Labor secretary helps Verizon, unions return to bargaining table

WASHINGTON, May 16 (UPI) -- Verizon Communications and its striking unions have agreed to return to the bargaining table Tuesday after meeting with U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez.

Perez said Sunday the two sides met with him in Washington to discuss the conflict that has sidelined about 36,000 workers for more than a month.

At the meeting were Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam; Chris Shelton, president of the Communications Workers of America; and Lonnie Stephenson, president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

The secretary of labor's office said the talks in his office were "frank and constructive."

"The best way to resolve this labor dispute is at the bargaining table, and I am heartened by the parties' mutual commitment to get back to immediate discussions and work toward a new contract," Perez said in a statement. "I was singularly impressed by the parties' appreciation that time is of the essence, and their strong commitment to use the collective bargaining process to reach a mutually beneficial resolution."

Verizon made its "last, best offer" on April 28 with a 7.5 percent wage increase and protection from layoffs. Then it accused union members of vandalizing company lines and harassing replacement workers.

The union has called for a boycott of Verizon's popular wireless service.

Last Thursday, members of the Communications Workers of America were confronted by Philippines police after visiting Verizon offices in the country, where the union reps said they hoped to gauge the extent of the company's call center job outsourcing.

"Verizon is offshoring customer service calls to numerous call centers in the Philippines, where workers are paid just $1.78 an hour and forced to work overtime without compensation," the CWA stated.

The employees, who mostly work from Massachusetts to Virginia installing and servicing Verizon's wireline telephone and FiOS Internet and television service, had been working without a contract for nearly 10 months when they walked out on April 13. They say they don't want additional outsourcing of call center workers to the Philippines and Mexico, more nonunion contractors and employees assigned to other cities for up to two months at a time.

In 2011, 45,000 Verizon workers walked off the job for about two weeks.