WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A new tentative three-year contract settlement with Verizon
achieves union employees’ major goals of promoting union jobs and expanding
bargaining rights, providing good health care for both active and retired workers, and
increasing wages and pensions for 65,000 workers from Virginia to Maine, the
Communications Workers of America and International Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers reported.

In a breakthrough agreement, Verizon will extend union recognition to 600 former MCI
technicians at Verizon Business who have been seeking representation for nearly two
years. These workers, who perform the same jobs as the union workforce, have received
strong support from CWA and IBEW members in a campaign to “tear down the wall”
between union and non-union sectors at Verizon. The agreement also includes new
opportunities for union workers to provide customer support and service at Verizon
Business.

The tentative settlement also eliminates subcontracting of work in a number of job areas,
converts many temporary jobs to permanent and brings additional jobs associated with
Verizon’s cutting edge FiOS technology into the union bargaining units. Overall, the
settlement should create 2,500 new union jobs.

Verizon and the unions have agreed to meet regularly during the course of the new
agreement to review technological and business developments affecting employment,
which will allow the company to stay current with business opportunities while also
insuring that the unions are able to continue to represent employees as the business
environment changes.

The issue of health costs and benefits was a major focus of the talks, as it has been in
contract negotiations in virtually every industry. The settlement preserves fully-paid
health care premiums for all active and retired employees. Future hires will have a
defined contribution formula for retirement health care with the amount of Verizon’s
contributions subject to negotiation in each subsequent contract.

In addition, Verizon agreed to work with the unions in a joint effort to achieve
meaningful health care reform. The company will provide funding of $2 million per year
to the project.

The settlement calls for wage increases totaling 10.87 percent compounded over the
three-year contract term. COLA (cost of living adjustment) language remains in the
contract.

Pension bands also will be increased by 10.87 percent compounded over the term of the
agreement.

The settlement also provides for a streamlined grievance dispute resolution system which
will speed up a process that has been taking as long as three years to complete.

“This is a breakthrough agreement in many ways,” said CWA President Larry Cohen. “It
creates new union jobs including major growth areas like FiOS, it takes a big step
forward on health care and it brings hundreds of Verizon Business employees the union
rights they deserve. We applaud management for agreeing to keep the best health
coverage in America and for their commitment to work with us for real health care
reform. This settlement provides a framework for growth at Verizon and a good standard
of living with careers for our members.”

“This agreement is a tribute to the solidarity and activism of IBEW and CWA members
working at Verizon,” said IBEW President Ed Hill.“Our members mobilized strong and
negotiated hard for a good contract that will benefit workers and their families now and
in the future. We congratulate union and company negotiators for finding solid common
ground upon which we can build a better Verizon. With this agreement we have met our
goals to protect the retirees who helped build this company and have negotiated
important provisions that will ensure future jobs for union members.”

CWA represents 50,000 workers at Verizon and IBEW represents another 15,000 in the
northeast.