The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Communication Workers of America recently called a strike against Verizon Communications, Inc. Around 45,000 workers from 12 states in the northeast will be walking the picket lines for a second week. As far as union negotiations go, this one seemed pretty cut and dry. Verizon wanted the unions to make over 100 concessions on their contract, taking hits on sick days, holiday days, health care, pensions, work rules, etc., despite making ridiculous corporate profits and paying their executives an insane amount of money. However, the unions were content to work under the terms of the existing contract. Verizon refused to budge on their demands. The unions walked out; and good for them.
It is a difficult task to negotiate union contracts with companies who are losing money. Sometimes concessions may be needed for a company to survive. That is not the case here.
Let’s start at the facts. AsI reported earlier, Verizon seems to be doing pretty well lately, sitting on $100 billion in revenue and showing net profits of $6 billion last year. Verizon’s Chairman Ivan Seidenberg is paid 300 times what an average worker earns, is ranked 10th in executive pay for 2011 according to Forbes Magazine as he is set to receive $36.75 million dollars this year in total compensation that doesn’t include the rise in his stock, which currently has an estimated value of $76.5 million. Everyday Mr. Seidenberg rolls out of bed in 2011, he will make more than $100,000. The top five company executives were paid more than a quarter of a billion dollars over the past four years.
From Verizon’s own web page, they boast about their profits and increased revenue this past year.
6.3% growth in cash flow from operations
16.4% increase in free cash flow
4.8 million new wireless customers
25.6% growth in wireless data revenue
796,000 new FiOS Internet connections
722,000 new FiOS TV connections
31.9% growth in FiOS revenue
23.1% total shareholder return
2.6% annual dividend increase
Now let’s look at trends in our society. In today’s America, $6 billion in annual corporate profits is not enough. Making only 300 times the average worker is not enough. After all, Seidenberg has shareholders to make happy. He has a family to feed. Why should hard-working union members stand in his way?
For some reason in this country, politicians believe that “corporations are people.” But the truth is that politicians treat corporations much better than people. I’ve heard people say that workers should not have the right to a strike, but they think that corporate CEOs’ deserve as much money as they can get. I’ve heard people say that the unions are “cry-babies” but then they repeat the message of the real cry-babies, Mr. Seidenberg and Verizon CEO Lowell McAdams, that $6 billion in corporate profits is not nearly enough money for a company to survive. Coincidentally, these are typically the same people that subscribe to the notion that Earth was formed 6,000 years ago, that man hung out with dinosaurs, that evolution is a myth, and that climate change is a bunch of bull, despite the findings of nearly every respectable scientist in the world.
The reality is, some people in the country believe that corporations have the right to do whatever it takes to make as much profit as possible, but no longer believe in the worker’s right to a living wage. Some people in this country believe that CEO’s need multi-million dollar contracts, but think $50,000 plus health care is way too much for a highly-skilled IBEW technician. Some people believe that corporations have a right to make billions of dollars in profits in this country and not pay any taxes. People scream the Verizon propaganda that these “land-line” technicians are now a thing of the past, when in reality, these technicians are installing FiOs lines, the future of Verizon.
Some people believe that Verizon workers should work under any terms dictated to them by Verizon because “they’re lucky to have a job.” And, while in this economy, they are fortunate to have employment, but what happened to the American dream? Ya know, that dream that if you work hard, you can support a family -the dream that an honest day’s work yields an honest day’s pay. That same dream that made this country great – that used to mean that, with some hard work, you could get ahead. We are the most highly skilled work force in the world. And while Seidenberg lives in his mansion, sitting on piles of cash, the skilled laborers that make him that money deserve the right to a fair contract. After all, without the unions and the skilled American workforce, there would be no Verizon.
The IBEW proudly say that they are not only fighting for a fair contract for themselves, they are taking a stand for all working class Americans. Unions are simply the only voice left in our society that speaks for what is left of the working class. There are very few politicians who have the guts or the means to speak for us, and we all know that corporate interest simply does not allow for an American middle class. For years, they have threatened to move manufacturing overseas in pursuit of cheap labor. And what do our politicians do? They pass laws to make it easier for them to do it with tax breaks and free trade agreements. And what do we do about it? Nothing but drive around in our foreign cars wearing our Indian-made Nike sneakers.
According to ThinkProgress.org, “When unions were stronger in the middle part of the last century, American workers wages rose as they became increasingly more productive. But today, as union strength has decreased, this link has broken down: even though American workers grow increasingly more productive, their wages have stagnated. At the same time, more and more income has become concentrated at the very top of the income scale.”
It is a tough time right now. Unemployment is too high; the economy is in the toilet. However, corporate profits are sky high and executive pay is rising at rates disproportionate to the average worker. If Verizon needs to make cuts, they should start at the top and leave middle class America alone. After all, if there is no middle class America, who could afford $100 a month to watch FiOs?
Are you affected by this strike in anyway? Are you walking the picket lines or trying to get Verizon to fix your telephone? Please share your stories in the comments section below. If you like what you are reading, please check out my home page where you can view pictures and videos. Have pictures, videos, or a story you would like to share, e-mail me at MrTSantone@yahoo.com