Verizon(land line) CWA and IBEW walkout...

[chucky2]

Verizon is already selling off country assets I believe, so they're already getting rid of unprofitable business. I wonder when another really big telco provider is going to follow in Verizon's footsteps...

 

[dmcowen674]

Verizon is already selling off country assets I believe, so they're already getting rid of unprofitable business. I wonder when another really big telco provider is going to follow in Verizon's footsteps...

It has nothing to do with profits.

I can't get into the details, it HS stuff.

 

[squirrel dog]

Those j boxes,as you call them,can be opened with a flat blade screwdriver anywhere,any state.The reason I know is when you lose the special tool you speak of,the screwdriver comes into play.Their rates are set by the Public Service Commissions in the states they operate in.When it was all att,the fed set the rates.If they are allowed a return of 8% on their capital outlay,and actually get say 11%,those monies are to be returned to the rate payers.Naturally that is avoided if possible.

 

[amdhunter]

I am a former IBEW (Local 3) member. They can suck ass. Useless ass union. Verizon folk should just go back to work, they are making asses out of themselves.

 

[Dulanic]

Verizon unions go on strike, Verizon equipment gets sabotaged causing outages that require the skills of those striking, yea, most likely just random coincidence

The odds you take 45,000 people and don't find 2 morons is..... well impossible. Moron to Human ratio is MUCH higher than that, just look at these forums.

Note: My comment is just on the sabotage not on the merits of their strike.

 

[trenchfoot]

I've been to a few contract negotiations this year and the year prior.

In every one of them we've had to show the management teams that the crocodile tears they were shedding over the dead economy needed to be wiped up by their jealously guarded financial statements that showed impressive profit margins. Poor things. *tsk tsk*

I feel so sorry for those suits having to get pressured by their investors to dump more profits into dividends rather than putting some of it back into capital improvements that create/sustain jobs and wage/benefits for their loyal (long term) employees.

 

[spidey07]

I've been to a few contract negotiations this year and the year prior.

In every one of them we've had to show the management teams that the crocodile tears they were shedding over the dead economy needed to be wiped up by their jealously guarded financial statements that showed impressive profit margins. Poor things. *tsk tsk*

I feel so sorry for those suits having to get pressured by their investors to dump more profits into dividends rather than putting some of it back into capital improvements that create/sustain jobs and wage/benefits for their loyal (long term) employees.

You don't have to work there if you don't like it. You are not entitled to a job with great benefits and compensation.

Don't lime it? Don't work there. It really is that simple.

 

[trenchfoot]

You don't have to work there if you don't like it. You are not entitled to a job with great benefits and compensation.

Don't lime it? Don't work there. It really is that simple.

Well, here's the rub; every contract negotiation I've been a part of have been settled amicably....except one....and the rule that you can't win them all applies.

There's most always the vote to authorize a strike that's always approved by the rank and file to give their negotiating committees more leverage, there's always the yelling and the shouting across the table, and even some pushing and shoving every now and then. Some contract talks drag on for over two years with extentions in place and some get settled lickety split. But in the end, they do end up with working agreements where all parties are mad about some things and happy about others.

Give and take is still the name of the game where ultimately, because the businesses wants to keep business'ing and the workers want to keep working functional agreements are made....until next time.

Life goes on. In lean times the unions give back, in good times the companies give back the give-backs plus something to keep the good workers they have and attract the other good ones from the competition.

This process works, except when outside influences jump in and try to have their way and it's usually ideologically driven (like the Koch's prodding Walker to get rid of the unions so they can set up shop in WI and drive wages/benefits down to their liking.)

 

[PingSpike]

1) Spin off worthless business units with union employees
2) Load it up with debt, transfer cash to parent
3) Let it go bankrupt

Problem solved

Didn't Verizon already do this with their New England fairpoint sale?

 

[CPA]

Can't even be troubled to read the links you get in those chain emails, huh?



Apparently, your answer to the workforce being in the dirt is to kick 'em while they're down...

And you believe what a union rep is telling you? Bwahahahahaaha

 

[momeNt]

In the words of Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital's Dean of Medicine Dr. Lisa Cuddy to Dr. Eric Foreman

Salary isn't about fairness. It's about what you can leverage in a negotiation. Which isn't much without a competitive offer on the table. We both know you don't have one.

So big labor decides to walk out because verizon is making a profit? Verizon stand up to these pompous union bosses and go hire some champions of the free market (known to union lackeys as scabs), and next year post a $10 billion profit!

 

[spidey07]

Stay classy unions, more reports of sabotage and now this...

http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2011/08/verizon_strike_picketing.html

A video posted online appears to show a Verizon picketer placing his young daughter in front of an oncoming truck — presumably carrying non-union employees — and then taunting the passengers with profanity-laced statements.

 

[momeNt]

Stay classy unions, more reports of sabotage and now this...

http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2011/08/verizon_strike_picketing.html

The power of big labor must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of innocent consumers and corporations Jimmy Hoffa


Hoffa got it wrong though.

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
-- Thomas Jefferson

 

[Red Dawn]

You don't have to work there if you don't like it. You are not entitled to a job with great benefits and compensation.

