IBEW 2323 – RI Future

The Sierra Club’s ally the Communications Workers of America (CWA) is currently on strike against Verizon and Verizon Wireless (Verizon) in 9 northeast and mid-Atlantic states, including Rhode Island, after contract negotiations broke down. (The other states are MA, NY, NJ, PA, MD, DE, DC and VA). CWA members have been critical allies to the Sierra Club on issues ranging from democracy to trade to climate disruption. Now it is our turn to stand up for them.

While Verizon employees are struggling for fair jobs, communities from Baltimore to Appalachia are struggling to transition to the 21st-century clean energy economy without access to high-speed internet due to Verizon’s neglect. This denial of access to an essential tool of the 21st century economy is a prime example of the links between environmental and economic injustice.

Verizon has been raking in billions of dollars of profits every year, yet they are still trying to outsource good union jobs, transfer technicians away from their homes for months at a time, take away employees’ health benefits and avoid paying federal income tax. At the same time, they are still refusing to expand their FiOS high-speed internet to low-income and communities of color, despite getting tax breaks and subsidies to do so. To make matters worse, Verizon is refusing to sit down and negotiate a fair contract with its employees.

In negotiations over their union contract, Verizon employees are coming together to fight the outsourcing of their union jobs and to make sure that everyone has access to quality service. If Verizon employees lose this round of contract negotiations, other companies will see that they too can get away with shoddy service, offshoring jobs, contracting out work, and poor treatment of their employees.

We must ensure that our friends and neighbors have jobs that sustain their families and bolsters the economy in Rhode Island. For good jobs and a just transition, Sierra Club stands in solidarity with Verizon workers.

[From a press release]

2015-10-01 Verizon 016 — **Dave Fontaine, IBEW 2323**

Nearly three hundred workers representing over a dozen different unions, as well as family members, gathered outside the Verizon offices on Washington Street in Providence to rally in support of 900 IBEW 2323 members who are entering their second month of working without a contract. When the contract with Verizon expired on August 1st at midnight, 39,000 IBEW & CWA, from Massachusetts to Virginia, were affected.

Even as Verizon demands cuts in job security, health care and retirement security, and even seeks to eliminate benefits for workers injured on the job or caring for a sick family member, the company “made over $18 billion in profits over the last 18 months–$1 billion per month–and paid its top executives $249 million over the last five years,” according to a press release.

Meanwhile, here in Rhode Island, “many of our neighborhoods are suffering from neglected phone and internet services… Verizon has even refused to build their new high-speed internet lines, FiOS, in low income communities, communities of color, and rural areas, again claiming poverty as the reason they can’t put people to work doing much needed repairs.” Workers see these areas as growth opportunities for Verizon, and are eager to “string the lines.”

After IBEW workers David Fontaine and Bill Dunn opened the event with “The Star Spangled Banner,’ a steady stream of union officials and one state representative took the stage, promising to support workers in their bid to negotiate a fair contract. Over all their message was simple: Stay strong, organized labor has your back, and we can win this fight.

Below is the video of the speakers.