INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, May 10 — May 5 was a National Day of Action for the striking Communications Workers of America (CWA) and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) in their struggle against Verizon. Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) showed solidarity by participating in a Day of Action event in Washington, D.C.
About 39,000 Verizon employees in the company’s Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions are on strike, making it one of the largest worker strikes in modern American history. The strike began on April 13, 2016.
Day of Action protests were held at 400 locations nationwide, including an action outside of a Verizon shareholder meeting in Albuquerque, N.M., that ended with 15 arrests.
Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa encouraged all Teamsters to participate in the May 5 Day of Action. “It’s more important now than ever to show Teamster solidarity in standing up to corporate greed,” he said. “By having a strong Teamster presence supporting CWA and IBEW and helping those unions win their battles, we will help our union win current and future battles against corporate giants.”
Marching in a Washington, D.C. rally in solidarity with Verizon workers were: Vice President and National Legislative Representative John P. Tolman; Minnesota State Legislative Board Chairman David K. Brown; Wyoming State Legislative Board Chairman Cory L. Runion; Directory of Regulatory Affairs Vincent G. Verna; and Director of Political and Legislative Affairs Robert Hagan.
Verizon has made astonishing profits — $39 billion in the last three years, $1.5 billion a month all through 2015 — but the company is attempting to force drastic cuts on the people who made those profits possible. Verizon is pressing severe cutbacks in employee healthcare at a time of record profits, while offshoring jobs and slashing its workforce by more than 30 percent.
“There is no good reason for Verizon to be threatening to off-shore jobs when it is so flush with funds,” President Hoffa said. “It is actions like these that have caused income inequality to grow in this country. Big business should be a force for good in the fight for economic fairness. Verizon’s actions, however, are not the way to reach that goal.”