April 13, 2016

Why Verizon workers are striking

Mackenzie Baris,Jobs With Justice - During the last round of contract negotiations in 2011, Verizon came to the table with a long list of demands that would have undone decades of hard-earned progress. Ultimately, after a two-week strike and 16 months of escalating mobilization by working people and allies like Jobs With Justice, working people at Verizon successfully negotiated a sustainable contract and fought back the worst of the corporation’s demands. When Verizon came to the table last year with an eerily similar opening proposal, it was clear that the telecom giant has a long-term agenda to cut jobs that sustain families, decrease its menu of services they offer to many of our communities and offshore and contract out work overseas and to contractors.

Verizon employees’ contracts expired last August, and an overwhelming majority of CWA and IBEW members voted then to authorize a strike in case labor and management fail to reach fair contracts. ...

5 reasons Verizon workers are striking

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