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 ...
I think one of the main reasons they are returning is the
company said last week or 10 days ago is they would
not have Medical Ins, coverage after 8/31.
unions are parasites.
they destroy jobs and the workplace with dissension.
Well these strikers better wise up. Verizon’s landline division is a dying business.
Something like that happened to me with DSL a while back. It wasn’t because of a backlog of orders they were dealing with . . . it was because my town hadn’t yet been wired for it.
>>I think that they also noted that the union leaders continued to get paid while the rank and file suffered.
I don’t think the idea of people with a job walking off that job in a strike when others are without work, went over too big with the public.
This was SUPPOSED to be part of an Obamunist Campaign about “Middle-Class Jobs”.
Daily Kos even admitted as much a few days ago.
OOPSY!
I guess that whole “Costs of Obamacare” thing shut them up, REALLY FAST....
This week We had a Problem with Fios Tv The TV Guide wasn’t working Properly. We were talking to Indians...on Wednesday. Last month We had to Call because of a signal Problem on a Sunday we Got an American.. That is why they are Coming 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.
Probably on overtime!
Onky reason they went back is the rank and file told the Union they were going back with or without the UNIONS ok.
It’s a face saving measure for the union brass.
Dittos to what you said!
The Verizon union lemmings are going back to work because they gave up their paycheck for 2 weeks and they were going to lose their cadillac health care plan on Aug. 31.
The union bosses were still getting paid since the beginning of the strike and were going to keep their healthcare after Aug. 31.
looks like some people are eatin’ some crow....or maybe it’s peas.
Verizon was on strike? I’m a Verizon customer and I didn’t notice a thing. Not even a hiccup. What exactly did those Verizon workers do anyhow?
Your post bis why I have no problem with private sector unions in areas where customers have a choice. If Verizon were to settle and because they did become more expensive, people have a choices, many in fact as alternatives to their service.
Looks like whoever drove that car ate one too many big macs. Or perhaps its carbon footprint was too great for the earth to bear?
Obama should start the investigation of Verizon any day now , but you know not because of the strike
Verizon should declare all these workers as no longer needed for operations, and...lay them all off!!! Then Verizon should go out and hire as many qualified minority folks to do these jobs!!! I’m sure Black & Hispanic, etc. folks would be more then happy to perform these jobs without the idiot leadership and forced membership of the union!!! No striker should ever be rehired!!!
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