Here’s a guy who understands how wirele$$ phones work
Posted on August 24th, 2011I vote for this guy to be the new CEO — at least he knows how the network works.
Verizon CEO elect
Dare to struggle! Dare to win! Let’s fight for the 6 hour day
Posted on August 20th, 2011I applaud the valiant effort of the workers who were on strike against Verizon, waging this decisive battle in this period of decaying capitalism. We had the odds stacks against us: the multi-billions of the corporate class and their bought and paid for mouth pieces in the media. The bosses’ courts slapped an injunction on us that tied our hands behind our backs. They even said we couldn’t bring our kids and pets to the picket line. Huh? What court has the right to make such a proclamation?
While the strike was on, I felt compelled to be a good soldier, but now I have to say that my worst fears are being realized, and I’m afraid we’re being sold out. I’m afraid a month or two from now we’re going to hear, “This is the best we can do……â€Â And we’re going to lose stuff that we have fought the bosses for over the last 50 years. But what really bums me out is that we had the spotlight on us, and we were really putting forward a great fight. We might have been able to really give leadership to other workers.
We were united; we were strong; we were learning in trenches how to fight a war against the bosses and their courts and cops and media. We were and still are using social media to get out our position. All this was having an affect because some of the press coverage was getting a little better. In a couple of more weeks, we could have really gotten our shit together and been more and more successful. We could have captured the attention and imagination of millions of workers in this country and around the world. We were already starting to do this. Great things were possible.
I state the obvious when I say the working class is in bad shape in the US and most other places in the world. The colossal issue is jobs. The answer is clear. We need to go to the six hour day–six hours work for eight hours pay. As workers, the power we have rests in our labor. When we withhold our labor the bosses can’t make profit. If we demand a reduction in the time we work each day then that means the bosses must hire more workers. The six hour day would create millions and millions of jobs. More people would have more money to buy things that they need. This would force the bosses to share the wealth and make the economy stronger.
The only way the labor movement can survive and grow is to think big and fight for things that all workers can get behind. The six hour day – 6 for 8, Medicare for all, jobs with a living wage for all, and lots of other stuff. Contract fights are a thing of the past. We need a mass movement of workers and a general strike. I saw the potential for the leadership of this movement in many of the Verizon strikers that I talked to and walked the line with. We need the right leadership, and, my friends, that is us. We must lead. Dare to struggle! Dare to win!
Union Victory!!
Posted on August 20th, 2011Not sure I agree with this, but it’s a nice little video. And there is no doubt that the scab managers couldn’t get the job done. Enjoy.
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Verizon Strikers return to Work
Posted on August 20th, 2011Workers from IBEW and CWA will return to work on Tuesday August 23. No contract agreement has been reached but the union workers were able to put enough pressure on the corporate flunkies on Verizon’s side of the negotiating table to make these pinheads blink and start talking seriously.
Up until now the company obstructionists have been playing paddy cake at the table. A total victory for the strikers might be a long way off, but the company clearly was forced to submit by the power of unity. Who says the working class is done. We’re on the rise. Bosses beware!!!!
Below is a statement from the union’s leadership.
CWA, IBEW Reach Agreement on Bargaining with Verizon;
Members to Return to Work Tuesday, August 23Following is a statement by the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers:
For release 1 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 20, 2011
Washington, D.C. – Members of CWA and IBEW at Verizon Communications will return to work on Tuesday, Aug. 23, at which time the contract will be back in force for an indefinite period.
We have reached agreement with Verizon on how bargaining will proceed and how it will be restructured. The major issues remain to be discussed, but overall, issues now are focused and narrowed.
We appreciate the unity of our members and the support of so many in the greater community. Now we will focus on bargaining fairly and moving forward.
CWA and IBEW represent 45,000 workers at Verizon covered by this contract from Virginia to New England.
Rally in NYC
Steven Greenhouse Reports on Verizon Strike and Ohio Union Battle (Democracy Now!)
Posted on August 19th, 2011N Y Times reporter Steven Greenhouse talks to Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez on Democracy Now.  Most of Greenhouse’s reporting on the strike has been weak and relies far too much on company lies and propaganda. But this interview is better than much of what he’s written.
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Verizon Cuts Off Strikers’ Health Care, as Service Outages Rise
Posted on August 18th, 2011Here’s the latest article from Labor Notes
Verizon Cuts Off Strikers’ Health Care, as Service Outages Rise
Noisy picket lines are turning away customers at Verizon’s wireless stores as the largest strike in the country weathered a rainy second week. Some service was disrupted throughout the Northeast though the scale of the outages was hard to define.
