Standing Room Only Crowd at Local 2222's July Union MeetingIBEW Local 2222 held the July Union Meeting on July 2, 2008 at the Boston Teachers Union Hall in Dorchester.  The strike authorization vote began prior to the meeting and continued to well after the meeting ended, with a large number of members casting ballots.

The standing room only crowd listened to 2222 Business Manager / Financial Secretary Myles Calvey give an update on the contract negotiations, which are moving slow at best.

This company will take back everything we have attained over the years if we let them....WE WILL NOT! 

The Solidarity of our membership, and the locals of the T-6 Council, has always been strong, and is our biggest asset.  We must also not forget those who worked and fought before us to give us the benefits we have today.  They paid the price to get here and we'll pay the price to stay.  

We must send a strong message to Verizon that WE ARE READY AND WILLING TO STRIKE to retain what we have, and to attain what we deserve.  This company makes billions of dollars because of you, because of us!  We will not allow them to discard us like yesterdays trash!

Strike Authorization Voting will continue at the 2222 Union offices until close of business on July 16, 2008.  The office is located at 1137 Washington Street, Dorchester, MA 02124.  If you need to arrange later hours to vote, please call the union office at 617-929-6000. 

Your Job, Your Responsibility - What Are You Willing To Sacrifice For It

 

Local 2222 Strike Authorization Vote

Speech by VZB employee Roger Reece at the 70th CWA convention, June 23 - 25, 2008
 
Good morning honored attendees, brothers and sisters!  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, and now Verizon Business. 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 gave us raises whenever they felt like it. Gave us whatever they wanted.  They took away President's 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. Stripped away our benefits. We were at their mercy when they took away our differential, when they reduced our sick days and changed their rules on the fly.
 
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.  During his entrance speech to employees early in 2006, after being asked by one bold, anonymous MCI employee, Verizon Business President John Killian, the newly appointed president of Verizon Business, while on the spot 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.

 

Union leaders from IBEW and CWA are stressing the importance of job security in early negotiations with Verizon that are taking place in Washington and New York.

A June 16 update to local union presidents made the case: "Bringing in the best contract in the world won't mean much if the bargaining unit keeps shrinking until we end up with no work.  That's the course Verizon has been on: offering surpluses and backfilling with contractors; defining our work more and more narrowly; using call centers in Canada, the Philippines, Mexico, and India; moving bargaining unit work to lower-wage, lower-benefit workers at Verizon Business and Verizon Wireless; and busting organizing campaigns.

"This is how Verizon has shrunk the percentage of revenue that comes from union operations from 70 percent in 2002 to just 30 percent. This decline in union work has come even as FiOS has expanded."

"As Verizon grows, so should we. The wages and benefits we have fought so hard for will be secure only when future jobs at Verizon are secure," the update concluded.

IBEW and CWA union leaders have been at the bargaining table with top Verizon managers since May 27. We've talked about all the major issues concerning our jobs at Verizon.

Thanks to the determination of so many members who've shown support for our negotiating team, we've made some progress.  But Verizon still hasn't got the message about the importance of reaching a new agreement that meets the needs of all its employees.

That's why when both unions recessed from negotiations last week, the bargaining committees decided to ask the membership for your authorization to call a strike.  "Strike authorization" is only given when a majority of the membership agrees by a secret ballot vote.