August 10, 2008
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Tentative Agreement Reached at Verizon-East!
We Did It!

Just hours ago, the bargaining committees reached an agreement in principle with Verizon. The unprecented level of education, engagement, and mobilization of the united CWA and IBEW members brought us this contract in a very tough economic and political environment.

We made progress on all of our key objectives:

More detailed information on the settlement and the ratification vote will be provided by your local.

- CWA President Larry Cohen

“This agreement is a tribute to the solidarity and activism of IBEW and CWA members working at Verizon. Our members mobilized strong and negotiated hard for a good contract that will benefit workers and their families now and in the future. .”

- IBEW President Ed Hill

Welcome to our new union brothers and sisters at Verizon Business!

A message to members from the Combined Bargaining Committee on behalf of the Regional Bargaining Committees for District 1 (Verizon North), 2 and 13 (Verizon mid-Atlantic) and the IBEW

After many months of bargaining with Verizon Communications, our united bargaining committees have reached an agreement in principle with management pending document review.

Throughout this process, we focused on ensuring our place in the work of the future.

Our critical goals also included health care for active and retired workers, retirement security and a fair wage increase.

The involvement and mobilization of tens of thousands of our members made a huge difference in these negotiations. All of us together showed our strength, our commitment, our determination to get the best possible agreement.

We’re proud to have represented the 65,000 union members at Verizon in these negotiations.

Chris Shelton, District 1; Ron Collins, District 2; Ed Mooney, District 13; George Welker, District 1; Steve Holland, District 2; Sandy Kmetyck, District 13; John Miller, IBEW Local 827 and Myles Calvey, IBEW Local 2222.

1. Wages
   a. Effective 8/3/2008 3.25 %
   b. Effective 8/2/2009 3.5 %
   c. Effective 8/1/2010 3.75 %
2. COLA
   a. Effective 8/1/2010
   b. One half of the increase in the CPI-W in excess of 3.75% between May ‘09 and May ‘10
3. Corporate Profit Sharing
   a. $700 minimum distribution
   b. Paid in March of 2009, 2010, 2011
4. Pension Band Increases
   a. Effective 10/1/2008 3.25%
   b. Effective 10/1/2009 3.5 %
   c. Effective 10/1/2010 3.75%
5. Pension Lump Sum Cash-Out
   a. Pension Distribution Options remains in contract with no change in the language by which the amount is calculated
   b. Available at any time, for the length of the contract
6. VZ Business
   a. 445 Field Techs in plant contract with carveouts
   b. 145 Inside Techs in plant contract with carve outs
   c. Guarantee small and medium business exclusively for represented commercial
   d. Bring new VZ-B work to CWA represented locations 100 at end of 2009 and 100 at end of 2010
7. Video Head End – Video Work. Approx. 75 in plant contracts with carve outs
8. Temps and terms to Perms (Approx 1,200)
9. Three times a year discussion on union jobs and efficiency/growth with top management
10. Active Health Care: Maintained full employer paid coverage with limited plan design changes
11. Retiree Health Benefits
    a. Fully paid, no retiree pays during life of agreement
    b. Any changes in future health benefit plans for retirees will be negotiated with the Union in the same manner as that for actives and for future retirees.
    c. No current retiree will pay for health coverage through the end of 2011.
    d. No active employee who retires during the term of this agreement will pay or health coverage through the end of 2011.
    e. Caps on the Company’s contribution to the cost of retiree health coverage in 2012 and after have been raised as follows:
                i. Prior to Age 65 and Medicare Eligibility
                        1. Retiree Only: $12,580
                        2. Retiree + 1 25,160
                        3. Retiree + Family 31,450
                ii. Age 65 and after and Medicate Eligible
                        1. Retiree Only: $ 6,330
                        2. Retiree + 1 12,660
                        3. Retiree + Family 18,990
    f. Employees hired after August 2, 2008 will be covered under a new retiree health program.
                i. Once they retire (under the same eligibility requirements as currently required), they will receive an annual payment equal to $430 times years of service (to a maximum of 30 years).
                ii. The parties will negotiate this amount in future years to reflect changes in the cost of health coverage.
12. Agreement to work for National Health Care Reform and provide $2 million a year during term of contract.
13. New Dispute Resolution for Faster resolution of grievances
14. Savings and Security Plan
    a. Add a Roth option to the 401(k) plan
    b. Allows investment of post tax dollars with no taxes applied to investment returns when assets are later distributed.
15. Retiree Life Insurance
    a. Company-paid retiree life insurance benefits will be frozen at one-times the wage level attained on 8/2/2008.
    b. The minimum amount to be paid to beneficiaries of retirees who retiree after 8/2/2008 will be $20,000, even after age 65.
16. Retirees who were hired after 8/2/2008 will be eligible for the minimum $20,000
17. Increase supplemental insurance with ability to purchase 5 times salary
18. Commercial Issues
    a. Collection
    b. Jt Marketing Letter
    c. Local Presence Centers
    d. NJ collection office issues
19. Extend all existing District and Local Agreements and adjust all dates.
20. CWA-NETT will discuss how to publicize
21. Unique Regional Items
    a. Scope agreement CWA D2
    b. Contract Initiative Letter fixed
    c. Job Share Language (North)
    d. ACFC will outstanding pay current bills $486K
    e. Increase ACFC wage rate top wage rate in contract
    f. Supplemental Retiree Life Insurance: five times implemented as soon as possible

