Striking Verizon workers to return to work Wednesday

About 40,000 East Coast Verizon workers, including 4,600 in New Jersey, will return to work Wednesday, seven weeks after walking off the job in protest of what they said were unfair contract negotiations with the telecommunications giant.

Verizon and labor leaders reached a tentative, four-year agreement on Friday, ending in August 2019. Workers will receive a 10.5 percent increase in wages over the contract term, and Verizon agreed to hire an additional 1,400 U.S. workers.

Hetty Rosenstein, state director of the Communications Workers of America, on Monday called the contract a "tremendous victory on all the key issues, job security being the most important."

"In this day and age, a remarkable thing took place," she said. "We got jobs back."

A spokesman for Verizon, Rich Young, said Monday this proposed contract "provides the majority of the changes in the contract that we were seeking, and we feel it's a major step in the right direction."

Verizon and its union have struck a tentative deal, ending the six-week strike, the U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez announced.

Nearly 40,000 workers went on strike in April in a contract dispute over benefits and layoff protection. In addition, union leaders accused Verizon of trying to send jobs overseas. The unions said Verizon wanted to cap pensions, close seven call centers and be able to transfer employees for up to two months. Verizon says it has offered a 6.5 percent wage hike, quality benefits and a 401(k) with company match.

Verizon, the CWA and the International Brotherhood of Electric Workers had been in negotiations since the previous contract expired in August. A deal was announced Friday afternoon after 13 days of federal mediation.

Union workers must still vote to ratify the tentative agreement, which Rosenstein said will prevent call center closings, eliminate forced transfers and protect post-retirement medical benefits.

"Overall, it was just a huge victory for workers. We won," she said. "Workers took back their power by going on strike. And strikes are effective. People took great risks at enormous sacrifice to protect themselves. It's been extremely hard on these workers. They've been out for weeks without pay, and I think to be able to go back to work with a victory is great."

According to the Associated Press, Verizon will create 1,300 call center jobs, provide $1,250 in ratification bonuses, increases in pensions and 25 percent more unionized crews maintaining New York utility poles.

In a statement, Verizon said it will save through health care offerings, adopting Medicare Advantage for retirees and other retirement benefits changes.

Source: NJ.com