CWA Hits Verizon for Declining CAF Support; Telco Sees CWA 'Distraction'

each of the years 2015-2020 under the FCC Connect America Fund Phase II program (see 1508270068). “Verizon’s track record is clear,” said Bob Master, assistant to the vice president of CWA District One. “Even while raking in a billion dollars per month in profits, Verizon is turning its back on underserved communities by refusing federal subsidies to expand high-speed internet access. Instead, its top priority is slashing job and retirement security for its employees and eliminating benefits for workers injured on the job.” The CWA and Verizon are in a labor contract dispute (see 1507310059). A Verizon spokesman emailed in response: "CWA leadership once again is choosing to distract from the real task at hand: serious negotiations on a fair contract for its members. The fact is Verizon continues to invest billions and to deploy broadband across the states and communities in question, and we will meet all of our deployment commitments." Verizon conditionally accepted the CAF support in two states as expected (see 1508240035), California and Texas, where (along with Florida) it's selling its systems to Frontier Communications. But CWA noted Verizon declined support to provide 10/1 Mbps broadband to 270,000 locations in Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia and Washington, D.C.