There is one month, just over 30 more days, until the contract between VZ and CWA/IBEW expires.
VzB tech Roger Reece, from Hillburn, NY just spoke at the CWA convention in Las Vegas. Here is his speech. It's no wonder he received a long, standing ovation from the 4000+ union members in attendance. His speech follows.
Good morning, brothers and sisters of the CWA! Thank you for inviting me to your wonderful and most enlightening convention. My name is Roger Reece and I am a Verizon Business employee. I work as a tester in Monsey, NY. I have been a Verizon Business employee since way back when we were MCI. That's fourteen years of transition and evolution without representation. I believe the official term for what we are called is "At Will" employees. Well, I think they should change the term to "At Mercy" employees.
For the 14 years that I have been an employee, we have been at the mercy of management. They took away Presidents' Day and Martin Luther King Day, we were at their mercy. They make us pay over $5000 per year for health benefits, we are at their mercy. We were at their mercy when they took away our differential, when they reduced our sick days, and refuses year after year to implement raises, we were at their mercy.
But in 2006 we saw a glimmer of hope because Verizon had purchased MCI. Quietly, we rejoiced because we knew the Union was coming to unite us. And during his entrance speech to employees early in 2006, after being asked by one bold, anonymous MCI employee, Verizon Business President John Killian, promised to allow us to vote freely for the union. And we "At Mercy" employees believed him. But it wasn't but five minutes after that meeting that I realized that the path to collective bargaining would not be an easy one.
When I asked my manager when he thought we would be allowed to vote for a union, he hauled me into his office, and gave me a verbal warning that if I even mentioned the word Union on the floor, I would be subject to strong disciplinary action, which included possible dismissal. I was stunned.
In the fall of 2006, we reached out to the CWA and IBEW. Together we organized committees comprised of pro-union Verizon Business employees, such as myself, to educate our fellow employees about the benefits of having representation, and to gauge the amount of pro-union support within our respective organizations. We found that an overwhelming majority of employees were in fact pro-union.
As awareness of our movement to organize began to spread, Verizon management began to try and intimidate us. I don't know if you have ever had the distinct displeasure of sitting through a six-hour long forced meeting where management brings in some thug-looking HR representative to advise you of the evils of the union, how the union is all about money, how they don't really care about our interests. Those who were undecided before or felt afraid of management's wrath prayed for the whole ugly situation to be over with.
Next they instituted a company wide market adjustment raise after finally and mysteriously realizing that they'd been underpaying their "At Mercy" employees for all these years. Yet after all the number crunching and market research and the proverbial smoke cleared, we were still left grossly underpaid.
In 2007, the Labor Board came back with a decision on charges we filed against Verizon Business for unfair labor practices and I must say, it was disappointing to say the least. Despite the fact that we won the case, according to federal guidelines, Verizon Business did not have to admit any wrong doing. They had to write a letter informing us of the Labor Boards decision, and post it on the work floor. That's it.
Verizon management knows that our Labor Laws are broken. They game the system, knowing they can stall all they want, while using terror tactics against their employees. Despite the fact that an overwhelming majority of my fellow techs signed cards stating they want a union, we are still "At Mercy" employees. But the winds of change are in the air. I had the pleasure of meeting Barack Obama last year, and he told me in front of a few hundred others that he supports fixing our broken labor laws, just as he told us yesterday.
We need to pass the Employee Free Choice Act so that workers like me can join a union without running through a meat grinder of employer threats. I know that soon I will be holding a CWA card in my wallet. Soon my fellow Verizon Business techs will no longer have to beg for mercy from our boss. Soon we will join with our over 80,000 Verizon brothers and sisters in one big union at Verizon.
I thank the CWA for sticking with us as we struggle to join your ranks. And if you Strike on August 2nd, Verizon Business techs will be supporting you wholeheartedly, all the way. Because we now know what you've always known: United We Bargain, Divided We Beg!
Thank you.
