The union can safely call Verizon's bluff, they will not put that many people into permanent unemployment. I am sure they would like to, but the political and PR cost is just too high.
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Also you were arguing that the company had "called the union's bluff". Not only is that propaganda, it isn't even true. Considering the power of Verizon vs. the power of the CWA, I would say the union are doing a pretty good job. Verizon seems to have tone deaf, unenlightened upper management.
Verizon management..If you can't be good, be good at it!
I don't believe anyone is a superior being, I just think you didn't really respond to the OP. If you are union I apologize ok? I didn't mean to call you a manager.
I am not qualified to negotiate a contract, but I try to do my part.
I bow down to an obviously far superior being. What would have been if you had been the one doing the negotiating.
I am not high and mighty, think of it as tough love.
And you are still not responding to the OP. Go back and read the OP again.
After you finish reading that, go back and read these sentences that you wrote;
"Forgive me for simply pointing out the fact that IF we were truely irreplaceable, then you would have a point. However most of us are irreplaceable and why would Verizon care if we were on unemployment? "
Now go away sir before I taunt you a second time! I refuse to have a battle of wits with an unarmed man!
no scabs, just temporary replacing scumbag union scum
Some Millennials do seem rather entitled, personally I blame smartphone "culture". Nevertheless Verizon has stated numerous times that they are seeking their business. If you have a problem with Millennials take that up with your boss. I am just trying to help you guys, if you want to get Millennials think social justice not union busting.
It's hard to imagine a group of executives more out of touch with their target audience. Tami Erwin apparently just discovered Netflix streaming....it was started in 2007 and it is now 2016! What a Nostradamus eh? You can't make this stuff up.
Edit: are replaceable
I'm sorry, I didn't realize that you were so high and mighty. Forgive me for simply pointing out the fact that IF we were truely irreplaceable, then you would have a point. However most of us are irreplaceable and why would Verizon care if we were on unemployment? They won and will continue to win with the savings of having a majority contracted labor force. Granted, this isn't an original thought because anyone with have a brain knows this. But keep up the derogatory remarks, it will help you further your cause.
A lot on this thread is pure fantasy. They will certainly try to break the union but will not succeed in the Northeast and will only spend tons of money while getting a blacker eye in public opinion. AT&T is already getting a huge boost of wireless churn from 40,000 strikers who are in various stages of switching over their plans. At this point if Verizon were to succeed they'd come out of it missing an arm and a leg.
@odf: you mean millennials have an incredibly high sense of entitlement? You are correct -- that's why so many of them still live at home with their parents and have a hard time holding down work. They are the same ones who think college should be free and don't understand that free things have to be paid for somehow by someone.
And VZ has no issues with paying the tiny unemployment benefits that the union former-employees will be getting. In the long run it's a lot cheaper than giving the unions free healthcare or paying them a 7.5 wage increase the next 3 years.
Whether or not anyone else could do the job is not relevant to the topic of this conversation.
Judging by your poor reading comprehension and apparent lack of actual independent thought, I would consider you an ideal candidate for lower management at Verizon.
Call their bluff... That is exactly what the company did to the Union. There are thousands of contractors that do telecom work throughout the country... big end down, tip to tip, ring to ring. The only people they are going to have trouble replacing are the COTs and SSDAC techs that do some of the more technical work that isn't all that common outside of the LECs.
If Verizon want to be a modern company that caters to Millennials like they say they do, they will have to change their image drastically. Millennials are very keen on social justice. You see how companies like Apple and Starbucks try to be very careful about their image?
I am sure ignorant hillbillies in the hinterlands and wrinkled old farts at the country clubs would cheer the demise of Unions, but are these the customers Verizon has stated they are targeting?
They can try to break the Union all they want, many of us are seeking or have found better offers with other employers. No skin off our backs. I hope the managers aren't replaced when we are gone, with H1B Visa replacements from India next. That would be highly insulting!
" I can tell you with 99.999% confidence that they have no problem whatsoever firing the union workers because they know they can get the same labor through contractors and part-timers for far cheaper than the union and with much less hassle. "
Oh they would love to fire the strikers. The problem is, they can't legally do anything of a kind.
There's a lot of things that VZ can do, but that's not one of them.
Not really. They PR has already been done since the union has been trashing the company for three weeks constantly. Hell, the general public pretty much thinks the union has been fired already.
Plus, the majority of people not in NY or NJ aren't supporters of unions. So the PR damage would be minimal outside of that one area.
Third, they want out of the wireline business and thus don't care if the service to consumer customers is poor. They just simply don't care.
Fourth: Lowel will get a reputation for union busting that will garner him job offers from pretty much any company that has a union. What is negative PR to you is VERY positive PR for other companies that view unions as problematic.
In the nutshell, call their bluff at your own risk. I can tell you with 99.999% confidence that they have no problem whatsoever firing the union workers because they know they can get the same labor through contractors and part-timers for far cheaper than the union and with much less hassle.
The expense of the union isn't it's greatest liability; the fact that the union is a tremendous distraction and a colossal pain in the assare the main reasons Verizon doesn't want you back.
do it Verizon...I dare you!
If Verizon is concerned about their bottom line like i know they are, they don't want a lock out. That means they will be paying thousands unemployment benefits for months at the same time of having to pay the scabs a ton of money to ramp up without us. Don't see too much cost savings for a billion dollar company doing that, lol. It's safe to say that the Unions have the advantage here.
Yeah how's that going???....the Bern sorta smoldered out.