I heard 3 year extension from two different sources. If this is true when do you think they will announce it? Would have been a nice 4th of July announcement.
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@5qfp the article reference you give has nothing to do with VZ post 2003 people the difference in their work rules are none there benefits are the same the only difference is the funding methodology of their retirement and the fact that when all contractual force adjustment measures have been made they theoretically could experience a layoff though highly doubtful due to the incredible hurdles the company would need to jump to get there. The article regarding EISP offers would always lead to no layoff as there are more people wIllinois to take the money and run and saving a brother or sister a job in the process. Overall a win win.
JUST HEARD HOT OFF THE PRESS, 4 year extension so its 5 years total. 2.5,2.5,2.75,and 3 percent raises. medical keeps going up which is BS.
@ 5tmr, There are more differences that you eluded to.
This is taken from CWA,
" No increase to healthcare contributions in 2021. Ending the 2-tier plan so new employees can afford healthcare. AT&T wants you to pay even more!!"
https://www.cwa-union.org/news/what-cwa-members-are-fighting-for-att-mobility
@ 5sko ,
it was bargained. The union fought against it and the company wanted it and fought for it. It weaken the union. The company benefited, and ALL the workers lost, it diluted its strength.
There are not truly two tiers of members. No one on the job was ever given less than anyone else. There was no way anyone would ever stay on strike to fight for people yet to be hired. That is their responsibility when they get hired and I am sure most current members will fight alongside them when necessary. The newly hired which I have yet to even encounter somebody in this circumstance work under all the same rules. They make the same pay rates have the same medical etc. The only real difference is they have a more lucrative K plan in place of a standard pension. It is arguable that that is worth more or less than our current pension plan. I believe they are better off with this. It frees them to leave without penalty and gives them more control of their retirement. I always felt I had to stick it out to make my pension milestones not that I am complaining but I possibly would have moved on a few times over the years. Each time I had another job prospect the loss of the big payout was always on my mind. It was just to much to abandon. Having he pension kind of traps you into working here till minimally 50 years old. The new union members will do well over their lifetimes here as long as they remember where there bread is buttered certainly better than any scab workforce could ever hope to.
The company divided the rank and file? I’m pretty sure the Union leadership negotiated a tiered membership and the membership at the time ratified it because it got them back to work and the future be damned. A company can try to bust a Union, but reality is Unions and their members don’t have resolve because they haven’t lived the struggles of the past.
The company divided the rank and file. It followed what was being done by ever company union or not. It was a business trend. The newly hired had no idea what it took to fight to keep the benefits. They were making a living off the back of many rank and file that fought in past union bargaining. Some of the newly hired fought some didn't .The company manipulated them and the union was losing power. To many on here want to cherry pick info to try and make their points / knock others. Wireless had their chances to organize , they were making good money and did not feel the need.
@4anh .. wireless operates much like the old long distance paper carriers or perhaps, more like a reseller of data on the Verizon wireline carrier side.
They own damn near nothing but the office and the desk. The wireless employees are in a bad spot as virtually all their jobs can be outsourced or handled on the net. Company stores are not really needed and some will likely be kept only as a banner presence.
Everyone on the wireless side should be angry because there is no long term future on that side of the house. They will be going from job to job their entire lives and work until they are 70 years old. By the time we reach 70, we will have been retired for 15-20 years.
@4iuw: That does pretty much describe me. Angry, old, entitled, lazy and waiting on an EISP offer. But, hey, why not?
The newer members should go to the wireless board. Then they could rename this board to the angry, old, entitled and lazy EISP update board.
@4ajb: The Union is essentially a two-tiered Union. Eventually the newer members without pensions and layoff protections will out-number the older protected employees. Then support will fade and the union will eventually dissolve itself.
@2dsj “sticking together and collectively improving their situation."
The problem with that statement is that really isn’t the case these days. Way back in the Bell era, when most of our benefits were fought for and won, it was about the group as a whole.
Nowadays, walk through any work center and it’s about me me me and one Union member will stick a knife in the back of another if it means they benefit.
The past 2 strikes have not been a show of unity. The first few days are an excuse for adults to bbq and act like children and then reality sets in. It’s a struggle to get anyone to show up for pickett duty if it’s not their assigned time so you have 4 people out of 50 standing on a corner because they have to, not because they want to. The other 46 are out looking out for themselves.
Ain’t to bright..are we?
@3xdt - TAKE THAT $HIT TO THE WIRELESS BOARD!!
Blah...blah...blah...Hums.....blah....blah....blah...commissions....blah....blah...blah....Severance....blah...blah...blah....slammin’ Customers....blah....blah....blah...SMP’s..blah...blah...blah....TMP’s...blah...blah...blah?
Blah...blah...blah...union.....blah....blah....blah...contract....blah....blah...blah....EISP.....blah...blah...blah....retirement....blah....blah....blah...strike....blah...blah?
Contract extension benefit both sides. Too many senior employees with 4 years to go before retirement and a strike is simply not beneficial to them. Nor the company, what with the new CEO Hans Vestberg coming on board. With rumors of OATH being spun off the 10 Billion from that sale might, maybe actually go to nice EISP packages for these senior people.
No one needs to hate on the Union or the Company. It will all work out and with Vestberg at the helm it looks like maybe Verizon will get back into the communications business and out of the advertising / entertainment business. Moving away from our core business has cost us dearly.
The thread is titled company/union talks....it is also on the wireline board. If you are upset over your poor life choices, don’t take it out on people who’ve made better decisions than you....and why don’t you do us all a favor and go to the wireless board?