Check us out online at www.cwa-union.org/verizon

What's happening in your area? Send information and photos to unityatverizon@cwa-union.org and we'll publish them here.

Tear Down the Wall at Verizon!
Communications Workers of America       International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

Contract Countdown:

2 Days

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Contract Countdown:

5 Days

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June 20, 2008 - Please post & share
**To read and print Unity@Verizon, download a PDF
version of the newsletter.**

In This Issue

VZ-East Negotiations Focus on Jobs of the Future
Union leaders from CWA Districts 1, 2, and 13 and the IBEW are stressing the importance of job security in early negotiations with Verizon that are taking place in Washington and New York.

A June 16 update to local union presidents made the case: "Bringing in the best contract in the world won't mean much if the bargaining unit keeps shrinking until we end up with no work.  [T]hat's the course Verizon has been on: offering surpluses and backfilling with contractors; defining our work more and more narrowly; using call centers in Canada, the Philippines, Mexico, and India; moving bargaining unit work to lower-wage, lower-benefit workers at Verizon Business and Verizon Wireless; and busting organizing campaigns. Read the full story.

What about health care?
At the start of a recent bargaining session, CWA Chief Negotiator Dennis Trainor strongly urged Verizon to join with CWA, other national unions and businesses to work for the enactment of a national health care program.  This would save Verizon billions of dollars and remove the issue from the bargaining table in the future.  Quoting CWA President Larry Cohen, Trainor told the Verizon representative to "get off our backs and get on our side" in this matter. Read the full story.

Long Term Evolution (But for whom?)
Verizon is planning to use a technology called Long-Term Evolution (or LTE) for its 4G network. Verizon's Chief Technology Officer Dick Lynch says that the LTE network, "will be the first that truly bridges Verizon's wireline and wireless businesses... The LTE network, however, will bring true broadband speeds, off of which Verizon can hang services it has always reserved for wireline." Read the full story.

Michigan IBEW members fight contracting out trend
IBEW Local 1106 members have had a total of 226 Income Security Plan (ISP) offerings since Nov. 2007.  "The company declares a surplus, gets people to take the offer, and then backfills with contractors," said Local 1106 Business Manager Mike Brousseau.  "Good union jobs are being decimated." Read the full story.

VZB techs reaching out core company co-workers
Verizon Business field technicians in Massachusetts and New York are updating the core membership about their efforts to unite in a union.  VZB techs are attending local union meetings and contract mobilization events to keep members informed about their campaign and build support for inclusion in the union. Read the full story.

Check us out online at www.cwa-union.org/verizon

What's happening in your area? Send information and photos to unityatverizon@cwa-union.org and we'll publish them here.

