Many Verizon Workers Back on Job
N E W Y O R K, Aug. 22, 2000 -- — About 35,000 Verizon Communications workers in the mid-Atlantic states remain on strike today, while 50,000 employees in New York and New England began their second day of work on a backlog of repair requests and orders for new phone lines.
Negotiations with a bargaining unit that represents workers in the mid-Atlantic states continues. Candice Johnson, spokeswoman for the Communications Workers of America, or CWA, said late Monday there was some progress.
“We still need to resolve some pretty key issues for our members,” she said. Members of the union remained on the picket lines Monday in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.
Verizon executives said the negotiations with that unit are centered on resolving local matters, but said they believe the talks could have been wrapped by now.
“These are relatively simple issues that could have been andshould have been settled” Sunday night, said Lawrence T. BabbioJr., company vice chairman and president.
On Sunday, a new, tentative three-year contract was struck with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and one of two bargaining units for the CWA, covering employees in New York and New England. The two represent 50,000 Verizon workers.
The unions have been striking for two weeks, and the walkout has affected 25 million phone users on the East Coast. Union negotiators are seeking the right to unionize the growing wireless work force at the telecommunications giant.
Service Requests Piled Up
Meanwhile, a Verizon spokesman said Monday that a backlog of new service requests could grow if a formal deal isn’t reached soon.
That’s because fall is a traditionally busy time for new phone line requests, with students moving into dorms and apartments. Additionally, families terminate phone services for summer homes.
“The demand for new service [during the fall] is phenomenal,” said Jim Smith, a Verizon spokesman.
About 200,000 orders for new service already remain pending as the strike officially continues. Verizon workers have focused on repairs during the past two weeks, not installations, Smtih said.
During a press briefing Monday, Verizon’s Babbio said there are about 80,000 service “troubles” outstanding. Half of those problems are reports of no service and the rest cover minor service glitches including static, Smith said. Verizon serves a total of 40 million lines or customers.
Frank Paxton, a vice president of CWA Local 1105 in New York,estimated it would take two months for workers in his region tocatch up on the backlog of orders and repairs tallied up during thestrike.
Smith estimated it could take three to four weeks to catch up on pending service orders.
Verizon spokesman Eric Rabe said problems with directory assistance should clear up almost immediately.
Workers to Get 12% Pay Raise
The tentative agreement, reached Sunday, would replace contracts that expired August 6, and includes a 12 percent pay raise. Job security and benefits also are expected to improve, according to the tentative deal.
The new contract also allows workers for the first time to getstock options. And customer representatives working in call centerswill be allowed 30 minutes each day when they do not have to takecalls, an increase over previous contracts.
The two sides also found common ground over assurances that union members can work in emerging divisions, such as high-speed Internet connections. ABCNEWS Radio, ABCNEWS.com’s Heesun Wee and the Associated Press contributed to this report.