Click
here for New York picket locations.
Verizon workers are picketing and rallying in
Philadelphia,
Harrisburg,
Boston,
Buffalo and elsewhere throughout the northeast and mid-Atlantic. Workers went on strike because, after six weeks of bargaining, management was still demanding
nearly 100 concessions; showing their unwillingness to negotiate in good faith, Verizon has
canceled every bargaining session since the strike started.
Workers were willing to make concessions:
Union spokesmen said they went into negotiations a month ago willing to make concessions related to health care benefits. They said Verizon’s proposals to limit sick days, eliminate some holidays, such as Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Veteran’s Day, freeze pensions, and remove a clause in the contract that limits the company’s ability to lay off workers went too far.
Calvey, of the IBEW, said the cuts are unacceptable from a company that had $27.5 billion in revenue in the second quarter.
Verizon has slashed its percentage of union jobs from 69 percent to 35 percent, leaving little question of its intentions toward the union now.