NEW YORK, April 28, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- After more than 10
months of negotiating, Verizon today presented union leaders
from the CWA and IBEW with an updated comprehensive proposal for
about 36,000 wireline employees in the company's Northeast and
Mid-Atlantic regions.
As part of this last, best and final offer, the company
increased its wage offer to 7.5 percent over the term of the
contract. The company is also offering continued access to high
quality healthcare at an affordable cost and generous retirement
benefits.
"We're putting our last, best final offer on the table, one that
provides the foundation for quality jobs now and in the future,"
said Marc Reed, Verizon's chief
administrative officer. "From the beginning, our goal has been to
reach an agreement that's fair to our employees, good for our
customers and helps our company better compete in the digital
world. This offer meets those objectives. A better offer would be
hard to find."
Among the highlights in the company's last, best final
offer:
- Wages: 7.5 percent wage increase over the term of the
contract.
- Job security (layoff protection): If an employee has job
security today, that will be retained for the term of the contract
provided the company gets increased flexibility in managing and
deploying the workforce, through measures such as voluntary
retirement incentive offers and other workforce flexibility
changes.
- Retirement benefits: The generous 401k company match will
continue. Eligible employees will also continue to
participate in a pension plan with three annual increases subject
to a 30 year cap.
- Healthcare: The company is maintaining excellent
healthcare coverage, with increases in contributions and some plan
design changes that will help in efforts to better manage
escalating costs.
"Verizon has always offered excellent jobs with outstanding
compensation and benefit packages, and with this very competitive
contract offer that will continue," Reed said. "The ball is now in
the unions' court to do what's right for our employees."
This offer also includes the company's final proposals regarding
call routing, contracting, and temporary work assignments.
Specifics vary by region, but full details can be found at
www.verizon.com/laborfacts.
Over the duration of the strike, now in its 16th day, thousands
of non-union Verizon employees have been on special assignment
filling-in for striking employees in call centers, in the field and
in all facets of network operations. Together these employees have
resolved tens of thousands of repair dispatches and have fulfilled
thousands of new Fios orders.
To date, over 1,000 of the union-represented employees have
returned to work and this number has been growing each day. The
company also reports the strike has had minimal impact to its
operations.
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ), headquartered in
New York City, generated nearly
$132 billion in 2015 revenues.
Verizon operates America's most reliable wireless network, with
112.6 million retail connections nationwide. The company also
provides communications and entertainment services over America's
most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers integrated business
solutions to customers worldwide.
VERIZON'S ONLINE NEWS CENTER: News releases, feature stories,
executive biographies and media contacts are available at Verizon's
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www.verizon.com/about/rss-feeds/.
Media contact:
Rich
Young
908-559-3477
richard.j.young@verizon.com
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/verizon-meets-with-unions-and-makes-contract-proposal-300259641.html
SOURCE Verizon