Little Progress in Verizon Contract Talks
Progress slowed Monday in contract talks between local-phone company Verizon Communications and its unions because of disputes over job security, forced overtime and union access to jobs in the wireless telephone unit, one union said.
“While progress was reported [Sunday] on many issues, bargaining hit a snag over the issue of movement of work throughout the new Verizon company,” the Communications Workers of America said.
The CWA and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers’ desire to organize workers at Verizon’s wireless unit has been one of the most contentious issues in the contract debate, both sides said.
Despite the strike, Verizon’s 27 million customers from Maine to Virginia had basic telephone service and Internet access. Directory assistance calls and line repairs were delayed, the company said.
About 87,000 union members, or 33% of Verizon’s work force, went on strike Sunday.
Negotiators met almost continuously over the weekend as workers walked off the job. Formal contract talks recessed at about 6 p.m. Monday, although informal discussions took place for several more hours, Verizon spokesman Steve Marcus said. Negotiations will continue this Tuesday morning, he said.
“We’ve had a lot of productive and encouraging discussions. We’ve made some good progress, but there are some outstanding issues that are serious. . . . So I don’t want to lead anybody to the conclusion that we’re on the brink of a settlement,” said Verizon spokesman Eric Rabe.
“We’re hopeful and encouraged by the fact that we continue to negotiate and move in the right direction,” Rabe said.
Picket lines swelled Monday as union members wore red T-shirts, carried signs and chanted union slogans at hundreds of Verizon facilities. About 14,000 union members picketed more than 540 Verizon facilities, compared with 6,000 picketers at 300 locations Sunday.
“At a lot of locations there’s a big turnout of people - hundreds. People want their voices heard and to say what the issues are. They want a fair contract,” said Candice Johnson, a spokeswoman for the Communications Workers of America, one of two unions negotiating with the company.
Most of the picket scenes were orderly, both sides said. One union worker was arrested Monday in Pennsylvania for preventing a truck from leaving a company garage, a Verizon spokeswoman said.
Workers in Philadelphia on Sunday blocked managers from entering several offices, operator call centers and switching facilities.
A Pennsylvania court issued an injunction later that day requiring union members statewide to stand 200 feet away from any Verizon building and restricting workers from blocking entrances or damaging property or injuring people. The court also limited picket lines to four union members spaced 10 feet apart.
