U.S. workers lead the way in fight for pay and conditions
Young Workers May 16 2016On the morning of 11th April, over 39,000 American communication workers went on strike over pay, conditions and outsourcing. The dispute has entered its fourth week and union members are holding strong. The issues regard plans to cut job security protections, contracting out work, shutting call centres, offshoring jobs, and freezing pensions – themes that sound familiar to all UK trade unionists.
Verizon is an immensely profitable company. They made £27.2bn profit in the last three years and compensated their top executives £162m in the past five years. Their CEO is paid 243 times more than their average worker. This dispute is about greed, and lowering working standards for short-term profit.[1]
Verizon employees’ contracts expired last August, putting workers in an untenable position. Unable to come to agreement over the new contracts, workers from the Communication Workers of America (CWA) and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers(IBEW) voted for action with an overwhelming majority.
On the 28th April, two weeks into the strike, Verizon presented what it described as its “last, best, and final offer” to the CWA giving them an additional 1% in wages, but little else.
The CWA gave a resilient response: “Unfortunately, their last and best was little more than the same old bullshit”.[2]
Verizon’s offer gave no commitment to preserve job security and good jobs for their workers.
The dispute is becoming increasingly bitter. Thousands of temporary workers have been hired to cope with the labour shortage.[3] In the UK, the Trade Union Bill will enable employers to use agency workers to replace those on strike. Verizon’s strike breaking strategy is a taste of things to come for UK workers.
Verizon claims picketers have cut cable and phone lines and harassed replacement technicians (crossing picket lines). Union leaders say the cut lines are the result of Verizon using untrained workers and that the company is misrepresenting incidents to gain support.[4]
Some commentators have pondered whether the US is seeing a resurgence of trade unionism. The strike has become a significant part of a wider revival of the left in American Politics. The most visible part of this revival is the emergence of a socialist – Senator Bernie Sanders – as viable candidate of presidency. Sanders has been fighting an invigorating campaign by mobilising young and disaffected votes – much like Jeremy Corbyn. And as with Corbyn, Sanders is shaking up establishment politics. His calls for a “Wall Street Tax” (the US equivalent of our own Robin Hood Tax) have gained increasing support.
However equally as significant to Sanders’ campaign are the campaigns for a $15 (£10)/hr minimum wage. Whilst the political right has been quick to label this as absurd, the idea is gaining traction. These campaigns have already been successful in New York and California, with many other states close behind.[5]
Young people in the US are fighting back for decent jobs and a reasonable standard of living. These goals are the goals of the Verizon workers.
At our conference in April a motion was passed expressing solidarity with the Verizon workers and agreeing to publicise the issue among workers in Britain.
On the 5th May, the CWA held a “National Day of Action”. We asked branches to ensure they circulate information on the dispute and encouraged workers to sign a petition supporting the strike, which you can still do at: http://standuptoverizon.com/petition/.
After all, the Verizon strike is part of a global fight for good quality skilled jobs and against offshoring, deskilling, cutting pay, and forcing workers to live on low paid short term contracts. Young workers are at the heart of these campaigns as they are the ones facing a lifetime of poor working conditions.
You can find out more about the Verizon strike at: http://standuptoverizon.com/, where you can also donate to their strike fund. You can find information about the campaign for a $15 minimum wage at: http://fightfor15.org/contact-us/.
Compiled by:
Dan Durcan
CWU Research & Information Department
[1] CWA, Verizon Workers on Strike Fact Sheet, accessed at: http://standuptoverizon.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/StrikeFactSheet.pdf
[2] CWA, Verizon Regional Bargaining Report #52, accessed at: http://district1.cwa-union.org/news/entry/verizon_regional_bargaining_report_52#.VyjCMfkrLct
[3] Fortune, Verizon Adding Thousands More Strike Replacement Workers, accessed at: http://fortune.com/2016/04/29/verizon-adding-thousands-more-replacement-workers/
[4] Delaware Online, Verizon strike becomes increasingly bitter, accessed at: http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2016/05/11/verizon-strike-becomes-increasingly-bitter/84228894/
[5] http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2016/04/04/californias-minimum-wage-will-be-15-an-hour-where-does-your-state-stand/