Labor disputes are often about compensation– salary and/or benefits. Management claims its employees are actually doing just fine, workers say otherwise. 45,000 Verizon workers are on strike on the East Coast over salary, pension and health benefits and collective bargaining rights.
One would hope that reporters would try to referee such disputes over compensation. In the New York Times, Steven Greenhouse prints the claims side by side.
Verizon called its unionized employees well paid, saying that many field technicians earn more than $100,000 a year, including overtime, with an additional $50,000 in benefits. But union officials say that the field technicians and call center workers generally earn $60,000 to $77,000 before overtime and that benefits come to well under $50,000 a year.
Verizon says its unionized employees are well paid, with many field technicians earning more than $90,000 a year, including overtime, with an additional $50,000 in benefits. Union officials say the field technicians and call center workers generally earn $60,000 to $77,000 a year before overtime and that benefits come to far less than $50,000 a year.
Now a careful reader might figure out the difference between Verizon saying that “many” tech workers earn more than $90,000, and the union saying the same workers “generally” earn about 1/3 less. It’s the same as saying “many” Americans are millionaires; generally Americans are not.
If the company is wildly overstating what its employees are making, news accounts should get to the bottom of it.
UPDATE: Greenhouse digs into these compensation figures a bit more today, and it’s hard not to conclude that Verizon’s doing some funny math:
The financials of Verizonâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s landline business are not the only set of numbers that company and union are fighting over. Union officials dispute the companyâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s estimate that each employee receives $50,000 worth of benefits each year. In that number, the company includes $14,700 for medical and dental insurance, $10,900 for retiree health care and life insurance, $10,800 for pension and $7,500 for time off.
Union officials say total benefits average $25,000 a year. Mr. Kohl, the union official, disputed the $10,800 yearly figure for pensions, noting that Verizonâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s annual report said the companyâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s 2010 contributions to the unionâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s defined benefit plans ‘were not significant.â┚¬Ã‚ Verizon officials said the $10,800 was an average annual amount.
Mr. Kohl also said the $10,900 retiree health care figure was greatly exaggerated, asserting that many retirees had worked years to pay for that care so the cost should not be attributed to current employees.
Mr. Kohl also quarreled with Verizon saying the value of time off â┚¬” vacation, sick days and personal days â┚¬” was $7,500. He dismissed that as double-counting because that number was already counted in wages.
So the company’s counting sick days and vacation as paid compensation? We’ve seen companies claim retiree healthcare as part of current workers benefits before. In any case, Greenhouse is doing today what reporters should be doing when covering this kind of dispute.
As a man far more years behind me than in front, after watching Ronald Reagan plant the seeds to destroy the American economy, and seeing the GOP trying to harvest the crops, I can honestly say that in today’s America…if a business leader is speaking he is LYING !
I don’t know if Mr. Greenhouse has any political agenda/POV, but I do know that this example is just plain poor reporting, to let people (both sides in this case) speak in generalities that serve their side of the story. I’d wager that both sides HAVE the statistics that would illuminate this debate significantly, but they both want to do PR with the story and Mr Greenhouse apparently lets them do so. So what does a reader come away with? MAYBE SOME workers at Verizon make $50K-$100K, MAYBE MANY don’t. Why would anyone bother reading something as vague as that?
Norm, You sound just like our President. Blame Blame Blame. Evil Business owners. Why don’t you try and get a job from a homeless person. I’m thankful for rich people, they keep people like me working! You must be a union man. One one point in this countries history, unions were needed, now they just keep people like you SPOILED! The economy is tanking and you guys think you are protected from the Obama recession.
And by the way, I wish Ronald Reagan was President now.
“And by the way, I wish Ronald Reagan was President now.” Bug Man, that would be quite an achievement for a dead man who, by now, is a good one hundred years old. It is also quite an achievement for Obama to cause a recession that began BEFORE he became President of United States.
Only wish I could get the union people to work this hard when they are on their regular job.
These unions are fighting the war for the working class of this country. The rich are getting richer and the poor getting poorer. This is probably how it felt at the onset of the Revolutionary war. I for one am joining the Militia.
fred rock and bugman….u have no idea what I do or how hard I work. Is it ok when I am breaking my ass as a single mother that large corporations ceos pad their pockets while taking away from me….u r what is wrong with America….
Bug Man: Not only is Ronald Ray-Gun dead now, he was pretty much dead from the neck up when he was propped up and rolled out as pResident by your corporate capitalist masters…
Those liars who neither “created your job” nor give a crap about you and whether you keep your “job”.
You and your compassionless cohort “fred rock” are on the wrong side in the Class War that workers are losing.
does it weird any other regulars out here when a bunch of new names pop up in the comments? it always reminds of the astroturf article that was posted by FAIR several months ago.
Rich CEO’s HAVE created jobs, the problem is that they are mostly overseas, and not where they are needed here at home. The only jobs being created here are minimum wage.
That’s how homeless people, become homeless.
Reagan was sincere. But, the people behind him were not.
I continue to be thoroughly puzzled by two things that have bothered me since early in the Reagan era:
How is it harmful to Americans or America for regular, working people to organize so they can protect their families?
Why do so many regular Americans hate their neighbors?
None of this will matter once the masses become fed up, (including you misinformed idiots supporting the corporatist agenda, once they’re done using you to fight their battles for them on sights like this, and ALL of the others where you post your idiotic defenses!) and rise up and burn the place to the ground, in order to take the country back from the plutocrats and fascists (another word your kind commonly uses without knowing what it actually means!) What recently happened in England is nothing like what will happen here, when a bunch of armed to the teeth, and pissed off rednecks realizes that they’ve been played. And yes, the revolution WILL be televised!
