Posted on July 30th, 2008 | by A Worker |
Verizon representatives and union leaders from the CWA (Communications Workers of America) and IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) have been negotiating a new contract for several months. It’s coming down to crunch time now. The agreement expires August 2, but all the talking has produced very little progress.
The unions of course have “unreasonable demands†like a pay raise and keeping the health and retirement benefits for both current and retired workers. Today the Verizon negotiators said they were very disappointed in the unions for having such demands in these tough economic times. The company’s net income in 2007 after all was only $5.5 billion. 
Head honcho Ivan Seidenberg earned a paltry $22 million in salary and compensation including a $4.2 million cash bonus. He’s really feeling the pinch of the crumbling economy.
These are the kind of ludicrous tactics that working folks face these days when dealing with the Masters of the Universe Types (MOTUTs) and the corporate stooges who are their minions. The megalomaniacal and sociopathic behavior that denotes standard operating procedure for today’s CEOs makes them blind to the irony of a $22 million a year MOTUT calling a five percent a year raise unreasonable.
However these are the times we live in. Slowly but surely we move simultaneously towards the robot age and toward 19 century capitalism. What are we to do?
Both unions are ready to strike on Sunday August 3. Workingfertheman.com will chronicle the strike from the workers point of view. Stay tuned for daily reports
