Skip to main content

News

Search News

Topics
Date Published Between

For the Media

For media inquiries, call CWA Communications at 202-434-1168 or email comms@cwa-union.org. To read about CWA Members, Leadership or Industries, visit our About page.

N.Y. Senator Demands Fair Contract for Verizon Workers

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) rallied with CWA members last week and demanded fair contracts for workers at Verizon and Verizon Wireless.


Senator Schumer calls out Verizon executives for "squeezing the working people who made the company what it is."

"We need a fair contract for all the 39,000 workers here at Verizon," he told workers outside a store in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. "You know, ladies and gentlemen, in the old days, we wanted corporate America to make profits. You know why? In the '50s, '60s and '70s they knew that when they made profit, it was because of their workers. And they shared those profits with their workers. This day we're in a new era. It all goes to salaries to the people at the highest end."

Schumer's mother-in-law was a longtime CWA member. That good, union job allowed the family to build a better life and send his wife to college. That's why today Schumer is fighting for strong "card check" and a National Labor Relations Board with real teeth.

Schumer knocked the executives who "squeeze the working people who made the company what it is."

"That has to end," he said. "We really don't care if their stock goes up if our wages and benefits go down."

To change America, Schumer stressed, we need a strong union movement to bring collective bargaining to all workers. The senator ended his speech by calling on the company to rehire Bianca Cunningham, a union activist who was illegally fired after she helped organize 65 Verizon Wireless workers in Brooklyn.

"We're with you all the way," Schumer told Cunningham. "You have courage and strength and we're behind you."

Watch Schumer's remarks here.