The strike covers 45,000 members of the Communications Workers (CWA) and Electrical Workers (IBEW) from Massachusetts to Virginia. Verizon wants to eliminate pensions and job security, as well as limit raises and force big health care costs onto current workers and retirees.
On the eve of the strike, Verizon announced it would pay a special $10 billion dividend to shareholders. At the same time, its negotiators were pushing for $1 billion in concessions from workers. The company has made $3 billion already this year, and nearly $20 billion in the last four years. Read the rest
Juan Gonzalez: Verizon Workers’ Strike “Most Important Labor Battle Going On Today”
Posted on August 18th, 2011Democracy Now co-host and Daily News columnist Juan Gonzalez reports on Verizon workers strike saying, “It’s the most important labor battle going on today.”  Read Juan’s column in Daily News
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Verizon Strike Turns Away Customers and Chases Scabs
Posted on August 17th, 2011Here’s a story from Labor Notes
Mischa Gaus
August 11, 2011
Verizon’s strike in the Northeast is into Day Five, and big picket lines are turning away customers at Verizon’s wireless stores.
Injunctions could threaten one of the union’s most effective tactics, mass picketing at stores. But another—mobile picketing—is causing havoc for the company. Techs are chasing scab managers through the field, making them cross their very own personal picket line at the bottom of a pole or while they try to work in a manhole.
The strike covers 45,000 members of the Communications Workers and Electrical Workers (IBEW) from Massachusetts to Virginia. Verizon wants to eliminate pensions, as well as limit raises and force big health care costs onto current workers and retirees. The concessions would take $1 billion from workers, at a company which made almost $20 billion during the last four years.
“Everybody’s very motivated,†said Barbara Smith, a member of CWA Local 1109 in Brooklyn. When her local pickets wireless stores, “pedestrians stop and thank us because they understand that this fight is about more than Verizon.â€Â Read the rest
Another lie from Verizon Bosses: One Network, Not Two
Posted on August 17th, 2011Since the contract negotiations with CWA and IBEW unions started, the corporate mouthpieces from Verizon have been telling many lies as big as Paul Bunyan’s underwear, but the biggest whopper of all is that there are two different networks in the telecom industry, a “wireless†and a “wire line.â€Â In fact, there is only one integrated network and therefore one integrated revenue stream
Cell Tower
Cell towers are part of the wire line network. A cell tower is like the telephone pole that connects your house into the network. Your cell phone signal connects to cell tower like the wire from your house connects to the pole, except there is no wire of course. But that’s the part of the connection that’s wireless. The cell tower then transports your call or information through high capacity copper wire and fiber optic circuits to a Verizon central office, and then the call or information continues the long journey through the wired network until it reaches the central office that is closest to its final destination – whether that is the next town over or Australia. From there it can be sent to another tower or directed to a landline.
There would be no wireless phones without the wire line network. There are not two separate revenue streams: one wired and one wireless. There is only one, and it travels through the central office. The backbone of the one network and one revenue stream is installed and maintained by union workers from the IBEW and CWA. The revenue share that we create is not shrinking because of wireless. It is in fact expanding. So when the big shots at Verizon claim that wire line workers are working in a part of the business that’s becoming obsolete, they are either lying, or they don’t actually know how their own network works.
Support Verizon Strikers: Candlelight Vigil at Lowell’s
Posted on August 17th, 2011I doubt this effete elite blue blood wimp will show up, but let’s all stop by anyway. I have to admit a candlelight vigil is pretty lame, but what can you expect from AFL-CIO leadership. Here’s the info from AFL-CIO
All of us need to stand together and stand strong with Verizon workers, members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the Electrical Workers (IBEW) who are striking to support middle-class jobs. The Verizon strike is critical for the future of working families in our country. The livelihoods of 45,000 middle-class families are under attack. We cannot sit idly by as other companies follow suit.
Verizon is trying very hard to tip the balance of workplace power away from employees and into the hands of management. This will only be the tip of the iceberg if Verizon succeeds in enacting its radical demands.
Here is what you can do:
- Assemble your friends and family to join any of the pickets listed here.
- Join a candlelight vigil at Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam’s house this Thursday, Aug. 18, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at 15 Balbrook Drive, Mendham, N.J. Buses are available from Trenton, Hamilton, Paramus, Newark and other locations. Please call Seth Hahn (609-278-6588) if you need bus info. Parking is very limited so if you plan to come by car please carpool and park at the Mendham Kings. E-mail shahn@cwa-union.org for information about the shuttle bus from the mall.
This strike is an example of corporate America using an unstable economy to squeeze workers for more concessions while the company itself posts billions in profits and continues to inflate the salaries of its chief executives.
Verizon has attacked working people and we must stand together for what is right.
In Unity,
Charles Wowkanech, President
Laurel Brennan, Secretary-Treasurer
