The ongoing strike by 45,000 employees of Verizon Communications highlights the differences between private- and public-sector unions. Verizon is a private company, of course, but the exceedingly generous pay and benefits offered under its contracts with the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) are the legacy of a bygone era when Verizon's predecessor companies were state-regulated monopolies. Ma Bell in its heyday could afford government-style employee compensation packages because, like government, it had no competition.
Today, the proliferation of mobile devices is rapidly eating away at
what was left of Verizon's wired phone business -- the area in which
most of the striking union employees work. Verizon's cell business was
set up as a separate, non-unionized company and is unaffected by the
strike. The unions note, accurately, that Verizon just had a very
profitable year. But Verizon points out that the profits from the
wireline side of the business are shrinking.
For now, Verizon executives are in the same positions as many governors and mayors, telling their unions they need to start contributing to their health insurance premiums, like just about everyone else. The difference, of course: unlike a state and local government, Verizon could ultimately go out of business. CWA and IBEW members, whose own kids no longer order wired phones when they set up their first apartments, surely must see the handwriting on the wall.
For now, Verizon executives are in the same positions as many governors and mayors, telling their unions they need to start contributing to their health insurance premiums, like just about everyone else. The difference, of course: unlike a state and local government, Verizon could ultimately go out of business. CWA and IBEW members, whose own kids no longer order wired phones when they set up their first apartments, surely must see the handwriting on the wall.
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