Can you hear me now – over the picket line? Verizon workers strike The workers who handle Verizon's wireline services in the Eastern US have gone on strike. At 6:00am local time Wednesday morning, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) said that members in districts ranging from Maryland and Delaware up through New York and New England were officially on strike barring failed …
Having worked for a different major telco,it's probably the long hours and assignments far away from home and family. After over a year, my wife said enough. The wireless guys probably work 9:00 pm to 7:00 (that seems typical) with emergency calls during the off-time period.I wish the CWA and IBEW well...
Oh, and fuck Verizon!
if you would do a little research, you would find Verizon wants to make "temporary reassignments" last months, send more classes of jobs overseas to the lowest cost/usefulness places possible, and they are trying to let the copper side rot so badly they will be allowed to abandon it. as well as big takebacks on health, pension, and job security. so, yeah, it's a strike. VZ will be on emergency repair status only, and limited installs. there will be cut-off ties hanging from splice cases as desk jockeys who push spreadsheets try to fix things they have marginal backup training on.
"can you hear mq290--asfd4ra
-- modem disconnected
"Since last June, we've worked diligently to try and reach agreements that would be good for our employees, good for our customers and make the wireline business more successful now and in the future," chief administrative officer Marc Reed said of the strike.
If they've been negotiation for 10 months, it's pretty safe bet both sides are well prepared for the possibility of a strike. Neither side seems to be willing to compromise to sufficient degree, so could be a lengthy strike.
Sadly it is always employees (whether ones on strike, or ones still keeping the lights on) who ultimately suffer.
I've seen many online comments about this strike, and lots of Americans seem to be of the opinion that because some of these techs are reasonably well paid they shouldn't ask for more.
The profits of Verizon are huge and keep rising however so why shouldn't the workers share in that?
It seems shareholders rights come first and last.
A quick Google found this: Q3 2015 Profits Of $4.04 Billion.
Scavengers!! These people have jobs and will get to work away from home without seeing their family for months. They may work hard at least they have a job!! And it's a global economy so they should embrace losing their jobs overseas!!
In the meantime Verizon is only worth about $130 billion. They can barely afford to pay for Yahoo. The boss is only getting $20 million. Trickle down economics will hopefully mean he will at least get a pay rise he truly deserves. The only reason they aren't making more is because of too much regulation in the market!
There has not been a major strike in the news for sometime. In many industries, the unions have been badly hammered by economic changes that have hammered the companies. So why did this strike occur; it seems like the PHBs at Verizon tried to push the union too hard and now they have a strike.
Verizon has been infected with the C suite mentality that wireless is the only way to go for quite some time1.
Perhaps they are right2.
If that is truly the case, then would it be better to separate the wireline/FiOS service from the wireless services, and spin them out as a separate company to the shareholders who can put in place executives focused on wireline/FiOS service??
Then those in charge of wireless will not have these "distractions" to contend with.
Then those in charge of wireline/FiOS services will not have to contend with the 'desires' of the executives in charge of wireless.
OR do those wireless executives like the prospect of milking the wireline COW for all of the milk it has in order to "invest" in wireless services??
Remember, in most states, wireline (aka "copper") is a regulated monopoly with a guaranteed rate of return. Wireless is NOT!
-----------------------------
1 From: http://seekingalpha.com/article/2993436-the-future-of-verizon-according-to-cfo-fran-shammo
The "money part":
<quote>
Granted, the flipside to focusing so much on wireless is that Verizon's wireline business often gets forgotten. While wireline includes declining businesses like home phone services it also includes growing services like FiOS broadband internet and TV. If Shammo's guidance for wireline CAPEX to decline is any indication of the future, then Verizon clearly sees more upside in its wireless business for the future.
As a result, Verizon has begun to sell legacy wireline assets in order to pay for investments and acquisitions in its wireless space. As explained in a previous article, Verizon's decision to spend $130 billion for full control of Verizon Wireless makes it difficult for the company to be aggressive in debt markets from this point forward, and because it heavily diluted the stock during the acquisition it can't use public offerings to find cash. That means Verizon must sell assets.
</quote>
2 From: http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/20/verizon-cfo-claims-unlimited-data-is-dead/
An insight into Verizon's "way of thinking":
<quote>
"La la la la. I can't hear you." Verizon's CFO, Fran Shammo, might've just as well made those comments with his hands firmly cupped over his ears, as the firm's chief number cruncher told attendees at today's Goldman Sachs investor conference, "Unlimited is just a word, it doesn't really mean anything." While Sprint and T-Mobile would certainly take issue with that statement, Shammo then dug the hole deeper by saying, "That whole unlimited thing, I think, is going by the wayside." These comments were made in the context of Shammo playing up the carrier's shared data plans, wherein he explained his belief that consumers "think they consume a lot more data than they really do." Shammo also revealed that Verizon has converted more subscribers and devices over to the new scheme than it'd initially anticipated.
</quote>
IOW - MILK THAT COW!!!!!
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