Pending Verizon Strike Could Interfere With Phone Service

There is a prospect of repair slowdowns and other difficulties in the region’s telephone service as a labor dispute involving operators, dispatchers, equipment maintainers, technicians and sales staff with Verizon is looming.
According to sources with the Communication Workers of America Local 9588, the union’s contract with Verizon has expired and the company is seeking modifications and adjustments downward in the pay scale of several positions with the company along with the latitude to hire contractors both domestically and oversees to replace domestic workers now in the employ of the company.
Workers in the customer service/sales who currently earn around $26 per hour are being asked to take a reduction of $6 per hour.
The company is also intent on outsourcing its English-speaking Internet-DSL technicians overseas, in particular to the Phillippines and India and its Spanish-speaking Internet-DSL technicians to Tijuana.
Verizon is also pushing to up the quotas of its sales and service staff.
Moreover, the company is also moving toward replacing its on-scene service technicians with contractors.
Another economy the company is pushing is reducing the amount of vacation time workers can earn per year from six weeks to a maximum of four weeks.