Regional Bargaining Report # 43

December 4, 2015

Right before Thanksgiving we ended our bargaining session with Verizon by asking the Company to think hard about the Union’s proposals. We told them if they truly want to reach an agreement with us they must address the Union’s proposals regarding all of our important issues and begin withdrawing their retrogressive proposals off of the table.

This week, CWA District 1/IBEW Local 2213 and IBEW New England Regional Committees met at the Rye Town Hilton in Westchester. On Tuesday, Verizon gave us a new proposal which changed the effective date of their medical plan changes from January 1^st to April 1, 2016 but calculated any additional employee costs to be retroactive to the beginning of 2016 Instead of moving in the a good direction, Verizon moved in the wrong direction!

The Company modified their position on Accident Disability which would still result in the Accident Disability Plan being greatly diminished from what it is today and they did not withdraw any proposals.

Your bargaining committee is working hard and bargaining in good faith.  We cannot say the same about Verizon. It appears from the Company’s posture this week that they unwilling to work towards a contract which is fair to both parties.

We have not walked away from the bargaining table. But we insist that the next step must be the company’s.  They must begin to take steps to negotiate fairly towards an equitable contract.

The New York/ New England and Mid Atlantic CWA/IBEW Regional Bargaining Committees met this week in Philadelphia to discuss the status of bargaining. We agreed that mobilization must be escalated and that we must prepare to do whatever is necessary to win a fair contract.

It is more important than ever that our members continue to Mobilize and that every member commit to spending at least 2 hours per week participating in off the job mobilization activities. Call your local or talk to your steward and find out what you can do to help.

IT’S TIME TO FIGHT BACK!

                          Mobilize!    Mobilize!    Mobilize!