Posted on 08/20/2011 10:19:15 AM PDT by raccoonradio
Leaders of the unions that have been on strike against Verizon Communications announced on Saturday that they were ending the walkout even though the two sides had not reached an overall settlement for a new contract.
Beginning with the evening shift on Monday, the 45,000 striking workers will return to their jobs, posts that they left on Aug. 7 in the nation’s largest strike in four years, when General Motors workers held a two-day strike.
Union leaders are ending the walkout, they said, because Verizon management had finally agreed to engage in serious bargaining on the contentious issues after the company had originally insisted on negotiating more than 100 proposals for concessions.
Officials from the two unions that called the strike — the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers — made the announcement on Saturday.
The strike was a painful one, forcing thousands of workers and their families to live without paychecks for two weeks and hurting Verizon’s image, as many customers complained of major delays for repairs and installations. The walkout involved workers in Verizon’s traditional landline operations and in its new FiOS Internet and cable operations, but not workers at Verizon Wireless, which is largely nonunion.
Union officials said they had originally called the strike because they felt they were not being taken seriously and because Verizon was insisting on so many and such sweeping concessions. Verizon was hardly budging from its original position, the unions said, another point of contention. Verizon is pushing for, among other things, a pension freeze for current workers, fewer sick days, an end to all job security provisions, far larger employee contributions toward health coverage, and freedom to do as much outsourcing as it wants.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
>>far larger employee contributions toward health coverage
Due to Obamacare mandate. As you may have seen in another thread even if it didn’t take effect till 2018, the company was REQUIRED to start taking money from paychecks for it.
(I think some Ver. union members didn’t have to pay premiums before? I have worked for the Postal Service for 25 years and have always had to pay premiums. I think Ver. was asking workers to pay $100/mo. I pay about $126/mo. USPS union workers btw are essential like air traffic controllers; we cannot strike.)
Notice how FAST this ended when word got out they were striking because they had to pay OBAMACARE costs??
OOPS....
They caved?
They don’t get strike pay?
Maybe it was becoming too obvious that Verizon can get along just fine without them.
That’s right!
Now the union Thugs who were destroying Verizon equipment will be back on the inside doing their sabotage.
Yes I would have figured there would be some kind of strike fund from the union to help them out—no paychecks from Ver., but a strike fund. Again I work for a union that can’t strike so I wouldn’t know about that sort of thing.
They caved?
God willing we will hear more stories of lefties caving.
Got rid of my Verizon services a few years back when they would not come fix my DSL....good riddance.
I was wondering where my disgusting band of orange Teed, bussed in, Vuvazula honking miscreants had gotten off to today?
Their shady traffic corner along Greenbelt Rd. was blessedly, conspicuously empty and quiet this morning.
Jack.
The union thugs can’t afford all these strikes right now if they intend to purchase the House of Representatives for the commie piggies again in 2012. They’re going to need all of the “union dues” they can steal.
http://twitter.com/#!/search/verizon%20strike
HERITAGE: In Verizon Strike, Unions Protest Obamacare Law They Helped Pass
PAUL P. ROBINSON: If a tie is like kissing your sister, what’s this? RT @nansen: #Verizon Workers End Strike Without New Contract:
DAVID HAYMAN: Looks like CWA and IBEW blinked here. Glad for my management friends that strike duty will soon be over
BALOU8900:Yet another Union victory! Wait?! What?! bwahahaha RT @nansen: Verizon Workers End Strike, Though Without New Contract
I have Comcast for my Net and cable TV, and (yes I still have...) Verizon for my landline (Virgin Mobile for cell). One story I read said that a college student wanted FIOS installed and they gave a date of...December?!?!
I think they were getting pushback from their members when they heard Verizon would stop benefits come the end of August.
Screw those union hacks. Here’s the headlines, as I followed them:
1) Verizon union workers go on strike
2) Huge number of sabotage incidents to the wired network
3) Verizon says they’re cutting off the health care to the strikers
4) Strikers target CEO’s home
5) Union caves
6) Back to “work”
Now they get to go fix the sabotage that they undoubtedly did themselves. I guess it should be pretty quick fixes, since they’ll know where they did the damage.
With so many people unemployed, employed people going on strike is a sure loser for the union thuggery. The union did more than just blink, they waved the white flag and then bent over. Good riddance.
yes, and some twitter posts mentioned that fact.
Verizon said that all health care benefits ended on August 31, and the union didn't want to have to negotiate from scratch.
Once Verizon canceled the health care policy they were in a position of extreme strength and the union knew that all of the thuggery of cutting phone lines, and surrounding the CEO's house and beating innocent non-union Verizon workers was going to backfire since they can't control the internet and all of that crap was getting out.
Could be a cave in or it could be a total collapse.
Better to pay a portion of your group medical insurance coverage than to pay 100% of an individual policy, right?
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