MAINE LABOR UPDATE
August 3, 2007
 
Please Forward to Working Families
 
HUGE BOSTON RALLY TO "Stop the Sale"
Workers Fight for Union Recognition
Sale Would Fracture Telecom Network

 FROM THE PRESIDENT'S DESK
Ed Gorham
President
Maine AFL-CIO

More than 1,000 telecom workers joined August 2 with elected officials and union and community activists to protest the sale of Verizon’s New England operations and to demand justice for Verizon workers who are trying to form a union.

Rallying outside Verizon headquarters in Boston, the members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the Electrical Workers (IBEW) urged state and federal regulators to oppose a proposed $2.7 billion sale of Verizon’s rural landlines in New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine to FairPoint Communications.

Fracture the Network
The proposed network sale would fracture the rural New England telecom network, damage the economy and jeopardize 3,000 good-paying union jobs. The rally also sent a message to Verizon management that CWA is gearing up to fight any proposed cuts to salaries, health care and pension benefits at the $88 billion telecommunications giant when the workers’ contract with Verizon expires next year.

“We’ve come to Verizon headquarters today to make it clear that the aggressive union-busting and intimidation tactics from Verizon will not be tolerated,” said Chris Shelton, Vice President of CWA District 1. “It’s time for them to stop the intimidation and stop trying to take away their employees basic right to organize. At the same time, their anti-consumer proposal to sell off their network cannot go forward without endangering good-paying jobs and telephone service quality for New England consumers.”
 

Seek Union Recognition
The union members were joined by technicians from Verizon Business, a new subsidiary created after the company bought the remnants of MCI/WorldCom.  For the past eight months, a majority of the roughly 525 techs in New England and New York have been trying to form a union with IBEW and CWA–but Verizon has refused to recognize their freedom to join a union.

Union workers earn 30 percent more than those who aren't, and are much more likely to have employer-provided health care and retirement benefits. Yet, when employees try to exercise their rights to form unions, employers routinely block them, and labor law is helpless to stop it.

A recent study shows that one out of five activists who try to form unions is likely to be fired.

More than three-quarters of private employers require supervisors to deliver anti-union messages to the workers whose jobs and pay they control.

“Verizon Business techs make less and have worse health benefits than their peers in the rest of Verizon, even though they do the same daily telephone installation and maintenance work,” said Denis Hughes, President of the New York State AFL-CIO. “It’s time Verizon Business gives its workers the right to stand up for a fair wage and benefits.”
 

CEO Gets $23 Million
Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg, who has been the target of shareholder activists for excessive executive compensation, was paid $23 million last year. Verizon shareholders – over management’s opposition – just passed a proposal giving them a non-binding vote on executive pay. CWA members provided crucial support for the resolution, which passed with just over 50% of the vote.
    

If all three states and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approve the proposed sale of Verizon facilities, Verizon will be allowed to abandon all of its so-called low-value residential customers in the three states while keeping its more profitable customers, including Big Business and wireless users. Under the deal, Verizon would qualify for a $600 million tax break and would control 60 percent of FairPoint. FairPoint is a small, highly leveraged North Carolina-based firm that only can provide dial-up for Internet access or, at best, DSL service, a technology widely regarded as already outdated and inadequate for rural economic development.

Dangerous Precedent
The unions warn that if the proposed sale is approved, it would set a dangerous precedent with national implications for all rural areas.
 

Presidential candidate Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) has promised to investigate the proposed sale. Kucinich said at a rally in May:

 We know what deals like this usually mean. They mean less service. They mean cuts in wages. They mean lost jobs. They mean outsourcing. They mean higher utility rates. They mean less freedom, as access to the future of internet is limited to millions of Americans in rural areas. We must not stand for this. We must assert the right of the people to have control over these public utilities. There are legal issues at a state and federal level. There are regulatory issues and there are constitutional issues. And all the issues will be explored. 

Send a Message
Act now: Help stop the sale by clicking here to send a message to the FCC that reliable telephone service and better access to the Internet should be available to everyone.) 

The workers also put Verizon’s management on notice that its employees are gearing up to fight for the preservation of good jobs, quality health care and secure pension benefits in negotiations for a new contract with the $88 billion telecommunications giant next year.  The current agreement with Verizon expires on Aug. 2, 2008.