If I am looking around, these union jobs do not seem difficult to learn. The call center jobs especially are very simple. Honest question to a union member - Do you have faith that Verizon will eventually see that they need your unions to fill these jobs?
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Money isn't an object for Verizon, they could have given the union everything they wanted and it would have cost less then what they've spent on strike already. It's about Verizon crushing the business so they can get you all on cell phones and they can charge you for the data you use.
my # 1 complaint from customers is overseas call centers, vz wants to send jobs over there so people get so frustrated they cancel service. It's the master plan!
Now it's made in China, and it's crap and unsafe to the public, many safety and health hazards.
Agree with @ntd. I don't have a lot of faith in the overseas techs and that is based on many experiences. Striking is not going to stop companies from shipping the jobs away. It only makes them more anxious to do so to get rid of the union hassles. I think ultimately it will take a combination of the customer and government intervention to keep those jobs here. It must become the "in" thing for US companies to have US-based staff. Not sure if that is possible. On the flip side, just like how "Made in Japan" meant crap when I was a kid and now it means not crap, perhaps those offshores will get better and better over time so it's not a big deal anymore. Then the US can concentrate on higher value add products and services and leave the crap work to offshore.
I'd like to add the caveat to the OP's post that not all call center jobs are menial work. The FSC and NOC work requires skills and knowing what you're doing. You hit send on the wrong command and you will wreak havoc. BUT working with other carriers has proven to me that even that work can be shipped overseas and there is nothing more frustrating then trying to deal with those carriers.
Agree with the OP. Worked the call center last strike and going on 3 weeks was being fairly effective. Still not up to par but doing good work. With many tech jobs you're looking at a much longer time to get the experience and feel anywhere close to par. This is probably why there are contractors who've done similar work in the past. They'll have an easier learning curve while management gets eased back into their old jobs. It'll be an interesting next couple of months, but it is entirely doable. And the will is here.
Let me put to you this way. Verizon set the guidelines for the job and the rate of pay. They tested each applicant and hired the ones that passed and trained them. They set the pay scale based on experience and how the applicant did. They set the training so that the new hire sat with an qualified experienced person. Usually took at least 4-6 months before that person was no longer a trainee. They still were not qualified, usually took a year.
Snap into a Slim JIm!
This is a good post.
Insulting does not help
I would think some are easier then others, a FIOS tech is much harder then call center.
Have another Slim Jim Anti-Union Spam Poster!