Tear Down the Wall at Verizon!
Communications Workers of America       International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

May 5, 2008 - Please post & share
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version of the newsletter.**

In This Issue

Union members head into Verizon's annual meeting in Lincoln, NE, to ask Ivan some questions

Members confront Seidenberg at VZ annual meeting and mobilize support across the country 

Yesterday, Verizon union members carried ten boxes with thousands of proxy votes into Verizon's annual shareholder meeting in Lincoln, NE, with a message to bargain a fair contract and make every Verizon job a union job.

Verizon union members and a VZ Business tech posed questions to Ivan Seidenberg on health care, bundling wireless with landline services, including FiOS, and giving VZB workers a free choice on whether to unionize.

From southern California to southern Virginia, members rallied and picketed to make sure Ivan could hear them in Nebraska! Read the full story.

More photos and stories from worksites in our next issue!

Check us out online at www.cwa-union.org/verizon

What's happening in your area? Send information and photos to unityatverizon@cwa-union.org and we'll publish them here.

Tear Down the Wall at Verizon!
Communications Workers of America       International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

Ask your co-workers to sign up for Unity@Verizon:

www.cwa-union.org/
verizon/subscribe.html

Members of the Stewards Army from Local 2201 picket in Richmond, VA.

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November 6, 2007 - Please post & share
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version of the newsletter.**

In This Issue

Coast-to-Coast Union Solidarity Supports Workers at Verizon MCO-West
In 2005, when COTs and MAs at Verizon’s Maintenance Control Organization (MCO) in Long Beach, California, sought to unite in CWA, management for the most part honored an agreement to stay neutral during union elections. Unfortunately, the workers lost their union election and remained “on their own.” Verizon continued to treat them as “management” and “at-will” employees. Keep reading.

Verizon Shareholders Will Get a “Say on Pay”
At the VZ annual meeting in May, shareholders (including thousands of proxies voted by IBEW and CWA members) gave high votes for proposals to rein in excessive executive pay. Last week, Verizon's board agreed to implement them. Keep reading.

Independent Report Condemns Verizon for Trampling Rights
A new report by the independent non-profit group American Rights at Work documents the ways in which Verizon is interfering in workers’ freedom to form unions. Keep reading.

“Get Union Wireless” Campaign Gaining Momentum in Maryland
The campaign in Maryland to get Verizon Wireless customers to go union with AT&T is picking up steam. At CWA’s request, the president of the Maryland AFL-CIO sent a letter to all of its affiliated union locals requesting that they switch to a union service when their organization’s cell phone contracts expire. Keep reading. 

Good Grilling is Helping IBEW Local 2222 Recruit for the Steward’s Army
IBEW Local 2222’s Mobilization Team has hosted three Steward's Army “Fall Tour” lunchtime events featuring free grilled hot dogs and beverages. The Steward's Army tour is a series of visits with members at Verizon facilities to discuss the need for membership mobilization to prepare for next year's contract negotiations. Keep reading.

“Stop the Sale” Ads Go on the Air
View the YouTube video to see a 29-second commercial that the IBEW is airing about the sale of Verizon to FairPoint. Keep reading.

Check us out online at www.cwa-union.org/verizon

What's happening in your area? Send information and photos to unityatverizon@cwa-union.org and we'll publish them here.

Tear Down the Wall at Verizon!
Communications Workers of America       International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

October 1, 2007 - Please post & share
**To read and print Unity@Verizon, download a PDF
version of the newsletter.**

In This Issue

VZB Charged With Spying, Discrimination, and Threats
The National Labor Relations Board has issued formal complaints against VZB for “interfering with, restraining and coercing employees in the exercise of rights guaranteed in [federal law].” Keep reading.

The Countdown Begins: 312 Days to Expiration
We're getting ready! August 2 began the one-year countdown to expiration of the Verizon East contracts, which also have huge implications for future Verizon West contracts. Keep reading.

