REG-VerizonCommunication: Verizon Offers Raises to 38,000 Employees <Origin Href="QuoteRef">VZ.N</Origin>

Verizon CommunicationsAnnouncement

23/06/2015 07:00

Verizon Offers Raises to 38,000 Employees                   

Company Begins Negotiations With CWA and IBEW on 2015 Contract; Offer Maintains
Competitive Wages and Benefits and Assists With Long-Term Success of Verizon's
Wireline Business

NEW YORK, June 22, 2015 -- Proposing a solid wage increase up front, Verizon
held its first negotiating session today with representatives of the
Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of
Electrical Workers on contracts covering approximately 38,000 Verizon East
Wireline Employees. The proposed wage increase is part of a competitive and
comprehensive three-year offer submitted by Verizon to address issues that
would help propel the company's Wireline unit in the digital age.

"Our goal this contract cycle is simple: To work from day one with union
leaders on ways that will help our Wireline business succeed, in an
ever-changing communications arena, in the years to come," said Robert Mudge,
Verizon's executive vice president for wireline operations. "We've put a
comprehensive offer on the table to encourage a substantive and productive
dialogue on the issues as early in the process as possible. We are committed to
negotiating meaningful changes."

The company's comprehensive offer includes several key proposals:

  * Wages -- Provided there is a signed agreement by Aug. 1, upon ratification
    of a new contract there would be a 2 percent wage increase effective Aug.
    2, 2015; a 2 percent increase one year later; and a $1,000 lump sum payment
    in the third year. The average annual salary and benefit package for a
    Verizon associate in the East is $130,000.  Verizon technicians in the New
    York City/Long Island region currently have an average total
    wage-and-benefit package worth in excess of $160,000 a year.
  * Pensions -- Pension-eligible associates would be given a choice of
    continuing to earn pension benefits under the defined benefit plan with
    some limitations and forgoing the existing 401(k) company match, or opting
    for the enhanced 401(k) plan currently offered to management employees
    (which includes a bigger company match and a profit-sharing contribution)
    with a frozen pension benefit. With the exception of union-represented
    employees hired since Oct. 28, 2012, employees under these collective
    bargaining agreements currently have both a defined benefit pension plan
    AND a 401(k) savings plan with a generous company match, a benefit
    structure that's from another era.
  * Healthcare -- Negotiating cost controls for the company's healthcare plans
    is essential. The cost of medical coverage for an East associate and one or
    more family members currently averages nearly $20,000 a year. In one of the
    company's East plans, the annual cost for this coverage is over $23,000
    annually. By contrast, the national average for family healthcare coverage
    is about $16,800. The company is proposing an increase of $8.10 per week
    next year for individual healthcare premiums. Other reasonable cost
    controls are also important to help keep this Wireline business unit
    competitive.
  * Workforce management -- The company is seeking more flexibility in terms of
    managing the workforce consistent with customer demands.

"More than ever, we need contractual changes that position us to compete with
new and emerging technologies," said Tami Erwin, president of Verizon's
Consumer and Mass Business unit. "American consumers are communicating in new
and innovative ways. The way we work and respond to our customers demands
flexibility. Our contract rules and provisions need to be updated to reflect
those changes."

Mudge added: "No company anywhere has invested more in providing fiber-optic
networking all the way to customers' homes. Transforming this part of the
business will position us for future growth. The reality, however, is that our
cost structure has not changed nearly fast enough to align with today's market
realities and customer needs."

Verizon's union-represented employees in the East work under 27 collective
bargaining agreements in nine Eastern states and Washington, D.C. The current
contracts expire Aug. 1, 2015. Negotiations can be lengthy. The process lasted
15 months in 2011-12.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ), headquartered in New York, is a
global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline
communications services to consumer, business, government and wholesale
customers. Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network,
with 108.6 million retail connections nationwide. Verizon also provides
converged communications, information and entertainment services over America's
most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers integrated business solutions
to customers worldwide. A Dow 30 company with more than $127 billion in 2014
revenues, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of 176,200. For more information,
visit www.verizon.com/news /.

VERIZON'S ONLINE NEWS CENTER: Verizon news releases, executive speeches and
biographies, media contacts and other information are available at Verizon's
online News Center at www.verizon.com/news /. The news releases are available
through an RSS feed. To subscribe, visit http://www.verizon.com/about/rss-feeds
//.

SOURCE Verizon Communications Inc

CONTACT: Rich Young, 908-559-3477, richard.j.young@verizon.com; or Ray
McConville, 908-559-3504, raymond.mcconville@verizon.com



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