Our fios build here in upstate NY is basically 99% done I’d say....we are saturating this area and have been force migrating many from copper to Fios to keep us busy....they are sending temps to line school so I don’t see anybody getting laid off....they’ve forced over about 10 techs from copper to Fios over the last 2 years or so...there’s been some forced OT in Fios this summer....but other times we are doing plant pride tickets or burying service wires mid week....I haven’t seen or heard any confirmation of an official eisp yet...but I think we could lose 7-8 guys and be fine....imo....if everyone was at work on the same day and nobody was out on sick/dis/WC, we don’t have nearly enough trucks at the moment for everybody...if Verizon wants to cut almost $6 bln more from their budget, one has to think they would put out an Eisp for q4...what’s going on elsewhere?
18 replies (most recent on top)
I heard it will be announced at the end of October. August is jumping the gun.
Ok- someone here predicted August 30 as the mail out date for an eisp
We’ll see
"flagger qualification takes months if not years,"
stupid things union people say. This is why you are being replaced.
Holding a flag is someone's grandkids job
Funny we were told about a year ago in lieu of an eisp, we were no longer to calibrate our voltage detectors.
I’m very relaxed angry guy.. 17 years in and looking to coast another 13, just flagging the days away...
People need to relax. Dont you have real things to worry about in life other than someone say something stupid
The prior poster has painted the “flagger” position as a cake job, when truth be told , it’s completely the opposite. Any person can push a button to splice a fiber together, but can any person control the traffic on a dead end street? The training involved to gain the flagger qualification takes months if not years, so please do a little research before your next post.. I will just put your post in the “fake post” bucket .
My garage cannot order tools, has very limited supplies, and is short on trucks.
There is very little work for the last few months, and overtime for failures has been seriously cut back. They’ll leave cables down for days, that has never happened before.
Yet upper level still spends its time watching GPS and questioning every minute. Kind of hard to answer when there is no work.
If a package comes, our area will empty out as there are many with the time to go. Those left will later be gassed.
@ 1tev
The flagging group is like the SSDAC of old. They seemingly make their own hours, coming into work dressed in “safety crocs”, pristine safety vests, and brilliant white hard hats. During the summer you may easily spot them while they are not dressed for work by the distinctive “left arm only tan” that many sport.
To this day, many don’t even know what it is they actually do, but if you’re a lowly splicer, and it’s hot, cold, or raining, you may be called to do a SSDAC tech’s job.
What is the flagging group?
Will we have to give back our safety vests?
I heard today, the flagging group will be the only ones offered the package come October. If this information is true, we will lose about 3/4 of our garage.
Garages are locations where outside field techs report to...essentially where their trucks are “garaged” ...there are some that are turfed at central offices still I believe as well...
pardon my ignorance but what is a garage?
Trucks ?! Staplers?! I can’t even get a drill bit long enough to drill through window frames. I’ve taken to just tossing it in the window and telling customers to leave it open a crack.
The staplers in the garage are garbage, they don’t hold the coax/cat6 to the baseboard, IMO.
The truck shortage problem is everywhere in Verizon’s footprint. Our second level told us Monday that in just his area he has over 100 linemen with no vehicles. He told his boss that he is doubling up people in trucks, and sending some out to jobs in pickup trucks and vans.....and that’s not even including the facility techs. We have copper splicers, fiber splicers, I&M techs who don’t have a vehicle. One guy had to hang out at the garage and push a broom for three months before they found him a pickup truck. He did say new trucks were coming but it was only about one per garage....so the company HAS to either offer an eisp or buy many more trucks. Being they need to save another 5.9 billion by 2021, I don’t think buying a lot of new trucks is on the agenda. This is in NJ.
One retirement financial firm who is pretty involved with higher ups is confident something in October, last quarter. Which would be perfect if true, as gatt rate increases last quarter in october. Between gatt rate increase of about 10% of lump sum starting october, and possible eisp I'm wondering if it will be a limited ammount to control a potential mass exodus , IF a eisp is given. Some financial firms believe it will happen, they have inside knowlege to a degree, but still rumors none the less.