The Take Back the American Dream conference -- the summit for the 99% -- is taking place June 18-20 in Washington, DC. Click here to register.
Big companies like Verizon use threats of layoffs to force their workers to take pay and benefit cuts, and use the money to pay huge amounts to their executives. This is why the middle class is being "hollowed out." So the 99% Spring movement will be protesting outside of Verizon's shareholder meeting in Huntsville, Alabama on Thursday. I'll be there, joining the Communications Workers of America, Jobs with Justice and other groups.
Verizon (member of ALEC) is a tremendously wealthy company. CEO Lowell McAdam's gets a $23.1 million compensation package - triple the $7.2 million he received the year before.
Verizon, between 2008-2010:
- $21.5 billion in pre-tax U.S. profits.
- Verizon’s taxes paid: $1 billion REFUND.
- Verizon’s six top executives were paid $210 million.
- Verizon productivity increase: $150,000 per worker.
- Jobs eliminated in the same period: 40,000.
But the company is trying to take away pay and benefits from its workers -- demanding givebacks of $20,000 per worker per year in contract negotiations. In June, 2011 contract negotiations began for 45,000 workers represented by Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers (IBEW). According to CWA, Verizon made excessive, retrogressive demands that would cost each union represented employee $20,000 a year, slashing healthcare benefits; increasing the costs for active employees and retirees; eliminating pensions for new employees and freezing pensions for current employees.
So the workers are trying to fight back. This is why the 99% Spring movement is coming to Huntsville Thursday - like it came to the GE shareholder meeting last week.
Again and again companies are coming to their workers and saying they have to take pay cuts and benefit cuts or lose their jobs. These companies threaten to move jobs to other countries or just lay people off and make the remaining workers do their jobs, and then when they have forced the workers to give in the executives get huge raises. Note that Mitt Romney didn't patent this method. This was how he got rich, but he's not the only one who has been doing it.
Let's see if we can make our voices heard!
Click here to read the 99 Spring/Challenging Corporate Power action tool kit about VeriGreedy.
PHere are some of the posts I have written about Verizon and its workers:
- Help Verizon's Workers Try To Save The Middle Class
- Verizon's Workers Strike Back At Corporate Greed -- You Can Join Them!
- Verizon Fires 40 Workers From Strike
- Verizon's Fee And Attacks On Workers Are Cut From Same Cloth Of Corporate Greed
- Help Save The Middle Class by Joining Verizon Workers On Picket Lines
- Verizon's Workers Strike Back At Corporate Greed -- You Can Join Them!
- How Wealthy Companies Like Verizon Avoid Taxes
- Get Active To Recover the Economy and Middle Class
