OREANDA-NEWS. June 20, 2016. Union leaders from the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) informed Verizon today that union members have ratified the tentative agreements that were reached in May. The new contracts, which cover about 36,000 employees primarily in Verizon’s wireline business, will run through Aug. 3, 2019.

“We’re pleased that our employees ratified these new agreements,” said Marc Reed, Verizon’s chief administrative officer. “The terms are good for our employees, good for our customers and good for our business. The Company’s key objectives for this round of bargaining were in the areas of healthcare, post-retirement costs and workforce flexibility. These agreements achieve all of those objectives. The Company will realize cost savings and cost avoidance through healthcare plan design changes, increased healthcare contributions, Medicare Advantage plans for our retirees, maintaining limits on post-retirement healthcare costs, and freezing the mortality table for lump sum pensions using the GATT rate. In addition, the agreements allow for greater flexibility in call sharing to better serve customers, and give us the ability to offer special buyout incentives to associates. Under these contracts, our union-represented employees continue to receive competitive wages and excellent healthcare and retirement benefits.

The new contracts go into effect immediately.