Striking landline Verizon workers in Delaware will return to the job on Wednesday as unions offered more details on a tentative deal.
Workers in Delaware and other states in the Mid-Atlantic had been out since April 13. The number of striking workers was estimated at between 36,000 and 40,000. Approval of the deal is widely expected.
According to a union release, Verizon agreed to add 1,300 new East Coast call center jobs and reverse several other outsourcing initiatives that will create new field technician jobs.
The company had no further announcement beyond Friday’s news of a tentative deal and the union, other than talking about some changes in health care benefits, did not discuss any possible concessions.
The number of Verizon landline workers has been declining as the company built out the FiOS fiber-optic system and the number of traditional land-line phones declined sharply. In the meantime, the company bought out a British company’s share of the wireless business.
Looming over any euphoria over a new contract is Verizon’s push into faster wireless technology that could make landline and cable network connections less attractive.
One long-time critic says the company may be engaged in a “shell game” to use landline broadband to subsidize its wireless service.
The high-speed service would require running higher speed fiber-optic cable to Verizon cell towers, and there are other issues, including the need for equipment that could bring a strong wireless signal into a home and businesses.
Still, the expiration of the new contract could come as the company is beginning to roll out high-speed wireless broadband.
The union release stated that the four-year proposed agreement provides 10.9 percent in raises, a $1,250 signing bonus in the Mid-Atlantic and a $1,000 signing bonus plus a $250 healthcare reimbursement account in the Northeast, $2,800 minimum in profit sharing, pension increases, and a first contract for Verizon Wireless retail store employees in Brooklyn, NY and Everett, MA.
“We secured a contract our members can be proud of. It secures additional good middle-class jobs for our members in the Mid-Atlantic and keeps them in our communities,” said CWA District 2-13 Vice President Ed Mooney. “We were able to push back against a number of company demands and achieve a contract that includes new job growth, specifically 850 call center jobs, returns work to union members; keeps centers from being closed and job security is intact and provides improvements in retirement benefits. I am so proud of the members of standing together and standing up for themselves; our communities, the customers and their families.”
All call centers that had been threatened with closure in the Mid-Atlantic region will remain open. Three of the five threatened call centers in upstate New York will also remain open; the six workers affected in the other two centers will be offered jobs locally in the company.
The new contract guarantees that an increased percentage of customer service work will be handled by unionized workers. As a result, Verizon will add 1,300 call center jobs, 850 in the Mid-Atlantic region and 450 in the Northeast.
The strike had taken on a bitter tone, with the company accusing workers of sabotage, with the unions claiming neglect of the system was often to blame. The U.S. Secretary of Labor had both sides sit down, with the pledge that discussions would not be discussed publicly.
Verizon will continue to face stiff competition with Comcast. However, after a long period of not building out its FiOS system, the company earlier announced plans to install Foist in the Boston area
FiOS has been installed in many populated areas in New Castle County, but not in the City of Wilmington. City officials had demanded the same services like those provided by Comcast in its franchise agreement.
FiOS offers high-speed fiber-optic cable to the home and business. Comcast uses copper on the final connection and boosts speeds. Comcast has been adding fiber closer to copper connections and operates a Comcast Business system with a separate customer service portal and services that can serve the largest data users.
