Verizon sues workers union claiming harassment, sabotage

By on Aug 11, 2011 at 8:01 AM
Legal August 11, 2011

Verizon Communications has filed lawsuits against the Communications Workers of America union in five states in an effort to limit picketing, the Associated Press reported. In separate filings, the company has accused picketers in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Delaware of harassment, sabotage and of blocking access to its facilities. Verizon got a court order to limit picketing in Pennsylvania on Monday, and a similar order was granted in Delaware on Wednesday. More than 45,000 unionized wireline employees at Verizon have walked out over premium increases for health benefits, and managers are currently filing in for the striking workers.

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  • Jake

    I see both sides to this.  They are not striking over wages… both sides are happy there.  They are striking over benefits.  I would hate to be the 40+ year employee looking forward to retirement and being told they are eliminating my pension.  Sure, they will roll over and amount to a 401(k) based on years of seniority but in the long run they will get screwed.  As far as Verizon being a big profitable company?  The Wireless side, which is non-union make nice profits.  But the wireline side actually lost money and siphons cash from the wireless side to stay afloat.  There are two sides to every coin.

    • Anonymous

      What bullshit.  Verizon’s managers wages and benefits have gone up, way up.  They are just sticking it to their workers.

  • http://profiles.google.com/mordikar.nykae Justin Hart

    exactly Wireless makes tons of money Communications looses money on every product but FIOS …

    • Bullet Tooth Tony

      Uhh…. are you not aware the VZ Comms sells corporate services?  ISDN phone services, networking, T1/T3 lines, tie lines… the list goes on.  It’s so profitable, in fact, that bigger companies can literally cause them to drop everything to run a dedicated fiber line between sites 1000 miles apart, as an example.

      There’s lots of money in them thar wires…

  • http://profiles.google.com/mordikar.nykae Justin Hart

    could you figure out which company you are talking about?  Verizon Wireless and Verizon communications are NOT the same company. Wireless took no bailout as the company needs no bail out, it makes money hands over fist. 

    CDMA is a MUCH better product than GSM. CDMA unlike GSM doesn’t make your speakers chirp right before you get a call, and interfere with all sorts of other products. The reason GSM is all over europe isn’t that it’s better … it’s that it’s cheaper to deploy… thus meaning it’s more profitable to the company to provide a mediocre cheap product and charge you the same high price.

  • Anonymous

    Unions are a double edged sword. They can be hugely important and they can be hugely problematic. Finding the right balance is tough because people, on both sides, want more and more. Rarely are people satisfied with what they have. 

  • Mac

    This country would be a lot better if every company fired these thieving fucking crooks. They are a bunch of lazy sob’s that think they should get everything for free.

    Of course as long as the union bosses are sucking off all the demotards cocks, things won’t change.

  • Sv

    Ah unions, destroying America one strike at a time

  • Reality

    Corporate America and Politicians have turned people
    against Unions. I have worked for one, worked outside of one, and managed
    workers in a union. Although union workers do have a lighter work load and get
    away with more than their non-union counterparts I agree with the Verizon
    workers. Their company is making record profits in the Billions off of us. Why
    aren’t are rates going down? Why aren’t we getting better technology? These
    workers drive to work every day just like us but I’m willing to bet their CEO
    flies in the corporate helicopter. I bet upper management has a golden package
    with no cuts in insurance, I bet you don’t see them giving up anything like
    their tens of millions bonuses. I know if my boss went work every day making $80K
    a day I would want at least basic health care.

  • Anonymous

    Fire them!  Millions are ready and eager to take their jobs and would probably do a better job than these spoiled utility-types.

    • Flintchesthair

      I’m already hearing radio commercials agressively advertising jobs and benefits. Look like many of them are being replaced.

  • Joshnichols1

    “filing in for strike workers”?

    FILING?

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_IC7DZDK24C4LNOWEK7ATVKPYSY Edgar Contreras

    I just paid $22.85 for an iPad 2-64GB and my girlfriend loves her Panasonic Lumix GF 1 Camera that we got for $38.76 there arriving tomorrow by UPS. I will never pay such expensive retail prices in stores again. Especially when I also sold a 40 inch LED TV to my boss for $674 which only cost me $62.81 to buy. Here is the website we use to get it all from, CentHub.com

  • Anonymous

    I drive past a Verizon Facility in Baltimore in my neighborhood on the way to work. The parking lot is bone dry.Its funny because the 5-6 employees that get to park inside of the gate…still come to work.

  • http://360.yahoo.com/profile-IdR0g3kncq2jGfqK4aNlx9.c4JOJFqXSCdsN_A-- Vitsing

    With so many Americans without Jobs there is a large pool of potential replacement employees, who would salivate to get jobs at Verizon, even with increased health benefit costs. 

    In any case Verizon should refuse to continue automatic payroll deductions for the Union. Let the Union Bosses collect their own dues. It would be interesting to see how many members would balk at paying dues. This is why Right to Work States are doing so well in job creation; the Union Model is obsolete in the 21st Century Global Economy.

    • gerry frawley

      You got any actual, you know, facts to back that statement up? 

      Truth is, that while right to work states have slightly better unemployment rates these states are typically worse places to live for the actual workers. Wages and personal income are both lower in right-to-work states, yet proprietors’ income is higher. Those lower wages and lower personal incomes are especially detrimental in today’s fragile economic recovery, still plagued by a lack of consumer spending.

      Righ to work is a bad deal for our rapidly shrinking middle class and those folks on the top of the middle class benefit from the unions who are setting a bar for the white collar folks.

      Verizon is making money hand over fist, rewards its executives handsomely–what is so wrong with sharing the results of the company’s good fortune with the workers? 

      It is insane for the company to even ask for concessions, but the workers gave them…but the corporate executives want even more.  I’m dumping Verizon for this reason alone.

      • http://360.yahoo.com/profile-IdR0g3kncq2jGfqK4aNlx9.c4JOJFqXSCdsN_A-- Vitsing

        I for one would prefer to work in a Southern State vs. the rust belt destroyed by the Unions.

        The Mackinac Center for Public Policy’s 2001 Right to Work study focusing on 1978 through2000 found that Right to Work states fair slightly better than non-RTW states in terms of unemployment levels (Wilson).
        • Between 1982 and 2002 1.43 million manufacturing jobs have been created in Right to Work states whereas 2.18 million manufacturing jobs have been lost in non-RTW states (Wilson).
        • All new auto plants built in the United States in the last 10 years were built in Right to Work states (Warden).
        • The three substantial and credible reviews and/or studies of Right to Work laws to date by Tannenwald, Moore and Holmes all conclude that there is a positive relationship between a state’s adoption of Right to Work laws and a state’s economic development.
        • Firms can rationally favor Right to Work states because Right to Work laws may lead to higher labor productivity.
        • Idaho, a recent adopter of Right to Work laws, experienced tremendous job and manufacturing growth after adopting Right to Work laws.
        • After reviewing all available Right to Work law literature it appears that the vast preponderance of studies from numerous credible sources suggests that Right to Work laws do have a statistically significant positive effect on employment levels and job creation.

  • Anonymous

    Have you ever actually had to call Verizon for service?  These people barely deserve to be paid, let alone get any benefits.  Fire all of them and get people that can actually provide some modicum of customer service, becuase what they have now is what kills this company.  Great products, absolutely abysmal customer service.

    • Skeeter

      I’ve never had any customer service problems… on the wireless side.  Now the landline side on the other hand is another story. 

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