Striking Verizon workers planned to return to work Wednesday, since Verizon and union leaders signed a tentative agreement Friday to end a more than six-week East Coast strike (see 1605270050). In a news release Monday, the Communications Workers of America said the proposed four-year contract provides 10.9 percent in raises over four years with compounded interest, including 3 percent upon ratification and 2.5 percent on each anniversary of the contract. In the mid-Atlantic, it includes a $1,250 signing bonus; in the Northeast, a $1,000 signing bonus plus a $250 healthcare reimbursement account, it said. The deal gives workers a minimum $700 in profit sharing in each of the next four years, and rather than reduce pensions as the telco proposed, the agreement provides three 1 percent increases to pensions, it said. About 70 Verizon Wireless retail employees in Brooklyn, New York, and Everett, Massachusetts, will get their first-ever contract, the CWA said. All call centers that had been threatened with closure in the mid-Atlantic region will remain open; three of five threatened call centers in upstate New York will remain open, with the six workers affected in the other centers to be offered new Verizon jobs locally, it said. Verizon will add 1,300 call center jobs, including 850 in the mid-Atlantic and 450 in the Northeast, CWA said. Verizon agreed to reverse several major contracting initiatives, resulting in a 25 percent increase in the number of unionized crews doing pole work in New York state, CWA said. The proposed contract also preserves existing language on job security, transfer and seniority protections for retirement incentives, the union said. Verizon withdrew proposals on forced interstate transfers, CWA said. Verizon agreed to end a performance supervisory program in New York City that workers didn’t like, and the parties will work with an outside consultant to develop a nonpunitive program, the union said. The company agreed to withdraw proposed cuts in accident and disability benefits, CWA said. Verizon said the company will save money and avoid additional costs through healthcare plan design changes, adopting Medicare Advantage plans for retirees, maintaining limits on post-retirement healthcare costs, and freezing the mortality table for lump sum pensions using the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade rate. The agreement lets Verizon provide special buyout incentives to employees, the company said. Verizon is also likely to save money by the act of ending the strike, analysts have said, since the company had to deploy thousands to fill in for the union workers, including contractors and its own managers. The unions will submit the agreement to members for a ratification vote; if approved, the contract will run through Aug. 3, 2019, Verizon said. The strike hurt Verizon financially and its end is welcome, said Wells Fargo analyst Jennifer Fritzsche. “While there likely will be some impact on Q2 financials related to the strike … the savings that should result from this Strike outweigh the near term distractions,” she wrote investors Tuesday.

Striking Verizon workers planned to return to work Wednesday, since Verizon and union leaders signed a tentative agreement Friday to end a more than six-week East Coast strike (see 1605270050). In a news release Monday, the Communications Workers of America said the proposed four-year contract provides 10.9 percent in raises over four years with compounded interest, including 3 percent upon ratification and 2.5 percent on each anniversary of the contract. In the mid-Atlantic, it includes a $1,250 signing bonus; in the Northeast, a $1,000 signing bonus plus a $250 healthcare reimbursement account, it said. The deal gives workers a minimum $700 in profit sharing in each of the next four years, and rather than reduce pensions as the telco proposed, the agreement provides three 1 percent increases to pensions, it said. About 70 Verizon Wireless retail employees in Brooklyn, New York, and Everett, Massachusetts, will get their first-ever contract, the CWA said. All call centers that had been threatened with closure in the mid-Atlantic region will remain open; three of five threatened call centers in upstate New York will remain open, with the six workers affected in the other centers to be offered new Verizon jobs locally, it said. Verizon will add 1,300 call center jobs, including 850 in the mid-Atlantic and 450 in the Northeast, CWA said. Verizon agreed to reverse several major contracting initiatives, resulting in a 25 percent increase in the number of unionized crews doing pole work in New York state, CWA said. The proposed contract also preserves existing language on job security, transfer and seniority protections for retirement incentives, the union said. Verizon withdrew proposals on forced interstate transfers, CWA said. Verizon agreed to end a performance supervisory program in New York City that workers didn’t like, and the parties will work with an outside consultant to develop a nonpunitive program, the union said. The company agreed to withdraw proposed cuts in accident and disability benefits, CWA said. Verizon said the company will save money and avoid additional costs through healthcare plan design changes, adopting Medicare Advantage plans for retirees, maintaining limits on post-retirement healthcare costs, and freezing the mortality table for lump sum pensions using the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade rate. The agreement lets Verizon provide special buyout incentives to employees, the company said. Verizon is also likely to save money by the act of ending the strike, analysts have said, since the company had to deploy thousands to fill in for the union workers, including contractors and its own managers. The unions will submit the agreement to members for a ratification vote; if approved, the contract will run through Aug. 3, 2019, Verizon said. The strike hurt Verizon financially and its end is welcome, said Wells Fargo analyst Jennifer Fritzsche. “While there likely will be some impact on Q2 financials related to the strike … the savings that should result from this Strike outweigh the near term distractions,” she wrote investors Tuesday.