There's the typical rambling union paragraph I was looking for thanks!
@2dsj said "Their mediocre life circumstances are a result of some sort of ignorance or stupidity which I fail to understand. It is as if they pride themselves in their struggle and wish others had the same circumstances as them instead of sticking together and collectively improving their situation."
+1000 to this comment. Why is it like this? In my opinion here's why. You have dozens of think tanks with very patriotic sounding names, (IE Heritage Foundation, Americans for Prosperity, Freedom Partners) They sound like they're there to help us regular working guys but they are actually front groups that are funded by millionaires and billionaires to advance their own agenda. These groups have unbelievably deep pockets (IE Koch Bros, who supposedly spend $800 million dollars on an election cycle) and with the help of certain right wing radio/TV echo chambers have been able to trick working class people into going against their own best interests regarding certain issues. They've convinced half the population that every safety net program that the working class has is communism or socialism. Unions, safety & environmental regulations, SS, Medicare, a living wage - these things are all for "commies" according to the patrons of these phony front groups and the useful tools who fall for their BS. I'm sitting at the fourth of July BBQ the other day and the conversation inevitably turns to politics. I had to just just sit there shaking my head at the irony of a dozen guys in the in their sixties and seventies, who happen to all be getting SS and Medicare, in unison all agreeing with each other about how we're turning into a socialist country. One of these people even had a natural disaster hit his home and certainly did not decline the mid five figure grant that the gov't provided him with in order to get his house back in order. Aren't SS, Medicare, and that 50k disaster grant from the gov't examples of "socialism"? Isn't the improved quality of life that the unions have provided every one of these guys, (some had been union members and some hadn't, but all benefited from the improved standards regardless) a form of socialism? Now before we get all the Republicans foaming at the mouth mad at me let me say that I break right on certain issues. I do not understand the Democrat's unconditional love of the illegal alien, the unvetted Muslim immigrant, or the person who does not know if they are male, female or something in between - but regarding the previous topics I mentioned I think the average American has gone against his own best interests.
2dsj. WELL SAID
Someone had mentioned that an eisp did come up in the contract discussions. I know that nothing official has been released but does anyone in the know want to share what was discussed?
Why feed the trolls. We have better medical, vision and dental care, many of us have had their college degrees paid for, we earn more money, have amassed greater wealth due to our higher earnings compounding over the years and have a very secure retirement whenever we reach the point of wanting to quit on our own terms. Their mediocre life circumstances are a result of some sort of ignorance or stupidity which I fail to understand. It is as if they pride themselves in their struggle and wish others had the same circumstances as them instead of sticking together and collectively improving their situation. I am sure after the announcement of our extension we will once again hear about our future demise. It is like a broken record. Ignore these fools. A wink is as good as a nod to a blind horse.
Why is it union people think 5 states is the entire country? Lies!
https://www.telecompetitor.com/level3-wins-verizon-4g-backhaul-deal/
Lets gets back to discussing the contract extension we lost a little focus there !
@2wze Don't you know that the union guys build and maintain a huge fiber network, which the cell phone in your pocket and fios need in order to work?. You probably do, but maybe you're paid to come here and try and pull the old divide and conquer routine between union employees and wireless & lower management wireline employees? Don't be like @2we. people. He's either dumb as a tree stump or a shill.
Don't forget connecting two seperate wires together to make one continuous longer wire. Thats the shiznit son! Mad skills! BONG!
Hey 2WZE,
I can tell you have some serious problems. Try being a little mature. Don't be jealous of someone because they get what they deserve instead of getting screwed like you did. I am sure going to meetings and outings and lunches are more valuable to the company than the Techs that work their asses off. Have fun on your forced retirement, Grow up !!
I heard its a 10 year contract with free pensions and medical for all!
Because slinging wire in 5 states out of 50 is the most valuable specialized work there is! Long live wires and union wire pullers! They are amazing and irreplaceable!
1qsv , here is the ibew website, they do post contracts online. your probably have to log in to view.
http://ibew827.com/content/verizon-contracts
I double dog dare you to try and get a copy of the contract in NJ (ibew).
If you read the contract you will see that it explicitly states it is the company's responsibility to print and provide to the membership. In NY we always get a copy I have a copy of each one going back to 1992. Other comments speak of lateness in printing and I agree. It seems to be about a year after ratification before the new copies are distributed. Other's mention of its posting online are true as well. Any reference to there being some sort of secrecy or unwillingness to have contractual information given to the members is absolute BS.
In Pa. we got copies of the new contract a long time ago. It’s probably online, too, but I never bothered looking for it.
Amen 1fhg. Its 2018 grandpa. No need to waste money printing. View the contract online.
@ 1fhe , Maybe you can post a link, that will satisfy many . Is it possible other locals do the same?
Jeez, why does this thread have to get hijacked with a dozen comments about whether or not the contract is available to the members? This is 2018, anybody ever hear of the internet? Hint, you're on it right now! I think the contract is available via PDF on the 1101 union site, or at least it was in the recent past. Now can we get back to the original topic of this post?
@1zvb
Not negative Nellie, simply stating a fact....and I doubt we will see another printed copy of the contract here in NJ.
Being that we all agree there is no union.books. what did it supposedly say on pages 198 - 199. Vhr ?
As to who is responsible for printing the contract, it says in black and white in the contract that it’s the company’s responsibility, at their expense, to print the contracts.
Can’t imagine that’s not the whole footprint.