Malden Mayor Richard Howard joined a growing chorus of elected officials supporting Verizon Business technicians who have formed a new union and are now seeking their collective bargaining rights.
In a May 9 letter to Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg, Howard wrote, “I urge you to immediately recognize the clear support of Verizon Business technicians for union representation and to commence collective bargaining.”
The letter was sent as part of an effort by the AFL-CIO and other groups to win broader political support for the Verizon workers.
In March 2006, over sixty percent of the Verizon Business techs in the Northeast formed a union and sought formal recognition from Verizon. The technicians had their majority support verified by elected officials in New York and Massachusetts who counted the signed union cards and matched them against a company roster of employees.
Management's response was to mount a classic union-avoidance campaign with mandatory employee meetings, supervisory one-on-ones, and distribution of misleading "fact sheets" full of distortions about unions.
To date, 5 Senators and 15 members of Congress (including Rep. James McGovern) have written to Verizon expressing concern about how management in its wireless and business divisions is aggressively interfering to prevent employees from forming unions. In Massachusetts, the mayors of Boston, Cambridge, Haverhill, Holyoke, Revere and Somerville along with the Braintree Board of Selectmen have also sent letters to Verizon.
With the support of the AFL-CIO and the community-labor coalition Jobs with Justice, union members at Verizon are increasing the pressure on management to turn away from its low-road, anti-union strategy. Employees want the company to return to its prior practice of remaining neutral and voluntarily negotiating with employees after a majority shows their support for a voice at work. Nearly 100,000 workers at Verizon are already united in CWA and IBEW.
“Verizon technicians are grateful for this outpouring of political support to help us convince management to recognize our union and begin bargaining for the good jobs and respect we all deserve,” said John Elia, a Verizon Business technician who works in Burlington MA. “All we are asking is that the company drop the intimidation and honor the neutrality and union recognition procedure that many other Verizon employees have previously benefited from.”
For more info about the technicians organizing campaign, visit www.freechoiceatverizon.com. For copies of the letters, contact Rand Wilson at (617) 803-0799 or rwilson@aflcio.org.
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