Verizon union gears up for sellout at US telecom
Verizon contract with CWA expires in August.
Last month, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union held a rally outside of telecom corporation Verizons headquarters on Sixth Avenue in New York City. Over 1,000 workers attended the December 4 rally organized by District One, a subdivision within CWA comprised of various CWA locals in New York and New England. The labor agreement covering 40,000 Verizon workers in the eastern United States expires in August.
The ostensible purpose of the rally according the organizers at CWA was twofold.
Firstly, the rally was built as a remembrance of the 1989 strike against what was then NYNEX, a forerunner to Verizon in New York. That strike had been particularly bitter with chief steward Gerry Horgan losing his life on the picket line in Valhalla, New York after a strikebreaker ran him over.
The main issue of the strike had been the shifting of medical costs from the company to employees. The CWA leadership is now seeking to use the sacrifice, solidarity and determination expressed by workers during that long battle as a cover for the betrayal of the current struggle facing Verizon workers. Union officials sought conceal to this by handing out signs at the rally reading, We walked then, we will strike again.
Read the comments, they are very perceptive.
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