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Regional Bargaining Report # 54 Sunday, April 1, 2012 CWA District 1/IBEW Local 2213 and IBEW New England Regional Committees have been meeting at the RyeTown Hilton in Rye, NY for the last ten months. These committees continued to meet with the Company each day in an attempt to move closer to a fair contract settlement for both the company and our members. Verizon continues to push its agenda of demanding givebacks from our members in almost every area of our contracts. It has demanded significant changes to economic issues including healthcare and pensions which would result in cost shifting thousands of dollars a year to every active member. Verizon also demands that our retirees contribute the same for their healthcare coverage. Verizon has stuck with their agenda of gutting our collective bargaining agreements. Verizon shows no interest in any of the Union’s proposals and shows no concern for our issues. Verizon’s goal is to strip you of your benefits, your job security, your pension, your work rules and much more. We cannot stress enough this fight will not be won at the bargaining table alone. Only through members standing up and demonstrating they will do whatever it takes, will we see this Company move away from their most egregious retrogressive demands. Following last week’s mobilization and rally activities we have seen a demonstration of how our members’ activity in the workplace has an effect at the bargaining table. At the end of this week, Verizon passed an amended proposal on pensions to the Union. We will evaluate fully the company’s latest proposals before we respond. We are in the fight of our lives with Verizon. It is obvious from the company’s demands that Verizon has a plan for the business that does not include us. After months of hearing the company tell us how the business is in trouble and how we need to accept the concessions its demands in order to survive, we recently learn that the Chairman and CEO, Lowell McAdam tripled his compensation from 7.2 million to 23.1 million annually. This is a slap in the face to every member. We need to send the clear message that we are determined if there is no place in this business for us, then we will make certain there will be no business without us either. Bargaining will recess for the next two weeks due to therooms used for bargaining at the hotel are not available because of the Passover/Easter holiday. The Union bargaining committee will use this time to fully examine the latest proposals placed on the table by Verizon and formulate our response. Verizon’s CEO Lowell McAdam seems hell-bent on destroying the middle class jobs CWA and IBEW have fought so hard to create over the last 50 years of collective bargaining. Verizon’s Annual Shareholders Meeting is Thursday May 3, 2012 at 10:30 AM at the Von Braun Center, 700 Monroe Street, Huntsville, Alabama. Your admission ticket and proxy card was recently mailed to all our members who are shareholders. We are asking all of our members to vote your proxy, sign and date your card and return it to your Local. The Shareholder’s Meeting is a Thursday and there will be a “sea of red” CWA and IBEW members who are also shareholders who will deliver these proxies and our message to that meeting. It is more important than ever that our members continue to mobilize and that EVERY member commit to spending 4 hours per week participating in mobilization activities. Call your Local or talk to your steward and find out what you can do to help IT’S TIME TO FIGHT BACK Now more than ever we need to mobilize! Mobilize! – Mobilize! – Mobilize!
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