CWA Districts 1, 2-13 as well as IBEW New York (NY), New England (NE) and New Jersey (NJ) opened negotiations with Verizon today. CWA District 1 and IBEW NY and NE are negotiating for new contracts at the Rye Town Hilton in Westchester County. CWA Districts 2-13 as well as IBEW NJ are negotiating for new contracts in Philadelphia. Dennis Trainor, Vice President District 1 gave an opening statement to the Company at the Regional Bargaining table in NY. Dennis closed his statement by stating, “We are united in our commitment to grow with Verizon. The Company cannot keep claiming surplus after surplus while hiring more contractors or moving our work. It is not fair to our members and your employees to tell them there are too many of them but yet you need contractors to do their work.

We are united in our commitment to fight for fairness – we are the foundation upon which the success of Verizon rests.  We have helped to boost the company’s earnings and productivity even through a global recession.  It is now our turn to share equitably in that growth.

When workers at Verizon improve their living standards through collective bargaining, all of our communities also benefit.

When CWA members succeed at the bargaining table, when we secure a better standard of living for our members, we help to boost the entire U.S. economy.

Verizon- it is time to stop the greed. Enough of the givebacks. It is time to negotiate a contract that is fair to your employees, one that protects good union jobs and that gives our membership the opportunity to grow with the company.

Verizon- it’s time to set the right priorities in these negotiations. This means meeting its responsibilities to employees, as well as investors, executives and consumers.”

After opening statements, Verizon gave the Unions an insulting and retrogressive comprehensive proposal. The Regional Bargaining Committee has adjourned for today and will resume tomorrow to review the Company’s proposal.

The Regional Bargaining Committee attended a rally tonight at the Rye Town Hilton, which was hosted by Local 1103. The rally was a huge success and was attended by hundreds of CWA and IBEW members from New York State and New England.