Verizon, Unions work to finalize contract

Philadelphia, Aug 24: Verizon Communications and two unions will negotiate into the night on Saturday to finalize details of a labor contract for 80,000 technicians and telephone operators from Maine to Virginia, union representatives said on Saturday.
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union said a foundation for an agreement was in place, and negotiators were debating nuances of the contract language.

Talks were expected to last late into the night on Saturday, following round-the-clock bargaining on Friday, the IBEW said. Still, despite some optimism that an agreement could be near, the union cautioned that the talks still could break down.

Verizon , the largest U.S. telephone company, and the Communications Workers of America union declined to comment on the status of the talks.

"We're going to keep at it until we get a contract," said Verizon spokesman Eric Rabe.

The two unions, which represent 35 percent of Verizon's work force, have stayed on the job for 20 days without a contract as negotiators hashed out differences over hot-button issues such as layoffs, the transfer of work to low-cost regions, and health care and pension benefits.

The contract talks, which began in June, come as New York-based Verizon wants to cut costs to offset slack demand and increasing competition as local and long-distance carriers cut into each other's markets.

The company has been trying to offset weakness in its core local telephone business by pushing into newer markets such as long-distance. It has aggressively promoted discounted packages combining local, long-distance, wireless and high-speed Internet services to attract and retain customers.

Meanwhile, the unions want to preserve existing jobs and benefits, and get an opportunity to land jobs in the faster-growing parts of the company, such as wireless and data services.

The negotiations have been complex because so many of the issues -- such as shifting work to low-cost regions and job security -- are intertwined, the company has said.

The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, an independent agency that assists in resolving labor disputes, has been overseeing the talks. Bureau Report