----- Original Message ----- From: Peter K. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, July 30, 2000 9:21 PM Subject: phone worker strike looms > New York Times > July 31, 2000 > > Phone Workers Fight for Place in Wireless Era > By STEVEN GREENHOUSE > > In what would be one of the biggest strikes in a decade, 85,000 telephone > workers on the East Coast are threatening to walk out next weekend in a > struggle that, stripped to its essentials, pits old-line labor against the > New Economy. > > The telephone workers are facing off with Verizon Communications -- the name > for the company formed when Bell Atlantic acquired GTE last month -- largely > because they fear that the company's widespread use of lower paid, nonunion > workers in its fastest growing businesses, most notably wireless phones, > will endanger the wages and benefits of unionized workers. > > Company officials say they are taking the strike threat seriously because > the two unions involved in the dispute, the Communications Workers of > America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, have never > been shy about striking. In 1998, they struck Bell Atlantic for two days, > winning a no-layoff clause and improved pension benefits. And in 1989 they > staged a 17-week strike against Nynex, which later merged with Bell > Atlantic, rebuffing a company demand to have workers pay monthly health > insurance premiums. > > "Right now the chances of a strike are better than 50-50," said Morton Bahr, > president of the communications workers' union, which represents 72,500 of > the workers who might walk out. > > The walkout, threatened for 12:01 a.m. next Sunday, could cause problems for > 25 million businesses and households stretching from Virginia to Maine. It > would involve operators, service representatives and repair workers, and > could cause the same inconveniences that local and long-distance customers > experienced in previous telephone company strikes: delays in repairs, > installing new lines, ordering new phone service and getting questions > answered about telephone bills. > > The stakes are large because Verizon, (pronounced ver-EYE-zon), with 260,000 > employees, has far more workers than any other American telecommunications > company and is the nation's largest wireless company. But while close to 80 > percent of the more than 120,000 workers in the company's local lines > division, which provides local telephone service, are unionized, a mere 46 > of the 32,000 workers in Verizon's wireless division are. > > The challenge for the two unions is daunting because they are finding it > tough to keep pace with a fast-changing company in a fast-changing industry. > Indeed, Verizon's unions are struggling to adapt to many developments common > throughout the New Economy: new job categories, new types of compensation > like profit sharing, and the increased use of contingent workers like > temporary hires and independent contractors. > > The former Bell Atlantic now owns the telephone companies around the country > previously operated by GTE, whose workers will not strike next week because > they are covered by a different union contract. Verizon also operates the > nation's largest wireless telephone network in a partnership with Vodafone > AirTouch, a European company. In addition, Verizon, which long focused on > local service as Bell Atlantic, has recently entered the long-distance > market in New York state and hopes to win regulatory clearance in other > states as well. > > In this maelstrom of mergers and reshufflings, of new businesses and new > technologies, labor leaders fear unionized workers will be squeezed or even > laid off as Verizon attempts to pare labor costs by, for example, > contracting out work to nonunion firms. > > The main issues in the dispute, union leaders say, are job security, higher > pensions, feelings of stress at work, and the union's demand for an easier > way to unionize the workers in the company's wireless operations. > > Union officials voice fears that if they fail to unionize the wireless > workers, Verizon will aggressively shift business -- and jobs -- from its > unionized operations to its lower-paying nonunion operations. Union > officials complain that many of the more than 5,000 jobs in Verizon's new > and fast-growing business installing digital subscriber lines for computers > are nonunion. > > "The union is looking at a situation where the industry is changing very > fast and with the advent of wireless and Internet services and digital > subscriber lines, we are battling with the company over keeping that work as > union work," said Bob Master, a spokesman for the Communications Workers. > "We want to see the industry change and grow, but we want the union to share > in that growth and we want those jobs to remain good jobs that pay enough to > support families." > > The communications workers estimate that Verizon's unionized service > representatives are paid an average of $26 an hour, about double the pay of > service representatives in the nonunion wireless operations. > > The union acknowledges that Verizon's top nonunion craft workers, like line > repairmen and installers, are paid $27.30 an hour, on average, 24 cents more > than the $27.06 an hour the unionized craft workers earn. > > But union leaders say the big difference between union and nonunion workers > comes in benefits. The unionized workers pay no premiums for family health > insurance coverage, while nonunion workers must pay $600 to $3,500 a year > depending on the health plan. And unionized workers have a pension as well > as a 401(k) plan, while most nonunion workers have just a 401(k). > > In a demand that unions are increasingly making as they seek to organize > more workers, the communications and electrical workers want Verizon to > allow unionization of its wireless operations through an expedited process > known as a card check. In that process, a company agrees to let workers join > a union if a majority of employees at a work site signs cards saying they > want to join a union. Labor leaders say it is far easier to organize workers > through card checks than through elections, which often take months to hold > and can bog down in years of litigation. > > "Our members understand that if we don't organize the people in wireless, > then when the unorganized numbers grow anywhere near the organized, there's > a direct threat to the wages and benefits that we achieved over 60 years > because the nonorganized are not getting anywhere near what the members are > getting," said Mr. Bahr, the union's president. > > The unions are also demanding that Verizon pledge not to fight any > unionization efforts. As an example of management's anti-union efforts, the > communications workers say supervisors at the Verizon Wireless call center > in Woburn, Mass., have barred workers from distributing pro-union literature > and have asked workers who among them is supporting the unionization drive. > > Steven Marcus, a Verizon spokesman, insisted that the company is pro-union, > not anti-union, and he talked in nonconfrontational tones, being careful not > to stoke the workers' resentment. > > "Our goal is we want to be a union-represented company that can compete > successfully with many companies in our marketplace that are not unionized," > he said. > > Worried about the company's plans to cut expenses, the unions are demanding > numerous job security provisions, among them a no-layoff clause and > restrictions on contracting out work and transferring operations from one > state to another. Verizon officials say that to hold down costs and remain > competitive, they need to retain the right to contract out work and move > operations. > > Seeking to ensure that thousands of union members will back a strike, the > communications workers' union has held training sessions for more than 700 > workers over the last four months. The sessions teach workers how to carry > out a strike, and educate them on changes in the industry and the importance > of unionizing Verizon's nonunion workers. These trainees are then > responsible for mobilizing other union members behind a strike. > > For some Verizon workers, a strike cannot come soon enough if it brings > about measures to reduce stress on the job. At many call centers, customer > service representatives who take orders for new service or answer questions > about bills say they are inundated with calls, and that management often req > uires them to tack four extra hours onto their shifts. > > Patricia Egan, who works in a Verizon facility in Queens answering questions > from residential customers, said, "We generally work from 8 in the morning > until 4, but often we're forced to work until 8 at night. It wreaks havoc. > People go to school and they're forced to miss classes. Many workers are > single parents, and this forced overtime is a nightmare. It creates serious > problems for their child care arrangements." > > She would like the union and company to agree on measures to reduce stress > and forced overtime. > > Mr. Marcus, the Verizon spokesman, said, "On the stress issue, we recognize > that's a concern. We hope we can address it and resolve it." > > Verizon's first quarter operating profits were $1.27 billion, but net > earnings were $731 million, or 46 cents a share, reduced by a one-time > charge related to its investment in Cable & Wireless Communications. Verizon > has not yet announced second-quarter earnings, but earlier this month, the > company said second-quarter sales rose about 15 percent. > > > >
