Verizon Communications and its employees represented by unions must work together to change policies and rules that could limit the telecommunication provider’s “ability to compete in the broadband marketplace", the New York-based company said in a letter that is being distributed to offices of the U.S House and Senate amid a four-day strike by 45,000 employees.
“The world is changing," Verizon stated in the letter.
The Communications Workers of America, one of the unions representing the workers on strike, also has sent a letter to congressional offices, bringing lawmakers into a fray that has unraveled this week with a major strike and alleged “acts of sabotage."
“Our recession is bound to continue, if workers’ wages don’t rise, and there will never be an economic recovery if profitable companies like Verizon can destroy the ability of workers to have a middle class standard of living," The National Journal quoted the CWA letter.
But Verizon has declared it is simply trying to deal with economic realities in its shrinking wireline business.
Although the company has invested billions of dollars in a next-generation fiber network that supports such offerings as Internet, VoIP and television, Verizon said its FiOS services haven’t yet offset the declines in its traditional phone business.
“Moreover, our cable competitors do not have the types of labor contract constraints that are currently reducing our flexibility and nimbleness in the marketplace and our ability to serve customers," the company wrote.
Verizon and the unions are squabbling over such issues as healthcare and retirement benefits.
The company said it spends $4 billion a year on healthcare, and those costs continue to go up. Verizon is asking its employees make monthly premium contributions that the company asserts are as little as $100 per month. Under the contract that recently expired, employees on average received healthcare benefits worth $50,000 – a figure that is nearly the average U.S. household income, according to the letter.
“Our unionized workers are among the few in America who pay nothing toward the cost of health care premiums," the company stated.
Verizon said it is not seeking any cuts in base wages but is proposing changes to retirement benefits. In the letter, the company also noted it needs to change certain work rules in order to improve the experiences of customers.
The unions have portrayed Verizon as a greedy company that has demanded $1 billion in concessions annually despite bringing home $19.5 billion in profits and paying out $258 million to its top five executives over the last four years.
