Talks Continue on Ending Verizon Strike
Despite substantial progress on issues of working conditions and job security, more than 86,000 telephone workers from Virginia to Maine remained on strike Sunday, as negotiators continued to haggle over a new contract with Verizon Communications.
The two sides were unable to reach agreement for unionized workers of the former Bell Atlantic Corp., which merged with GTE Corp. to form New York-based Verizon.
Despite the strike, which began at 12:01 a.m. Sunday, basic telephone service and Internet access remained unaffected for most of the company’s 27 million customers in 13 states from Maine to Virginia, the company said. Telephone service in California was not affected.
But the walkout did slow calls in the East for new service, repair work and directory assistance, a problem likely to worsen today, as offices fill and call volumes swell.
Meanwhile, striking workers walked picket lines under soggy skies outside hundreds of Verizon offices and network facilities along the East Coast. The demonstrations were largely peaceful, if spirited, but pickets did block managers from entering several facilities in the Philadelphia area, the company said.
At its root, the strike is aimed at ensuring that the unions--the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers--will be positioned to reap benefits from new businesses launched by Verizon, as the once dull but steady provider of basic telephone service expands into wireless communications and the Internet.
Since the negotiations began in June, the unions have sought the right to organize workers in Verizon’s fast-growing wireless telephone business with only the requirement that they gather signed cards from a majority. For weeks, management held firm that the union could claim representation only after winning an election by secret ballot.
But management relented just before the expiration of the contract at midnight Saturday. According to sources close to the talks, Verizon promised not to campaign against the union in a simplified election.
The fine print had yet to be agreed upon Sunday night, but a deal was outlined and was in hand on that point, sources said.
Union and company officials, meeting at the L’Enfant Plaza Hotel in Washington, anticipated working late into the night and possibly into the morning to reach an accord.
“All of our major issues are finally being addressed, and progress is being made,” said Jeff Miller, a spokesman for the CWA, which represents 72,000 technicians, customer-service representatives, repair workers, operators and administrative support staff along the East Coast.
Still, several nettlesome issues remained, not the least of which was job security. Verizon has promised not to lay off or transfer workers because of the merger with GTE, but the unions remained concerned that the language at issue would give management substantial latitude to transfer work to less-costly labor markets. Verizon maintains it needs flexibility to shift customer service and operator calls as required to respond to changes in call volume.
The late proposal from Verizon did substantially address another vexing issue--forced overtime, the sources said.
The company has said a shortage of workers and an abundance of work has forced it to rely on overtime as it hires more employees.
Nonetheless, management has agreed to some limits, along with improvements to working conditions, such as more frequent bathroom breaks, the sources said.
As picketers chanted slogans, managers staffed cubicles inside offices.
