Verizon, the CWA, and IBEW unions reached an “agreement in principle” on new contracts Friday primarily for the company’s wireline employees and a small number of wireless employees in the Northeast.
The agreements came under the auspices of U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez and the director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, Allison Beck. Picket lines were taken down around Verizon sites.
Marc Reed, Verizon’s Chief Administrative Officer issued the following:
“Verizon is very pleased with this “agreement in principle.” The agreement is consistent with our objective of creating high-quality American jobs and achieving meaningful changes and enhancements to the contracts that will better enable our wireline business unit to compete and succeed in the digital world.
We also reached an “agreement in principle” on contracts for about 165 Verizon Wireless employees.
In the meantime, we look forward to having all of our employees soon back at work in their regular positions and doing what they do best – serving our customers.”
The unions said nearly 40,000 Verizon workers who have been on strike since April 13.
A release from the CWA said the workers are “celebrating big gains after coming to an agreement in principle with the company. After 44 days of the largest strike in recent history, striking CWA members have achieved our major goals of improving working families’ standard of living, creating good union jobs in our communities and achieving a first contract for wireless retail store workers.
“CWA appreciates the persistence and dedication of Secretary Perez, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service Director Allison Beck and their entire teams. The addition of new, middle-class jobs at Verizon is a huge win not just for striking workers, but for our communities and our country as a whole. The agreement in principle at Verizon is a victory for working families across the country and an affirmation of the power of working people,” said Chris Shelton, President of the Communications Workers of America. “This proves that when we stand together, we can raise up working families, improve our communities and protect the American middle class.”
The strike had become increasingly bitter, with Verizon claiming non-union workers were being harassed.
The company had gone to court in Delaware and other states but tolerated picketing around its largely nonunion wireless stores.
At the same time, however, the company faced a well-financed effort by its unions to continue the walk out and press arguments that the company was making big profits at the expense of workers. Estimates indicated that the company had lost $200 million as a result of the strike.
The company responded that Verizon workers were making big paychecks when compared to their counterparts at rival companies.
