(Image source: Daily Press)
BY TRACY PFEIFFER
ANCHOR AUSTIN KIM
You're watching multisource business news analysis from Newsy.
Two unions representing 45,000 Verizon workers went on strike Sunday after negotiations failed to produce an agreement by Saturday’s midnight deadline.
“The striking employees work in Massachusetts to Washington, D.C., as repair technicians, customer service reps, and operators.” (KNTV)
Reports say these workers are part of what’s known as Verizon’s Wireline business, dealing with landline customers. (Video: Fox News)
The Wall Street Journal reports -- that branch of the company’s business has been declining as customers switch to cable companies for their landline phones -- or just ditch the idea altogether for cell phones.
“To deal with the wireline weakness, Verizon wants to tie pay increases more closely to job performance, make it easier to fire workers for cause, halt pension accruals this year, and require union workers to contribute to health-plan premiums.”
The New York Times reports -- Verizon’s overall business -- is doing well.
And a blog post from the AFL-CIO argues -- Verizon has more than enough for the union’s concessions.
“As the contract expired, nearly 100 concessionary proposals remained on the table. This despite Verizon’s 2011 annualized revenues of $108 billion and net profits of $6 billion. At the same time, Verizon Wireless just paid its parent company, Vodaphone, a $10 billion dividend.”
A writer for the conservative blog American Thinker says -- in these economic times, the strike just seems selfish.
“That anyone can expect a ‘decent raise’ in these times is incredible. ...The CWA and its affiliate, the IBEW are two of the most radical unions in the United States. That they would strike in a recession is almost incomprehensible unless you believe that destroying profitable companies is a worthy goal.”
But a striking employee tells NY1 -- all they want, is what’s due.
LIAM MCLAUGHLIN, FIELD TECHNICIAN: “I understand people are suffering. They're out there out of work, they don't wanna hear we have benefits, they don't, but unfortunately we fought over 100 years ago to have this so when times are bad, when the economy turns, we have something.”
Verizon says it has activated a contingency plan using managers and non-unionized workers, saying the strike will not affect consumers.
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