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Talks
Continue As Clock Runs August 1, 2003 As the clock runs out on the three-year contract, negotiations between the IBEW, CWA and Verizon are expected to continue until the midnight Saturday expiration date. The company is demanding major concessions from its workers. While they continue to talk with the assistance of a federal mediator, negotiators report little progress on the key issue of job security. President Hill said the dispute with Verizon is symbolic of many of the deteriorating relationships between profitable large corporations and their workers.
This week Verizon released second-quarter results that showed despite its insistence that union members bear the burden of job losses and cutbacks, the companys revenues and profits are strong. By overwhelming majorities, IBEW members in the past few weeks have given leaders authorization to call a strike if they deem it necessary. CWA members have done the same.
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President Hill's Rally Speech for IBEW Members at Verizon...
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More
than 2,000 people, many IBEW members who work at Verizon in New
England, turned out for a Boston rally Thursday evening in front
of the downtown offices of Verizon. IBEW President Edwin D. Hill
(click 
"I
am here with you today to fight not just for our members who are
employees of Verizon," President Hill told the crowd. "But
to join you in the fight for the principle that all working people
deserve good jobs, fair pay decent benefits and a share of the American
dream. This fight -- like all labor struggles -- is for everybody
who goes to work for a living."
