Verizon Strike Ends, Workers Return to Work

BASKING RIDGE -- Some striking Verizon wireline workers returned to work at 11 p.m. Monday night, although most were returning to their jobs on Tuesday. These workers are returning even though the 45,000 union members, including 5,400 in New Jersey, still don't have an updated contract with the company, said spokesman for both sides.

The strikers' return to work means that Verizon's management and other non-union employees, including those reassigned from among 3,000 employees at the Verizon Center in Basking Ridge, will return to their regular positions as of Tuesday, said Rich Young, spokesman for Verizon.

As of Monday, non-union employees trained to fill in during 

Both sides said negotiations for the unsettled contract will resume this week in Washington, D.C., with major issues on the table.

William Huber, president and business manager for the New Jersey-based local 827 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, defined those issues as health benefits, pensions and certain jobs being assigned to union employees instead of being passed along to outside non-union employees.

On Sunday, Huber said the striking workers will come back to work with something they didn't have when a strike was called on Aug. 6 — continuing contract coverage.

He said that all aspects of the previous three year contract that expired at midnight on that date will remain in full-force while negotiations. Previously, Verizon had expected workers to stay on the job after Aug. 6 as "at will" employees, without contract coverage, Huber said.

Young said the union has its own "take" the contract situation, but confirmed that wireline employees will return to work tonight under the terms of the pre-Aug. 6 contract.

The agreement for was the result of 15 hours of intense negotiations, conducted in Washington, D.C., that lasted until 1:45 a.m. on Saturday, Huber said.

The result, Huber said, was that, "We have the ability to continue to talk and our members are protected."

Huber said that it benefits both Verizon and the unions to call off the strike and have the properly trained union workers return to fill their job responsibilities at this time.

Huber said that the union never has had any desire to hurt Verizon's business. "That's our bread and butter," he said. "Going on strike was a last ditch effort and it really doesn't help anyone."

"We want to do what's necessary to best serve our customers," Young said on Monday. He said it is in the best interest of both the unions and company to have Verizon's wireline job responsibilities and call centers staffed by employees trained to do those jobs "day in and day out."

Now, "We have a mutual goal of wanting to reach an agreement that meets the needs of all parties," Young said.

"We are looking forward to their [the striking workers] return, but there are serious issues still on the table," Young added mid-day on Monday.

On Sunday, Huber said the unions have the right to again strike if the negotiations do not work out.

Last weekend's lengthy session in Washington, D.C. that resulted in the end fo the strike included Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam, Huber said on Sunday morning.

According to a Saturday press release on a Verizon website, Verizon and the unions have made headway in negotiating a number of local and regional issues. The parties have agreed on a process for moving forward to negotiate the major issues regarding benefits, cost structure, work flexibility and job security, the release said.

The contracts will be extended with no specific deadline for achieving new collective bargaining agreements so that the parties can take the time required to resolve the critical issues, the Verizon release said.

Huber said on Sunday those critical issues include what he said is Verizon's proposal to freeze contributions to employees' retirement funds. Another issue, he said, is that the company just several weeks ago demanded that employees switch from a longtime health benefits plan to a completely different plan that could disrupt health care for many longtime union members.

Huber also said the union wants call center communications in New Jersey, dense with Verizon customers, to be handled by union employees. He said that some calls now are being shunted to other call centers with non-union employees.