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August 20, 2011

(Washington, DC) -- The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers today issued the following statement:

On a day when we should be lowering the temperature between Verizon and its unions in the Northeast, it is unfortunate that Verizon’s Executive Vice President of Human Resources Marc Reed felt the need to make inflammatory remarks in a company statement, including “to convince the unions to begin bargaining in good faith,” when in fact the exact opposite was true.

We negotiated a fair back to work agreement yesterday and salute Verizon’s senior management for their mature and responsible approach in that process, which included an understating to avoid posturing in our public statements.  While we find Mr. Reed’s comments in violation of that spirit, we will not let it deter us from the important business of getting a fair new contract while continuing to work under an extension the terms of the current agreement.

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Contact: Jim Spellane, 202/728-6014, jim_spellane@ibew.org

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers                             Communications Workers of America

For release 1 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 20, 2011

Contact: Candice Johnson, CWA Communications, 202-434-1168, cjohnson@cwa-union.org,  and Jim Spellane, IBEW, 202-728-6014, jim_spellane@ibew.org

CWA, IBEW Reach Agreement on Bargaining with Verizon;

Members to Return to Work Tuesday, August 23

Following is a statement by the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers:

Washington, D.C. – Members of CWA and IBEW at Verizon Communications will return to work on Tuesday, Aug. 23, at which time the contract will be back in force for an indefinite period.

We have reached agreement with Verizon on how bargaining will proceed and how it will be restructured. The major issues remain to be discussed, but overall, issues now are focused and narrowed.

We appreciate the unity of our members and the support of so many. Now we will focus on bargaining fairly and moving forward.

CWA and IBEW represent 45,000 workers at Verizon covered by this contract from Virginia to New England. More information is available at www.cwa-union.org and www.ibew.org.

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