Verizon reaches tentative deal to end employee strike

OREANDA-NEWS. May 30, 2016. Verizon has made peace with its employees.

The New York telecommunications giant has agreed in principle to a four-year contract with employees represented by the Communications Workers of America and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers unions, according to the US Labor Department in a statement issued Friday. The dispute, which prompted 36,000 union workers to go on strike April 14, spurred the Labor Department to step in to help find a resolution.

The return of the workers, which is expected early next week, removes a headache for Verizon and its landline, Internet and television customers in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast territory. The strike led to service disruptions and slower response to outages and installation needs.

Verizon had pushed to consolidate call centers, cap pension benefits and cut health care for employees in the landline business, angering workers. The unions say Verizon is also trying to ramp up its reliance on cheaper outside contractors to finish certain jobs.

The company, which employs a total of 177,000 workers, argues its landline business no longer sees growth and said it is shifting its resources behind the hotter wireless business.