Aug 10 2011
The Activist Beat – 08/10/11
The Activist Beat with Rose Aguilar, host of Your Call on KALW in San Francisco is a weekly roundup of progressive activism that the mainstream media ignores, undercovers, or misrepresents.
On Saturday, 45,000 unionized Verizon landline workers went on strike up and down the East Coast to protest the company’s plan to strip away 50 years of hard won collective bargaining rights. Actions are taking place in front of over 100 Verizon locations. Many signs say, “Strike: Can You Hear Us Now?”
The strike was called after negotiations broke down between union reps and Verizon management. Workers say the company wants to gut their healthcare, pensions, wages, and get rid of job security. Sound familiar?
Verizon says 45,000 unionized workers should no longer expect the kind of compensation and benefits package they received when the phone company was a monopoly and when landlines were in every household.
Because these actions are happening in several major East Coast cities, they are getting media attention, especially at the local level. With very few exceptions, most reports fail to mention that while Verizon executives are complaining about no longer controlling the market, the company’s profits are soaring. And how many wireless choices do we really have?
Verizon is the country’s second-largest phone company. In April, Bloomberg reported that earnings more than tripled as taxes decreased and the carrier signed up hundreds of thousands of new customers after teaming up with Apple to provide iPhone service. Average monthly bills for wireless customers increased 2.2 percent to $53.52.
According to the Communications Workers of America, Verizon reported $24.2 billion in pre-tax income for 2009 and 2010, yet didn’t pay any federal income tax. Instead, the company got a $1.3 billion tax refund. What’s incredible, says the CWA, is that Verizon’s actions are perfectly legal. The company is exploiting tax loopholes to get the maximum reward.
And then there’s corporate compensation. Verizon Chair Ivan Seidenberg’s salary rose four percent last year to $18 million, which is more than 300 times what an average worker makes. Verizon’s top five executive received compensation of $258 million over the past four years. CEO Lowell McAdam makes about $55,000 per day.
And yet the company wants workers to pay for their healthcare, get rid of paid sick days, and even eliminate Martin Luther King Day and Veteran’s Day as paid holidays.
Workers say the strike will go on for as long as it takes to get a fair contract.
BMW employees are also standing up against union busting and corporate greed. Two weeks ago, thousands of workers protested outside of 50 dealerships in 11 states. They informed customers about BMW’s plan to lay off nearly 100 workers in the Ontario, California parts distribution center and then rehire workers for lower pay. Many of these people have worked for this center for 30 years and risk losing their homes if they are laid off. According to Teamsters Local 495, BMW saw its highest earnings ever in its 95-year history last quarter. The company had global sales of $81 billion in 2010, which equals about $848,000 per employee.
Also last week, several hundred demonstrators from different labor rights groups blocked traffic in front of Wal-Mart’s lobbying office in Washington DC. The company is planning to build four new stores in the area. Demonstrators called on the company to pay employees a living wage. Most Wal-Mart employees are frightened to even mention the word “union” for fear of being fired. That’s how bad it is. Unions have lost so much power in this country, they no longer have any influence in Washington. Most workers are at the mercy of their employees and have no real protections.
So when are we going to see a massive uprising in the United States? That’s the question I hear most often these days is. There are pockets of resistance all over the country, but in order for these movements to gain traction, they need media attention.
I’m Rose Aguilar for Uprising.
One Response to “The Activist Beat – 08/10/11”
An excellent article. Americans have become so apathetic & only concerned for themselves. Anyone who has ever been unjustly denied a promotion, raise, vacation day, or sick day should be EMPATHETIC. Anyone who as ever been unjustly terminated, denied an assignment, or mistreated on the job should be concerned. Labor unions fought for this country & built this country. What has America come too?