Pending decisions in U.S. government examinations on the legal definition of top-level domains are unlikely to fully resolve the longstanding debate over whether TLDs are property, said domain names industry executives and lawyers in interviews. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit is considering the Weinstein v. Iran case. It centers on arguments for and against identifying country code top-level domains (ccTLDs) as attachable property for garnishment purposes (see 1601200063 and 1601210058). GAO is reviewing whether NTIA’s transfer of oversight of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions, including the Department of Defense-created root zone file, constitutes a transfer of government property that would require congressional approval of the transition (see 1509280056).

With the EU top data watchdog lining up against Privacy Shield, some observers said the proposed EU-U.S. trans-Atlantic data transfer agreement is on shakier ground -- and the opposition could delay its approval. European Data Protection Supervisor Giovanni Buttarelli's opinion issued Monday came days after the European Parliament issued a resolution saying that both sides need to continue negotiations to fix "deficiencies" on weak data protections and a complex redress system (see 1605260024).

With too little competition among broadband providers, FCC-proposed privacy rules for ISPs are critical to protect consumers, said a Public Knowledge-led coalition in comments posted Tuesday. Comments were due at the FCC Friday (see 1605270057), amid speculation that the final rules will look much like those proposed by the FCC (see 1605270022). “A provider can paint a detailed composite portrait of a user’s life solely from basic header information such as IP addresses, ports, and timing,” PK said in docket 16-106.

With too little competition among broadband providers, FCC-proposed privacy rules for ISPs are critical to protect consumers, said a Public Knowledge-led coalition in comments posted Tuesday. Comments were due at the FCC Friday (see 1605270057), amid speculation that the final rules will look much like those proposed by the FCC (see 1605270022). “A provider can paint a detailed composite portrait of a user’s life solely from basic header information such as IP addresses, ports, and timing,” PK said in docket 16-106.

Pending decisions in U.S. government examinations on the legal definition of top-level domains are unlikely to fully resolve the longstanding debate over whether TLDs are property, said domain names industry executives and lawyers in interviews. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit is considering the Weinstein v. Iran case. It centers on arguments for and against identifying country code top-level domains (ccTLDs) as attachable property for garnishment purposes (see 1601200063 and 1601210058). GAO is reviewing whether NTIA’s transfer of oversight of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions, including the Department of Defense-created root zone file, constitutes a transfer of government property that would require congressional approval of the transition (see 1509280056).

With the EU top data watchdog lining up against Privacy Shield, some observers said the proposed EU-U.S. trans-Atlantic data transfer agreement is on shakier ground -- and the opposition could delay its approval. European Data Protection Supervisor Giovanni Buttarelli's opinion issued Monday came days after the European Parliament issued a resolution saying that both sides need to continue negotiations to fix "deficiencies" on weak data protections and a complex redress system (see 1605260024).

Three companies in the advertising-blocking industry pushed back against Newspaper Association of America allegations they're engaging in potentially deceptive and unfair practices. Eyeo-owned Adblock Plus, Brave Software and Optimal said NAA, which asked the FTC to look into the issue (see 1605260040), doesn't understand the companies' ad-blocking services and technologies. The companies said their tech is an answer to consumer demands against intrusive ads. The association in turn defended its stance.

Broadcasters' transition to a new TV standard shouldn't obligate multichannel video programming distributors to make the same transition, said the American Cable Association, AT&T, Dish Network and NCTA in FCC comments posted Thursday and Friday in docket 16-142 on the joint ATSC 3.0 petition from the AWARN Alliance, CTA and NAB (see 1604130065). All full-power broadcast commenters vociferously supported the petition. But pay TV, consumer groups and low-power TV interests said the petition doesn’t take their concerns fully into account, while Dolby Labs hailed ATSC 3.0 for bringing "significant advances" in broadcast audio and video performance (see 1605270024).