Verizon Techs Gain Benefits of Union Contract and a New Voice on the Job

A  group of twenty Verizon technicians and two other employees who formerly worked for Verizon Select Services (VSSI) have voluntarily gained union recognition from Verizon management.

Concerned about security and the lack of any "say so" in their future, the former VSSI techs began signing union cards several months ago. Once they established that a strong majority desired collective bargaining rights and union representation, union leaders requested recognition from Verizon management.

"We went back and forth with management for quite a few weeks," said IBEW Local 2222 Business Manager Myles Calvey, who is the chairman of the T6 Council. "Eventually they saw the merits of voluntarily reaching an agreement rather than facing us in the courts – and on the streets."

The company agreed to voluntarily recognize the group. The techs will be covered by an agreement added to the existing New England contract that was reached in 2008. It was signed on April 15 and will go into effect on June 19, 2011.

Verizon's contracts with the IBEW and the CWA in New England and New York expire on August 6, 2011.

"The agreement we worked out with management provides more jobs for all of us," added Calvey. "It protects the former VSSI techs with an enforceable contract where the rules governing pay, benefits, promotions and working conditions are spelled-out in writing. And just as importantly, we have once again preserved the concept that Verizon telephone work is union work. That ensures more security for all Verizon union members and their families now and well into the future."

The agreement resolved pay disparities for both VSSI and Verizon Business techs by bringing everyone into a single job title which resulted in many employees receiving a significant pay increase.

The IBEW System Council T6 is composed of seven local unions uniting about 6,000 telecom workers throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island.