I have Verizon for landline and Virgin Mobile for cell...I think the union's complaining about obscene profits for the company and now they have to kick in for health care...
>>Verizon wants workers to contribute more for health benefits, including beginning to pay monthly premiums for the first time, while the unions say their members can’t accept the financial burden given the current economy.
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I've been with USPS since 1986 and have always had to pay.
>>>Richard Young, a spokesman for Verizon, said the company is only asking that union workers contribute upfront for health care like other employees do. The changes are necessary to keep the country’s second-largest phone company competitive, he saidVerizon wants unionized workers, who currently pay no monthly premiums for health care, to begin contributing at least $100 a month, or $1,200 a year.
>>“We’re looking to bring our union more in line with what the rest of the workers pay,” said Young, adding that about 130,000 of the company’s approximately 196,000 employees already contribute to health-care premiums.
“Verizon pays $400,000 an hour on health care,” he said. “This is a significant cost factor.”
The CWA called the proposal a radical change. Verizon is a profitable company that pays senior executives well and isn’t in danger of going out of business, said Master. “These are really, really hard economic times,” he said.
WAY back in the Dark Ages, the news used to give the facts about union demands i.e. wage increases. Then they discovered that the public thought the unions were greedy so they quit giving the details, just generalizations. Now unions are fighting health insurance premiums. The public has to pay health insurance premiums so their sympathy is slight. The news will have to stop mentioning the demand to help the unions.