Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
When I heard this morning that thousands of Verizon employees went on strike, my first thought was that they must be insane. Who with any sanity would dare go on strike in this economy? I thought, with 9% unemployment and people begging for even part time jobs, to do such a thing would be just absolutely crazy. But then I heard that the company was actually trying to do pretty draconian things to the work force including making them pay $3000 a year in premiums and deductibles for insurance that they now get for free. While free medical and dental is probably pretty liberal and few people get it free, a $3000 deductible is pretty draconian. And the company also wants give backs of 2 holidays a year, give ups of job security and pay raises tied only to a supervisor's review, elimination of the pension plan and other stuff. While this stuff might be understandable for a company in trouble such as GM or Delta Airlines were last year, I fail to see any logic in a company that made $3 billion in profit last year making such demands from its workers. Some of the things the company wants are reasonable but most of this is quite unreasonable. It is like they want to take advantage of the bad economy to try to break the union. I don't know where people come down on this but when you see these guys working in manholes and on poles in all kinds of bad weather doing what appears to be a fairly dangerous job, I just sort of feel that their pay is well earned. It is not a job I would want to do.
A liberal might say "spread the wealth" so that Verizon can hire more people... right?
1) $3000 deductible is really too high, I agree. That's why they should be negotiating and FREE medical/dental is obviously unsustainable...
2) Give backs of 2 Holidays a year is again something that can be negotiated, say work on the holidays for 2X pay or something like that?
3) Pension plans are COMPLETELY unsustainable, they should be moved to private retirement plans...
4) Everyone wants job security and I think seniority plays a very important role so that companies don't unload their less productive older workers for fresh younger workers...
5) Raises tied to evaluation... I don't know ANY company that doesn't do just that... how is that unreasonable...
So in the end, I think the problem is with the company and the union but I don't know what is said behind closed doors so its hard to evaluate... based on what you said, they don't seem too unreasonable and what is bad could be negotiated upon... so it leaves me to wonder, which side is asking for too much and which side is not giving up enough... Verizon may have made good money NOW but that means nothing later on... if you run a company and decide to give away all your profits during a good year, you aren't going to last very long...
A liberal might say "spread the wealth" so that Verizon can hire more people... right?
1) $3000 deductible is really too high, I agree. That's why they should be negotiating and FREE medical/dental is obviously unsustainable...
2) Give backs of 2 Holidays a year is again something that can be negotiated, say work on the holidays for 2X pay or something like that?
3) Pension plans are COMPLETELY unsustainable, they should be moved to private retirement plans...
4) Everyone wants job security and I think seniority plays a very important role so that companies don't unload their less productive older workers for fresh younger workers...
5) Raises tied to evaluation... I don't know ANY company that doesn't do just that... how is that unreasonable...
So in the end, I think the problem is with the company and the union but I don't know what is said behind closed doors so its hard to evaluate... based on what you said, they don't seem too unreasonable and what is bad could be negotiated upon... so it leaves me to wonder, which side is asking for too much and which side is not giving up enough... Verizon may have made good money NOW but that means nothing later on... if you run a company and decide to give away all your profits during a good year, you aren't going to last very long...
I would be glad to have one of their jobs .As someone who isn't working,I will gladly take it from them so they will have nothing to complain about .Ask the 9 percent unemployeed that question ,many will jump at the opportunity I would.
When I heard this morning that thousands of Verizon employees went on strike, my first thought was that they must be insane. Who with any sanity would dare go on strike in this economy? I thought, with 9% unemployment and people begging for even part time jobs, to do such a thing would be just absolutely crazy. But then I heard that the company was actually trying to do pretty draconian things to the work force including making them pay $3000 a year in premiums and deductibles for insurance that they now get for free. While free medical and dental is probably pretty liberal and few people get it free, a $3000 deductible is pretty draconian. And the company also wants give backs of 2 holidays a year, give ups of job security and pay raises tied only to a supervisor's review, elimination of the pension plan and other stuff. While this stuff might be understandable for a company in trouble such as GM or Delta Airlines were last year, I fail to see any logic in a company that made $3 billion in profit last year making such demands from its workers. Some of the things the company wants are reasonable but most of this is quite unreasonable. It is like they want to take advantage of the bad economy to try to break the union. I don't know where people come down on this but when you see these guys working in manholes and on poles in all kinds of bad weather doing what appears to be a fairly dangerous job, I just sort of feel that their pay is well earned. It is not a job I would want to do.
I have no idea if any of the alleged concessions above are being requested of the workers but the companies profits have no bearing on these workers. These workers are the Verizon techs, the strike doesn't affect the wireless workers. You have to look at the profitability of these particular units and what the market bears.
Maybe the union is a bit curious as to why their wages and benefits need to be cut if profits are up 2%.
And maybe the company is a bit curious as to why they should keep paying that union guy 3 times what he's worth when there are hundreds of people who would jump at the chance to do his job for half what they're paying...
$3000 in premiums is about what normal people pay per year for the health insurance on average, and most deductables are about $2500. do i think it is an extreme jump? no i dont.
as for civil service laws, those were on the books LONG before public sector unions entered the picture. the reason they were instituted was to encourage people to work for the government despite the lower pay. government employees were also enticed by better benefits than private employees were. and yes private sector unions are slowly going away, because they are forcing themselves out of the job market, howver public sector unions are growing and it needs to stop. public sector unions are a big reason why the various governments around the country are having financial problems, what with the extremely cheap insurance rates and retirement benefits given to those employees.
Most federal labor laws took effect in the early 1900's. I suggest you read up on labor history. We had a few violent labor conflicts around Pittsburgh in the late 1800's. If they still taught history in schools, you might've learned this.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