Celebrating Labor Day, Building Our Power
Over Labor Day weekend, members fanned out across the country collecting pledges to switch to a union wireless carrier and spreading the word about our other concerns at Verizon.  Keep reading. 

Thousands Sign On to “Get Union Wireless”
Thanks to efforts like those over Labor Day, we've collected thousands of pledges not to use Verizon Wireless until management ends its union-busting. Current users of Verizon Wireless are pledging to drop VZW when their contract ends and switch to union carrier AT&T. Keep reading.

VZB Techs Challenge Company to Live Up to Its Promises
Sixty-five VZB techs signed a letter to VZB President John Killian and HR head Robert Toohey grieving management's decision to hire a lot of outside contractors. The techs also asked management to stop hiring techs from the outside at similar or sometimes even higher rates of pay than techs who have been with the company for years. Keep reading.

Stop the Sale Update
The movement in all three Northern New England states to oppose the proposed sale of Verizon to FairPoint keeps growing. A recent opinion survey showed that after learning specific details about FairPoint’s small size, fragile finances, and plans to only provide outmoded DSL service, more than 60% of the public thought the buyout was a “bad idea” or a “very bad idea.” Keep reading.

Four Electrocution Deaths Prompt Electrical Safety Agreement
Four Verizon technicians and union brothers have been killed in electrocution accidents over the last year and a half, and others have been seriously injured.Because of a settlement pushed by CWA after the electrocution death of a technician last year, Verizon in Maryland will train members on a full array of electrical safety and health issues. Keep reading.

Ask your co-workers to sign up for Unity@Verizon:

www.cwa-union.org/
verizon/subscribe.html

To read the PDF version of the newsletter, you'll need the Adobe Reader.

If you don't already have it installed, download it free.

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Check us out online at www.cwa-union.org/verizon

What's happening in your area? Send information and photos to unityatverizon@cwa-union.org and we'll publish them here.

Tear Down the Wall at Verizon!
Communications Workers of America       International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

July 27, 2007 - Please post & share
**To read and print Unity@Verizon, download a PDF
version of the newsletter.**

In This Issue

"We're Ready to Fight for Good Jobs!"
The Verizon East contract expires on August 2, 2008—but no one is waiting until then to get ready. One of the biggest challenges members face is management's continuous effort to shrink union work. Keep reading.

CWA, Jobs with Justice Collect 1,800 Pledges to Switch to Union Wireless
Thousands of activists from a broad spectrum of  community, environmental, civil rights and labor groups gathered in Atlanta in late June to share experiences and renew their inspiration to continue organizing for social justice. Few people left without hearing about Verizon!  Keep reading.

Latest on Stop the Sale: Grassroots Efforts Expand with Lawn Signs and Postcard Campaign
Union members, interns from the AFL-CIO’s Union Summer program and canvassers for Working America are going door-to-door to gather thousands of postcards from ordinary citizens telling the governors of the three northern New England states to “take a strong stand” against allowing Verizon to sell off its assets.  Keep reading. 

Union Protests Deregulation Bid
In an ongoing campaign, about 15 members of CWA Local 2201 protested Verizon's bid to deregulate pricing controls in Virginia. Verizon has asked the State Corporation Commission to remove pricing controls for retail services, which include lines into homes and businesses.  Keep reading.

Unions Blast Vodacom Abuses in South Africa
CWA and telecom unions around the world are condemning the latest outrages being committed by Vodacom, Vodafone's subsidiary in South Africa, against striking workers. (Vodafone co-owns Verizon Wireless.) More than 1,000 Vodafone workers have been on strike since July 2.  Keep reading.

Ask your co-workers to sign up for Unity@Verizon:

www.cwa-union.org/
verizon/subscribe.html

To read the PDF version of the newsletter, you'll need the Adobe Reader.

If you don't already have it installed, download it free.

If you have difficulty viewing this message, click here.

Check us out online at www.cwa-union.org/verizon

What's happening in your area? Send information and photos to unityatverizon@cwa-union.org and we'll publish them here.

Tear Down the Wall at Verizon!
Communications Workers of America       International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers