OF THE
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Both sides claimed victory in the change.
"We only care that our members somewhere in the footprint are doing the work," said Robert Master, assistant to the District 1 vice president of the Communications Workers of America. "The push to outsource call center work was rebuffed."
Lending partial vindication to this claim was a commitment by the company to create over 1,000 unionized call center jobs over the next four years to accommodate new demand from customers. The company also agreed to reduce the number of call center closings.
The company also won the right to offer buyout incentives to employees once a year without first getting the union's blessing, making it easier to eliminate jobs that the new rule could eventually render obsolete.
Elsewhere, the outcome appeared more one-sided. The unions managed to beat back proposed pension cuts, including a cap on the accrual of pension benefits after 30 years of service.
The company also agreed to withdraw a proposal that would have allowed it to relocate workers for up to two months anywhere in its geographic coverage area, although it had already expressed an openness to withdrawing the proposal before the strike.
Proposals to change seniority rules and to make the company's sickness and disability policy more strict were also withdrawn, and the company agreed to change a performance review program in New York City that many workers considered abusive.
Significantly, the new contracts also cover some 65 unionized workers at Verizon Wireless stores, signaling the first time that retail wireless workers at the company have been included in a union contract, a potentially important precedent.
Comment: The solidarity of Verizon workers won this battle. They are an example for the many to come.