Verizon Employees Protest Lack of Contract

Calverton resident Raymond Jacquin has been a Verizon employee for almost 15 years. Standing with a group of his colleagues outside a Verizon wireless store on Route 58 on Wednesday, he points to a large sign the group is gathered around.

"Verigreedy wireless -- Destroying Middle-Class Jobs," the sign reads.

Jacquin pointed to the sign. "That's all true," he said.

Although not formally striking -- workers did strike last year -- Jacquin and his fellow employees have been protesting outside various Verizon stores after work in recent weeks to process the fact that they and approximately 45,000 employees have been working without a contract for almost a year.

"We're trying to get Verizon to recognize us and give us a fair contract," said Riverhead resident Chris Hayon. Hayon, who has two children, ages 10 and 13, has been working for Verizon for 16 years. "I have a mortgage to pay -- I have taxes," he said. "I'd like to retire from this company."

"We're just trying to get some public support," said Ivan Millian, a business agent for the Eastern Suffold CWA 1108, a local union. He added that the employees have been without a contract since August, 2011. "They're basically abandoning us," he said. "We are the poster chiid for the corporate greed in America right now."

Of the protests, Verizon media relations director John Bonomo said, "We have been negotiating with the union that represents our employees for almost a year.  Our goal is to arrive at a contract that is fair to our employees and the company."

Millian said he believes Verizon is trying to strip employees of their benefits and make it difficult to retire.

Most of the men protesting this week work as field laborers, Jacquin said. He said they believe Verizon is focusing its corporate energies on the wireless division and not on land lines, which much of the East End utilizes.

"Our employees are well aware of the dramatic changes that have taken place in our industry," Bonomo said. "As more and more customers use other technologies for their communications, we must change our cost structure. Many of the elements of the current contract were negotiated forty or fifty years ago, when Verizon had a monopoly in providing telephone service. That is no longer the case. We must change along with the market, and must seek meaningful changes in the contract we have with our employees, so that we can compete more effectively and save good-paying, solid middle class jobs."

Jacquin, who lives in South Setauket, and the others, most of whom are career employees with over 10 years under their collective belts, stated that they are not looking for major gains -- just to protect their pensions and other benefits. "All we want is what we have and they want to take it away from us," he said. "We built this company," he said. "It means everything for our families -- and for our lives."

Jacquin, a union representative, said workers had agreed last year to an extension of their current contract. "That's all we're asking for," he said. "They want to give us worse. We all have families -- we all have kids."

Many local employees who have worked in Suffolk County have been uprooted to go work in Brooklyn, Jacquin added, even though the workers have invested in the area and bought homes on Long Island.

Jimmy O'Sullivan of Southold said that he's proud of letting the public know that he's standing up to a "greedy" corporation.

O'Sullivan has worked for Verizon for 27 years and has lived in Southold for 12 years. He has two children ages 16 and 17. He says he does not have an alternative of careers if his protesting efforts don't pay off.

"We're building up our savings in case we do go on strike again," he said. "But we don't want to go back until everything is settled."

Bonomo said anyone with questions about ongoing negotiations should go to  www.verizonbargainingfacts.com 

Erin Schultz also contributed to this story.