NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — Verizon and union officials
have reached a deal in principle for a four-year contract.
The agreement is being written now and the proposal will
be sent to the Communications Workers of America and the International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers for ratification, said U.S. Secretary of
Labor Thomas Perez. Workers are expected to be back on the job next week
“Throughout the past 13 days of negotiations at the
Department of Labor, I have observed firsthand the parties’ good faith
commitment to narrowing differences and forging an agreement that helps workers
and the company,” Perez said in a statement. “The parties have a shared
interest in the success of Verizon and its dedicated workforce. Indeed, these
two interests are inextricably intertwined.”
About 39,000 landline and cable workers walked off the
job on April 13 in nine eastern states and Washington, D.C.
The two striking unions represent installers, customer
service employees, repairmen and other service workers in Connecticut,
Delaware, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island,
Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., for Verizon’s wireline business, which
provides fixed-line phone services and FiOS Internet service.
Employees had been working without a contract since
August.
The unions have said they were striking because Verizon
wanted to freeze pensions, make layoffs easier and rely more on contract
workers.
During negotiations, the telecom giant had said there
were health care issues that need to be addressed for both retirees and workers
as medical costs have grown.
Source: New
York CBS Local
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