DEFENSE FUND FORM

N.Y. Times Article About The Rally - 7/27/08

New York Rally Video - Christine Quinn

New York Rally Video - Bill Thompson & Ed Ott

We are here today as the voice for the men and women who work for Verizon. We are here as the voice of the labor movement. We are here as the voice for all working people. For those that work for corporations that pay their CEOs as much in one day as a worker makes in a year. For those who need health care and those that want to retire with dignity and those that want to be treated fairly.                  

Our contract with Verizon is our claim to fair wages, good benefits and decent working conditions. Our contract provides employment security. It provides time off with our families. It guarantees that we will have health care if we are sick. It promises a time for ourselves when we have finished our careers. It pays our bills, puts food on the table and sends our kids to school. Our contract is one of the most important documents we will ever own and the contract we are now negotiating with Verizon may well be the most important contract we will negotiate in our lifetime.

We are at a crossroads in our history at Verizon. We are going from a telephone company to an information and entertainment company. We are moving from copper to glass and wireless technologies. Our Company is entering new businesses and it’s selling old ones. It is a time of change for Verizon and it is a time of challenge for our members and our Union.

We are at a time in healthcare when corporations are shifting costs, reducing benefits or getting rid of healthcare all together.

We are at a time when employers subcontract work or move it off-shore.

We are at a time when employers are eliminating union jobs and preventing others from forming unions.