Don't lime it? Don't work there. It really is that simple.

They have the right to organize and strike and Verizon has the right to fire them al and hire replacements (if they can find some who can do the job)l. Both are entitled to those rights.

 

[CPA]

Stay classy unions, more reports of sabotage and now this...

http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2011/08/verizon_strike_picketing.html

That guy should be arrested and his child taken by the authorities.

 

[Red Dawn]

That guy should be arrested and his child taken by the authorities.

Yeah that's worse than having Pervs for Parents.

 

[Londo_Jowo]

Hopefully the girl will learn that she's going to have to make do with less because her father won't have as much money due to going out on strike.

 

[MotF Bane]

They have the right to organize and strike and Verizon has the right to fire them al and hire replacements (if they can find some who can do the job)l. Both are entitled to those rights.

I don't know if it's true or not, but replacements for union jobs have to be paid the same or better, something about a standard wage being set?

 

[MotF Bane]

Hopefully the girl will learn that she's going to have to make do with less because her father won't have as much money due to going out on strike.

Probably not, she'll be told by her parents that it's the corporations fault, the corporation is being greedy, her father is just fighting for fair compensation, et cetera.

 

[Londo_Jowo]

Probably not, she'll be told by her parents that it's the corporations fault, the corporation is being greedy, her father is just fighting for fair compensation, et cetera.

I'm sure she'll get her parents opinion on why she can't do or have things due to the lack of income.

I watched a union strike against a local factory where I used to live in Virginia. The new owners said they couldn't afford 100% for medical and the worker would need to pay small copay ($10) and percentage on medical procedures/prescription drugs (5% and $5 respectively). The package also included a 2.8% yearly raise for 3 years. Union would have this and they walked. 18 months later they finally came back for what they were offered. By this time the new owners were on the verge of bankruptcy and filed chapter 11. As part of the financial reorganization they shut down the local plant and shifted all the production to it's other two plants.

To this day the union workers feel they did the right thing, even though they lost wages while they were on strike and in the end all their retirement benefits as well.

 

[chucky2]

It has nothing to do with profits.

I can't get into the details, it HS stuff.

Profits take into account expenses, such as the expense of keeping all those old copper lines in non-dense population areas working, along with the short and long term costs of your union employees...throw in some plant costs as well.

Now that the world is addicted to the crack that is cellular, I don't see Verizon and other players with large aging copper lines shedding much tears over selling them off...

Chuck

 

[tontod]

I was a summer intern for Southern New England Telecommunications (SNET) in CT years ago, and yes, the union would intentionally go do some of the different cross-boxes and cut wires, criss-cross them, etc. We had to go around fixing them, then we had to put combination locks on them and I was told not to give out the combo to any union workers.

 

[Macamus Prime]

Outsource their work.

But, before you do, ask them to do one last job; run the cables and lines all the way over to India.

Also, you do realize that if these "thugs" are out of work, they will just have to rob you to live.

Are their any bars on the windows of your mother's basement? That should give you enough time to call the cops,.. oh, wait - you want that union busted up as well I would imagine.

 

[werepossum]

So when the going gets good, give them anything they want. When the going gets bad - tell them tough luck; the pain does not have to be shared.

The CWA needs to look at the UAW and see what can happen in 10-20 years.

Each division should stand on its own; be responsible for the profit/loss

This.

Regarding telcos, something interesting happened here in Chattannoga, TN. We have a community-owned electrical coop called the Electric Power Board - it's our electric utility. One of their major costs is meter reading; it's also one of their major liabilities. Due to the non-conductive nature of glass fiber, it can share their vaults. So they embarked on a five year project to provide multimode fiber optic cable to every customer - something no cable or phone company will do. They even finished early. This allows them to install smart meters which can be read remotely, but it also allows them to offer telephone, television, and fast Internet service to every household, at competitive prices. Comcast and AT&T fought it in court as unfair competition, but lost. Now every electrical customer in the area (which includes parts of other counties and even part of Georgia) have access to at least one reasonably priced telephone, television, and fast Internet provider. Even far-flung rural customers have this, as reading their meters costs the most.

So while vanishing landlines may discourage telcos, that void might also be filled by electrical utilities.

Another benefit is that it allows the EPB to eventually bill per time of day. By changing people's behavior via financial incentives, they can more evenly load the grid and avoid such an outsized peak load.

 

[Schadenfroh]

And here comes the lawsuits:
http://www.dailytech.com/Verizon+Su...s+Reward+to+Combat+Vandalism/article22423.htm

Verizon is fed up with the behavior of the striking union workers, saying their demonstrations are bordering on sabotage and they're blocking access to Verizon facilities. To remedy these issues, the broadband and telecommunications giant is suing Communications Workers of America leaders in five different Eastern U.S. states.

The five states include, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

According to Verizon, vandalism has been quite an issue during the strike. It said demonstrators have committed such acts as shutting off power, blocking entrances in Dover and Newark, and using crazy glue to jam fence and service truck locks.

In addition to legal action, Verizon is offering rewards (such as $50,000) to those who have information on vandalism and acts of sabotage.

Verizon has trained over 40,000 managers and contractors to replace the union workers during the strike.