Stricken
The last contract negotiation was three years ago. I was very nervous that we would go on strike, but instead we worked through the negotiations and ended up with a rather decent contract. I was relatively certain that, while there would be some compromises, the current negotiations would go in a similar direction.
Obviously by now it is clear that this is not what happened. The proposal that Verizon presented to the unions essentially reduced our job to the level of the guy handbilling on the street who is dressed up as a taco, and their refusal to negotiate (they kept canceling sessions) forced both the Communication Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers into drastic action.
Unions are not perfect, but this is exactly why they are sometimes necessary.
Regarding those reports about how wireline business is bleeding; it ties into their insistence that the world will be on fiber within three years. This isn't just naïve, it's a manipulative attempt at obfuscating the fact that they're doing less and less upkeep on the current infrastructure in order to devalue it, and us. I am constantly dealing with failing equipment and cables, it effects us all and the support is just not there. I don't work in podunk nowhere, I work in Manhattan, undeniably one of the business capitals of the world. Worse, Verizon is attempting to downplay the fact that wireline is the infrastructure that 70% of existing service runs on.
This is not a struggling company, it makes money hand over fist. It has responsibilities to its customers as well as the employees upon which they depend. I will be on strike until a fair contract is negotiated with the Communication Workers of America.