Verizon workers turned to the New Jersey Board of Public...
Verizon workers turned to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to stop a pending layoff of 201 technicians, whose jobs the union said are critical for Superstorm Sandy recovery efforts. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 827 filed…
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a petition with the regulators Monday, it said (http://xrl.us/boaxto), calling for “an expedited public hearing and [to] issue a stay order on Verizon’s plan.” The union is safeguarding consumer interests, said Local 827 President Bill Huber, who in a statement alleged that “Verizon is more interested in reducing labor costs than they are at providing reliable dial tone and data service to their customers and, as a result of this bad management decision, consumers are being neglected in favor of Verizon’s singular focus on quarterly reports for stockholders.” The layoffs are slated for Feb. 9, the union said. The board declined comment, saying it hadn’t received the petition. “Verizon operates in an extremely competitive industry, and we continuously adjust our work force based on the needs of our customers and the needs of our business,” a spokesman for the telco told us. “While we have made every effort to reduce head count through voluntary means, any targeted reductions will not impact our ability to serve our customers or jeopardize our focus on repairing our own critical infrastructure impacted by Hurricane Sandy.” Huber was unavailable for comment, and the union was unable to supply a copy of the petition. Verizon notified the union of its termination plans Jan. 8 by email, Huber said on the union’s Facebook page Tuesday (http://xrl.us/boaxz2). “The Union has requested bargaining dates to continue discussions,” he said. “We are scheduled to meet next week.”