Why We Are Picketing Here Today
Verizon Workers Are on Strike to Protect Middle-Class Jobs
We’re picketing today because we are on strike at Verizon and Verizon Wireless. A Verizon manager or replacement employee is doing a job here that would normally be done by a union-represented worker.
Verizon is hugely profitable. In the past four years alone, the company made more than $19.5 billion in profits—and paid its top five executives over a quarter of a billion dollars.
Yet this highly profitable company has demanded $1 billion in take-backs from 45,000 workers—$20,000 for every one of our families. Verizon wants to:
Yet this highly profitable company has demanded $1 billion in take-backs from 45,000 workers—$20,000 for every one of our families. Verizon wants to:
§ freeze pensions for current workers and eliminate them for new hires;
§ continue sending our jobs to Mexico and the Phillipines;
§ slash sick leave and benefits for workers injured on the job;
§ force current and retired workers to pay thousands of dollars for health care; and
§ slash paid holidays, including eliminating MLK’s Birthday and Veterans Day as holidays.
Verizon’s attack on us is part of a massive problem that affects virtually all Americans: Corporate profits are eating up more and more of our national income, leaving less and less for the rest of us.
Instead of killing the American Dream for 45,000 Verizon workers, Verizon should be treating its workers fairly, investing in the middle class, and helping to build a better future.
Corporate Greed is out of control in America. The rich are getting richer. We need good jobs that support families, neighborhoods, and communities. We need good, middle-class jobs to end the recession.
We are sorry for any inconvenience that may occur, but we feel we have to stand up to protect our middle class jobs. We ask you to support the 45,000 members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) who are on strike to protect the American dream.
Please sign our online petition at www.cwa-union.org/verizongreed to demand that Verizon stop attacking the middle class and share the company’s success with those who made it possible.
1 comment:
Sorry, but no one should be paid more than they're worth, and through no fault of their own, the cost of their pay and benefits now exceeds the income they produce. Changing customer preferences don't allow their company to maintain the same compensation and still be competitive.
How can they expect to keep their medical benefits when the union spent their dues to support politicians who created a health care bill that will penalize their employer for providing the same coverage at no cost?
Their arrogance and intimidation will only work against them.
Go ahead and delete this post moderator, but at least one person is now aware why the union's plea for support is falling on deaf ears. They may be hard workers, and it's truly a shame, but if you can't cover your own cost, compromise is the only viable alternative.
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