IBEW Local 2222 President Fitzgerald Addresses the Crowd

 

Over a Thousand Turn Out in Support of Verizon Workers at Boston Rally

 

On Thursday, July 31^st, over a thousand Verizon telecommunications workers and their supporters, many wearing red as a sign of unity, gathered in front of Verizon's Boston headquarters at Post Office Square to rally in support of a fair contract only days before the current agreement is set to expire. Telecom workers at Verizon are represented by the IBEW and CWA, and in the New England states are united by the IBEW T-6 Council which joins seven different IBEW locals representing Verizon workers.

 

Over 70,000 workers on the east coast are ready to strike, with IBEW members voting by a 95% margin, and CWA members by 91% to authorize a strike if an agreement is not reached by the August 2^nd deadline. Telecom workers have also shown their solidarity in the contract fight at a series of "rolling rallies" held at Verizon garages in Massachusetts and Rhode Island throughout the month of July. Crowds of up to seventy workers have gathered prior their shifts, with some rallies taking place as early as 6:00 a.m.

 

Locals in the T-6 Council from Massachusetts and Rhode Island arranged for buses to bring their members into Boston for the rally. Along with a large contingent of members from IBEW Local 2222 who work in the Greater Boston area, IBEW Local 2321, representing workers in the Merrimack Valley and on the North Shore, filled five buses with members. The issues at stake for Verizon workers in these negotiations include a company proposal to raise health care costs while reducing coverage, substandard wage and pension increases from the company, and the outsourcing of work to subcontractors that should be performed by union workers at Verizon.

 

The rally began with Massachusetts AFL-CIO President Robert Haynes addressing the crowd, asking how Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg, who has free health care for life and whose compensation topped $27 million last year, could try to take away health care from the workers who built the company and keep it strong on a day-to-day basis. During recent negotiations, Verizon has proposed to reduce health care coverage for retirees. President Haynes stressed that Verizon is not made successful day to day in the corporate boardroom, but by the union workers who do a quality job of installing, servicing and maintaining Verizon's products and working with customers. He stated, "This isn't their company. This company belongs to all of us." President Haynes ended by saying that the 400,000 working families of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO stand behind him in supporting Verizon workers in their fight for a fair contract.

 

Rich Rogers, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Greater Boston Labor Council then took the stage to express support from 100,000 working families in the Greater Boston area, and Sandy Felder of the AFL-CIO relayed a message of solidarity from AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. Speakers from several local unions then took the stage to express support from their members, including Stephan MacDougall, President of the Boston Carmen's Union, Ken Donnelly, Secretary-Treasurer of the Professional Firefighters of Massachusetts, Moe Lapore of the American Postal Workers Union, and David Holloway of the National Association of Government Employees.

 

Representatives of several IBEW and CWA locals that are currently in negotiations with Verizon spoke to rally the crowd, with IBEW Local 2222 President Ed Fitzpatrick closing out the rally by reminding everyone of the strike in 1989 which had Verizon workers on the picket line for 106 days, and ultimately represented a tremendous victory for union workers at Verizon. Fitzpatrick reassured the crowd that workers would not lose out to the company in current negotiations, but cautioned that a strike may be necessary to demonstrate the bargaining power of the 70,000 workers: "We'll get what we want: a contract. They won't get what they want: our medical. And if we don't get what we want, they'll get what they deserve: a strike."

 

President Fitzpatrick then led the thousand-plus workers and supporters around the Verizon headquarters at 185 Franklin St. to show the company that workers are united and ready to strike if an agreement is not reached by the deadline at midnight on Saturday, August 2^nd. The unions and company will be working hard to reach an agreement before the deadline and thus avoid a strike. But in order to reach a contract that is acceptable to the 70,000 workers, the company will have to begin showing more respect and drop previous proposals that would outsource union jobs, take away health care coverage and provide substandard wage increases.

Click here for photos of the rally.