atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums General Telecom News 45,000 Verizon employees on strike

They budget one billion for an anti-union ad blitz? Well, if that's the case I have to agree with you Bill. I think this illustrates everything that is wrong with corporate America today- screw the workers and make as much profit as you can.

Somehow I think this is going to be the worst strike in Verizon history.

-Hal

This pretty much says it all. From the CWA WEB site.

For those of you who are far from NYC, Verizon ran a whole-page-ad in NY Daily News two days ago, pretty much claiming that average craft pay is $91.5K, with another $50K in benefits.

I'd be more than happy to invite anyone and everyone on this board who passes by anywhere near this neck of the woods for a dinner with my family, and show them my W2s for the past 9 years since I got to the top pay. I've never even come close to that figure.

Benefits - as well as the way their value is calculated - are a whole different ballgame, but $50K purchases *a lot* especially when you're a major corporation and buy wholesale, so to speak...

I agree that this is likely to be the worst strike in the history of telecom industry in this country. Likely worse than NY Tel in 1971, and that one was bad from what I've gathered from people who were on both sides of it...

Personally, I've never subsribed to the philosophy that one is lucky to have a job...but that's just me...

Verizon is not a mess. Its "top chefs" have made a decision to abandon the copper plant as well as conventional fiber and placed all bets on FiOS and wireless.

What one may see as a mess was actually, for the most part, done on purpose.

All areas that end up with FiOS will eventually be sold off to Frontier or whoever else, and that will be the end of the landline game for VZ...leaving them with just the wireless side...what joy, what bliss...

Meanwhile, for more than two years now, we've been consistently pushed to turn up *all* special circuits before the actual due date...to keep the business customers from complaining, and boost the company's numbers...however meaningless these might be...

They've sold just about every building they had owned in pricey areas...you connect the dots.

Our future might be bleak, but the fight will most certainly be an interesting one.

My $0.02 only...

I agree 100% .... Verizon is an absolute mess and i have seen them screw up time after time after time since i entered the business in 1997. Just this month they failed to deliver the circuit for a T1 on time.... no call, no email, no notification ..they just didnt show up by the deadline. I am sure all of us on our side could spend hours writing up all of our Verizon issues.

Now they go on strike at a time when there is an alternative... if i owned a cable company i would put 10 extra trucks on the road. They are going to lose business left and right to the cable companies.

Having said all that i need to be very clear that i know the field techs are not the reason their service stinks .... the vast majority of the techs i have run across have been great.

But... i would be willing to trade places with most Verizon techs (forgetting the strike). A solid salary with a check every two weeks, health insurance (i pay $900 EVERY month), retirement account etc.

Although i have sold 4 systems in the past two weeks... after having sold 1 in the previous two months ... so for the next month i will enjoy being self employed :shrug:

Many people in Maine complain about Fairpoint and say that the sale never should of been allowed. I am so glad it did they have been great to work with and have invested $$$$$$ fixing the mess Verizon sold them.

I started at Wisconsin Telephone Company (AT&T) August 31st 1970 where a lot of promises were made. I transferred to Northwestern Bell/US WEST/QWEST where a lot of promises were broken. Primarily we were told that if we came to work for Wisconsin Telephone we wouldn't make as much as an electrician, plumber, printer or carpenter but we would be taken care of way better after retirement. One way they took care of me was by reducing my death benefit from $48,000 to $10,000

I had to report 3 dead lines yesterday to Verizon
90 minutes on hold never got to a human.
Finally used automated system ,had to make 3 seperate calls

Commitment date 9/16 8 am to 7 pm.

Ouch !!!
.

Ken, mine was better then yours 2 lines out and due date of 8-27-2011 9 till 5

I reported a single line at 9:45 AM on 8/15. The appointment time shown is 8:00 PM on 8/27. I do know that commitment times mean nothing during a strike. They simply dispatch by what trouble report is the closest to the repair person.

What puzzles me is that I have yet to see a Verizon vehicle on the street. I haven’t noticed any communication contractor’s vehicles in the area. I don’t know what they’re doing for people. The local management ranks have been cut to the bone. In past contracts letters were sent to retirees asking if they were available if a strike happened. Some of these folks actually did work. I’ve asked a number of my friends and no one received such a letter. I didn’t get one. Maybe it’s because we declined the offer in the past.

I can see the volume of trouble reports growing. The heavy rains that have recently hit parts of the east coast are going to add to the pile.

I talked to a splicer. He scheduled 3 weeks of vacation starting with the contract expiration date. He hopes he has enough vacation to make it to the end. I think this one is going to be a long one. I hope I’m wrong.

Your splicer friend is in for a very rude awakening. As of yesterday, Verizon cancelled all vacation time that was scheduled past the first week of strike.

They also sent out letters cancelling all of our benefits as of August 31st.

This strike is most certainly going to be a long one. The company had eight years to prepare for it, not to mention that the general public is not on the side of striking workforce.

God help us all.