“Are the Bosses Telling the Truth?” – of course not. Truth telling ended long ago in corporate america. That’s a fait accompli if ever there was one.
What we are seeing happening among the declassed workers and less well off citizens of Greece,England etc. will eventually reach the United States too if current economic policies that help to redistribute income upward and remain dominant. Adoption of a strongly progressive income tax and gearing up educational and social programs to make up for the maldistribution of wealth may work or else we will have a very bleak future as “Guy Fawkes” above predicts.
All this carping almost makes me want to tell all my friends who are doing well in business ownership to just fire everyone…retire….and be loved by all you libs now that we are not making lots of money on the backs of all those workers we employ, or arguing with unions anymore.Not giving them work…but not arguing.You class warfare believers really are stone cold morons,aren’t you?
As far as knocking Reagan….you really- really are stone cold morons aren’t you?
Michael E’s serial attacks make it abundantly clear that he has no ACTUAL FACTS to back up a single one of his deluded, overheated assertions.
A single example out of several possible ones:
1) Bug Man claims there’s an “Obama recession” in the midst of his own overheated rhetoric
2) Donald Pruden correctly points out: “It is also quite an achievement for Obama to cause a recession that began BEFORE he became President of United States.” The recession was pegged as beginning in 2007, and the crash occurred in September 2008, both BEFORE the November 2008 election. Absolutely fair point.
3) Neither Bug Man nor michael e. address this point. Instead michael e goes on the attack complaining about “you libs” and “class warfare believers” who are “stone cold morons”.
Therefore: Bug Man and michael e have zero credibility. QED.
OK so let’s look at the bigger picture. Let’s say Verizon gets what they want and the gets to save all of this money, Will my rates decrease? Will I have a lower cell phone bill? Will anything be passed onto the consumer…NO.NO…and NO!.
So where exactly does that money go? Here’s a fact for sure it doesn’t go into our local economies as it does today, No it goes into the corporate coffers where it gets CEO’s,CFO’s and board members larger retirement packages and larger outlandish bonuses.
Currently those monies go to employees who in turn go to the Dr. and don’t have to take welfare or Medicaid for themselves, their spouses or children. These folks use the wages to support a decent standard of living and contribute to their communities. So why do so many of the average American’s not get real picture….Media Brainwashing!!!!! These corporations spend thousands and thousands to convince the public that somewhere in some fantasy that the workers in this country don’t deserve a decent standard of living all the while the managers to the CEO’s make enough to employ hundreds of workers who make this country what it is.
One more question how many of you live next to a CEO who mows his own lawn on the weekends? Or washes their own car? Truth is these corporate elitists will always be just that ELITISTS, and they will always see the American worker as the problem and the average Joe just keeps on buying into it.
Bush left a mess.He spent like a Dem,and was not able to stop their massive mistakes(fanny and Freddy). He was no conservative to be sure.Obama just made it a 1000x worse is all.So Ok Jim it is all Bushes fault.Believe that if that bit of swill makes you happy.For what it is worth(and it aint much)this is BAMS ship now.Lock, stock ,and barrel.And our job is to stop him from making anything worse.I don’t need credibility with you……..You are actually,unbelievably,beyond any understanding or logic…. still in Barack Obamas corner.That sir is all the credibility you need to show where you stand.Alone.More and more so with every passing day and every clarification of the job BAM is doing.We in the tea party are going to stop this madness every time he tries it.The rock he will break against.He will either stand down from his grand dream of “remaking”this country in his image…. or he will go.
As far as facts …I could read you chapter and verse,send you articles,mail you books and so on.It wont matter one wit.You simply will not believe it till it comes from the lips of your Gods.Remember when Obama and Biden talked of all the shovel ready jobs.We said bull doggies.Later Obama sheepishly admitted there were few.Well don’t expect BAM to”sheepishly”admit that he and Bite me have not a clue.That is asking too much.So take it from me.They didn’t have a clue then.They still don’t.
As a NON-UNION Verzion employee’s spouse I would just like to say that I contribute about $600 a year towards my health care and have a $15 co-pay and a deductible that is more than reasonable compared with most company sponsored health care plans. I don’t understand why the union workers think they shouldn’t contribute. If they were part of the group, maybe all employees would have to contribute less. Also, most companies haven’t had a retirement plan in years, so the union workers have more than I do for retirement, even if the retirement is frozen from this point on. They still get the 401k company match just like the non-union workers do, which is better than most major organizations offer. I just can’t believe in this economy that they are willing to give up a good job with a company that is generous to it’s workers as Verizon is.
Strong unions mean better wages and working conditions for members and non-members. End the union bashing that began under Ronald Reagan and reinstate the consumer protections lost during his watch. Support Verizon workers.
John would you like every job in America to unionize?You could not afford the kool aid you so love to drink.How much would everything cost?Use a plumbers visit to replace a rubber ring as a measure.Ninety bucks!Christ hope the little girls selling lemonade dont unionize.Five bucks a cup! Revisiting the Reagan nightmare by Terrence sheath is the best at throwing this swill around.Read it.Any conservative who knows the history and can read economic charts will have a laughing fit.If your a lib just nod your head as if you are getting sage words of wisdom..
Reagan had one huge fault.Even he could not bring in money faster than the Dems could spend it.Well actually he could.But over time nothing could keep up.So now it’s Reagan’s fault?Classic!
Strong unions huh?How do you propose to have that when their is no work?Your government is one giant wet blanket on this economy..Did you see where trunka is saying many unions will not show at the Dems Shindig .In a pigs eye.They are just putting on the pressure on till he dances to their tune.Obama used the stimulus to bail out unions.Now they owe him.And he them.
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