September 18, 2008
To All of Our Friends Who Supported the Technicians at Verizon Business
Over the last two years, technicians at Verizon Business (VZB) have sought collective bargaining rights and a voice at work comparable to their co-workers at Verizon Telecom. But Verizon had put up a wall separating its un-represented employees in Verizon Business from "core" company workers united in the IBEW and CWA.
In response to the techs' initiative, Verizon managers mounted a classic union avoidance campaign with mandatory captive audience meetings, supervisory one-on-ones and "fact sheets" full of distortions about unions and collective bargaining.
The techs could see that management would use its power over job assignments, overtime and promotions to coerce workers to vote against forming a union. So instead of going through a broken election procedure, the VZB techs sought an alternative route to prove their majority.
CWA and IBEW enlisted elected officials in Massachusetts and New York to count their union cards and compare them to a roster of employees. The count verified that nearly 70 percent of the eligible techs wanted to form a union.
Predictably, management refused to recognize the card count. But the VZB techs didn't give up. They reached out to other elected officials, labor and community groups, customers and the general public for support. And just as importantly, they built unity with thousands of Verizon union members.
When negotiations began with Verizon East management for a new contract in late November 2007, union leaders made it clear that Verizon should address the desire of Verizon Business workers to join the unions. At the same time, union representatives made a convincing case to an arbitrator that the work done by VZB techs should already be covered by the existing union contract.
Uncertainty about how the arbitration case would turn out led to productive conversations between union negotiators and management. With just hours before a strike deadline on August 10, management finally agreed to fold the VZB techs into the unions and allow them to benefit from the provisions of the new contract.
Your support for the Verizon technicians was critical to their success. Enclosed is an excerpt from the AFL-CIO's blog showing a few of the techs thanking Sen. John Kerry for his help. On behalf of all the VZB techs and telecom workers' unions in the IBEW, we want to sincerely thank you for your efforts on their behalf.
In Solidarity,
Myles Calvey