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Wednesday, August 31, 2011
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Unionized Terror? Strikers target scabs
(Striking workers followed temporary workers to a private home in Morris Park.--Photo by Mark Anthony)
By David Greene
The negotiations continue but tensions are cooling down as 45,000 members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) have returned to work after a two-week walkout.
Workers who repair Verizon's, "Land-line," operations walked off the job on August 7. The strike affected workers from Massachusetts to Washington DC. Workers have agreed to go back, rather then lose their medical benefits on September 1st.
Two days into the strike, reports of fistfights and sabotage of Version plants and telephone poles were reported across the Northeast.
Additional officers from the 40th Precinct were called to the Verizon plant at 325 Exterior Street in the Mott Haven section on August 9, after a skirmish between striking workers and replacement workers.
The striking workers say their fight is over Verizon's insistence of employees contributing as much as $100 per each family member to their health insurance plan as well as elimination of weekend and holiday pay.
Chief shop steward Matt Perna fumed, "Verizon's got replacement workers here and we're not letting that happen. We'll do anything we can to stop them from coming out here and doing our jobs."
Perna continued, "Corporate greed is killing this country, they need to stop it. We're here and we'll take the stand for everybody."
Asked why the additional police were called out to the Exterior Street plant, Perna avoided the question, simply stating, "The cops are here because were too much for them... nobody can stop the CWA." No injuries were reported by EMS and the NYPD made no arrests.
Perna added, "There's no reason to give anything back when the company is making hundreds of billions of dollars. If they weren't making money, if they were going broke, if there were issues, we could understand and work to delegate. But when your constantly making money... there's no reason why they should be taking back."
Asked how long workers were prepared to strike, Perna replied, "As long as we have to... we're waiting for the snow."
On Thursday, August 11, striking workers got support from Senator Jeff Klein, who joined the picket line outside Verizon Wireless at 153 E. Fordham Road, where he brought workers pizza and plenty of water, for what still could be a prolonged battle.
Klein said of his visit, "I'm proud to stand in solidarity with the hard working men and women of the Communication Workers of America as they seek a fair contract. Especially at a time when Verizon is reporting healthy profits, they owe these hardworking men and women to sit down and hammer out an agreement that both sides can support."
The same day Klein joined the men and women on the picket line in Fordham, reports that striking workers were shadowing, "scabs," in Klein's own neighborhood of Morris Park. One source stated that replacement worker's arrived at P.S. 83 on Rhinelander Avenue.
The source reported, "The (Verizon) workers ran them off, these guys don't play. It's about to get crazy."
At about the same time and a short distance away, officers from the 49th Precinct were called to a private home at 1654 Colden Avenue, where temporary workers were called in to make repairs, when about a half dozen striking workers showed up, armed with a bullhorn.
Colden Avenue resident Henry Hung, recalled, "I didn't pay much attention, but they made a lot of noise, I hated it. This is a nice quiet neighborhood." Hung added, "It's true, everybody wants to make a living, but your invading someone else's privacy in the neighborhood and that's not right."
In a statement issued by Marc C. Reed of Verizon, the telecommunications giant stated, "We will continue to do our part to reach a new contract that reflects today's economic realities in our wire-line business and addresses the needs of all parties."
Meanwhile, the FBI has opened an investigation into possible acts of sabotage at several Verizon facilities in several states, disrupting service to nearly 50,000 customers, including a police station in New Jersey. Verizon is reporting over 100 acts of vandalism or sabotage.
Shouting strikers observed a moment of silence on Tuesday, August 16, in honor of a fellow Verizon worker who was struck by an automobile and killed as he protested the company during a strike in 1989. Verizon worker's last walked off the job in a contract dispute in 2000, that strike lasted 18-days. Verizon reported a net profit of $2.5 billion in 2010.
Union membership and strikes have been on a steady decline since President Ronald Regan fired 11,000 striking air traffic controller's in 1981. However, earlier this month carpenters and laborers who pour concrete, briefly walked off the job at the World Trade Center as unions representing those workers prepare to negotiate a new contract.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Monday, August 1, 2011
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