Verizon's Future: Hometown Jobs & Quality Service | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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As shop stewards and elected local union leaders
representing Verizon technicians in New York, New England, New
Jersey, and Pennsylvania, we strongly support our fellow workers
who are now organizing at Verizon Business (VZB).
CWA District 1 VP Chris Shelton tells VZB
workers, "