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A group of about twenty union members and labor activists demonstrated in front of the Verizon store on 6th Avenue today, confusing downtown workers on their lunch breaks who were trying to buy a sandwich next door at Jimmy John’s. The demonstrators were out to show solidarity with striking Verizon workers. The cheery demonstrators shouted slogans like, “We won’t back down! Seattle is a union town!” and waved signs asking passersby to “HONK IF YOU SUPPORT KEEPING JOBS IN AMERICA.”

Verizon’s landline workers went on strike a few weeks ago in an attempt to prevent huge cuts to their benefits; Verizon wants to increase the amount that workers pay into their healthcare and pension plans. The Communications Workers of America, the union that represents the striking workers, says that the proposed benefit cuts would amount to $20,000 in lost benefits per worker every year.

“This is money that would go into the pockets of CEOs,” said one of the organizers, Kamaria Hightower of the Young Emerging Labor Leaders of Washington. “Verizon doesn’t need this money. They’re trying to take advantage of people’s fears of the current economic situation and ram through wage and benefit cuts.”

I asked the organizers what outcome would constitute a win for labor. “We just want to get back to the bargaining table,” said the CWA’s Susie Macalester, before she accused Verizon of negotiating in bad faith: “They’re not bargaining. They drew a line in the sand and aren’t willing do budge. They haven’t been willing to make concessions. We’re just trying to protect the benefits we already have.“

The protest was unusual because, apart from Macalester and a few other CWA workers, most of the demonstrators weren’t on strike themselves. The King County Labor Council, a local labor umbrella group, organized and promoted the demonstration as part of a coordinated statewide effort to raise awareness of the CWA strike.

“We’re here to show support for America’s working families,” said Max Brown, the KCLC’s spokesman. “Labor groups up and down Washington are out showing support for our brothers and sisters on the East Coast.”

The strikes have been marked by the unions’ sharp rhetoric and Verizon’s mudslinging tactics. The communications giant has accused striking employees of sabotaging company property in order to disrupt service.

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26 replies on “Verizon Employees Don’t Want You to Eat That Sandwich”

  2. @1 If you can get a company that will draw up contracts that promise all skilled laborers full medical/dental/vision benefits, pension/401k, a living wage and paid overtime, I imagine unions would consider half of their work done. On the other hand, if it weren’t for unions, my father would’ve probably been fired (from the phone company, actually) the minute he started showing signs of Diabetes.

    So the answer is, yes…unions are still relevant.

  4. I’d say now is a great time to get a deal @Verizon Wireless 🙂 ! They can serve up more reasonable rates since they’re NON Union like a successful company tends to be. Too bad they have those greedy succubus union thugs in their landline division giving the brand a hard time.

  7. @1 That WOULD be a great idea, if only states would agree to use public dollars to subsidize the health care and housing for everyone working your crappy non-union private jobs. BUT OH WAIT! We’re fixing to fuck with MediCAID too!
    And why SHOULD a family live in a house, amirite? There’s no dishonor in raising your kid in some pit-of-hell tenement because you can’t afford to live anywhere else.

  9. Actually Unpaid Intern, it’s not unusual for non-striking union members to show solidarity by picketing with strikers; my union put nearly 400 people on the street in front of the Westin a few weeks back to support a couple hundred UNITE/HERE hotel employees who’ve been struggling in contract negotiations with management for several months. They weren’t technically on-strike, but a picket line is a picket line.

  10. @1, yeah OK dipshit. Unemployment in Washington state as of June 2011 was 9.2%, and our labor force is 19.4% unionized. In Mississippi, unemployment as of June 2011 stood at 10.3%. Their labor force is 4.5% unionized.

  11. Oh and @1, there are JOBS, ones that actually pay enough in wages and benefits to allow the people how have them to live something most of us would consider a reasonable, if not exactly extravagant lifestyle; you know, food, shelter, clothing, education and medical care. And then there are “jobs”, the kind that you’re referring to, that you have to have two or even three of to just barely be able to afford the basics, which, BTW, doesn’t include a lot of the above.

    I’m guessing, you probably have one of the former, and managed to get it without having to join together with your fellow workers; well, good on you, I’ll bet you’re a real tiger when it comes to talking your boss into giving you a raise or benefits, or improving your working conditions. Too bad you’re also the kind of person who would shit on your neighbor for wanting to have it just as good as you, even if the only way that’s possible is for them to bargain collectively.

  15. @12 this effects pretty much everyone that gets dsl or T1 services on the east coast. People have been down for weeks, and there’s nothing they can do about it.

  16. This wouldn’t have anything to do with Verizon’s recent departure from several local landline markets, would it?
    They lost out on a few rounds of “Bribe the local municipality for a monopoly deal”, so they started exiting the market, leaving it to Frontier. Qwest has done a similar thing with their spinoff of Century Link.
    It seemed like a clear sign that their business was going down the tubes, and they are just looking for ways to lose as little as possible.

  17. “Qwest has done a similar thing with their spinoff of Century Link.”

    Huh? Qwest was bought by CLink. It’s not a similar situation at all.

  23. 5280 dear, the strike is indeed over – and the workers are working under their old contract. Pretty good showing, if you ask me.

    Of course, the negotiations still have to happen on the new contract……

  24. @17 Similar in the sense that the local landline market is being shaken up. The Century Link deal just kind of came out of nowhere, so it had that feeling of re-branding because of Qwest’s reputation being so shitty. Kind of like how US West became Qwest a decade ago and nothing really changed. Not the case here: I stand corrected.
    http://www.centurylink.com/Pages/AboutUs…

    The bigger point is that this is outdated technology and a shrinking market. When that happens, workers usually get screwed.

  25. “his is outdated technology and a shrinking market.”

    Actually, no Vic dear. When they say “wire side” they don’t just mean landlines. They mean a lot of the hardware that makes cell phones work.

  26. Traditonal land lines are shrinking that is true. However cell phones, internet, and other high speed data still have to go over the same infrastructure that land lines use. It all works together. Verizon made about 6 billion in profit last year part of that was nearly 1 billion in government subsidies. Verizon was asking for 1 billion in concessions from the employees who built and maintainn the infratructure. They also want to cut benefits for those already retired, they say to exspensive. Verizon can pay what they promised already retired employees. At the same time the top 5 execs at verison were paid 250 million in 4 years. How is that ok? How is it ok to blame the unios for holding a very priftable company accountable for their promises?

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