Nearly 40,000 Verizon workers in the Northeast have been on strike for more than three weeks now. Their supporters in Minnesota will stand in solidarity tomorrow, a national day of action, outside the telecommunications giant’s Roseville location.
The rush-hour action, from 4 to 6 p.m. at 2325 Fairview Ave. N, will call out Verizon for attempting to outsource good union jobs, despite turning a $45 billion profit over the past five years.
Striking workers are members of the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. The work stoppage began April 13.
Verizon workers’ previous contract, settled after a 2-week strike in 2011, expired last August. In negotiations since then, workers say, the company has refused to drop its demand for language allowing Verizon to contract out their jobs – the same demand that led to the strike four years ago.
Why is a highly profitable company looking to cut costs with cheap labor? The answer is simple: greed.
According to Verizon’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company’s top four executives raked in $41 million in 2015 alone, and they’ve taken home $114 million in the last three years.
“Verizon wants to boost their bottom line by taking away the stability and reliability their employees once had,” Mona Meyer, president of the CWA Minnesota State Council, said. “This strike is bigger than Verizon. It’s about protecting good, hometown jobs in this country. It’s about securing a brighter future for our families and our communities. It’s about standing up and fighting back!”
Union Advocate 