IBEW System Council T-6

2015-2016 Final Bargaining Report

May 30, 2016

After 48 Days on Strike 39, 000 Members of the IBEW and CWA have a Tentative Agreement.

The Members within the IBEW SCT-6 Council took to the streets in order to force Verizon to negotiate a fair contract. Without your efforts and sacrifice we would not have achieved our goal. Nearly 11 months of negotiations have concluded in securing good jobs, wages, and benefits until August 3, 2019.

We have emerged from an ideological war with a corporation that believed that this was their opportunity to break the Union. The exact opposite happened. The Membership who took part in the Strike of Verizon in 2016 did not waiver. When faced with no pay – we stood tall. When faced with the elimination of our medical coverage the company thought that would be a crushing blow; believing we’d fall apart. When that didn’t happen the Verizon brass realized that they had severely underestimated our Solidarity.

Strikes are not only for the immediate situation they are also to measure if those who currently do the work are employees first or if they are Union Members first. That question has been asked and answered.

This Membership has indeed earned the respect of the Labor movement. When times of difficulty arise it affords an opportunity for people to distinguish themselves. For character is not built. It is revealed. Only when placed in the midst of a dire situation will we discover what is within ourselves and each other. When we went on Strike April 13, 2016 there was a great amount of uncertainty as to how long the Strike would last. But what became apparent immediately, in a very public forum, was the fact that the Members of the IBEW and CWA were prepared. Prepared to fight for a fair contract. We stepped on the gas pedal from day one and never relented. Great, Great Job!!

Thank you to every Member on the picket lines. Thank you to every picket Captain for keeping your line strong. And thank you to every member of the IBEW Bargaining Committee.

Taking pride in the “I” or “Me” of things is sacrilege; being proud of the “us” and “we” of things is what gives commonality….And that Brothers and Sisters is what achieves Solidarity.

In Solidarity,

Myles J. Calvey Business Manager IBEW Local 2222 / SCT-6 Chairman
Rita Sweeney Business Manger Local 2313
Steve Soule Business Manager Local 2320
Craig Fields Business Manager Local 2321
Eric Hetrick Business Manager Local 2322
Steven Murphy Business Manager Local 2323
John Rowley Sr. Business Manager Local 2324
David Keating Business Manager Local 2325
Peter McGlaughlin Business Manager Local 2327