Discussions are taking place at the executive level of both the Unions and Verizon in an attempt to find a breakthrough, which would allow bargaining to progress. The Unions expressed its assessment of negotiations at this point as falling far short of expectations. The Company has been presented with all of our demands, and has yet to get serious.

No package has been put forth by the Company after hearing numerous times that there will be no agreement until the many serious economic and workplace issues facing our members are resolved.

At this late date, and with no agreement in sight, the possibility of a strike increases and the need to be prepared more urgent.

Given the company’s refusal to provide employment security, their demands for concessions on healthcare and other demands for take backs, there should be no doubt, in the minds of our members, where these benefits came from in the first place.

Our Union built this contract through over 60 years of hard bargaining and sometimes strikes. We are committed to do the same thing to keep our contract that we did to get it in the first place.

Every member has a responsibility to make this a successful round of negotiations. Volunteering to TA to management helps the company prepare to fight us. Volunteering for overtime helps the company to prepare to cut our contract. Volunteering to "sell one more" helps the company to prepare to cut our benefits and give away our jobs. And the worst part of this is that the Company doesn’t even respect those employees who help them to undermine bargaining.

Every member should ask himself or herself what they can do to protect their career, their family and their Union. No one can work enough overtime to offset the losses that the Company is demanding at the table. They count on the greed and stupidity of some individuals to help them to cut the throats of the entire workforce. Either we will stick together and fight for a good contract or we will have only ourselves to blame. The efforts and sacrifices we make today will pay us back many times over.

It is time, people, to stand up—and together, if we have to, fight this fight until hell freezes over—then fight it on the ice.

CWA members at Verizon in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states voted overwhelmingly to authorize leaders to call a strike if they deem it necessary, and if negotiators fail to reach an agreement by contract expiration at midnight on August 2^nd.

Vice Presidents of Districts 1, 2 and 13 reported that more than 91 percent of Verizon members approved strike authorization in voting conducted among the 60 locals involved in Verizon East bargaining. The IBEW, which is bargaining jointly with CWA, also reported overwhelming member support for strike authorization.

The results of the strike authorization vote by VCSI members in District 2 were also overwhelming. Our VCSI members voted 98 percent to authorize a strike against Verizon should the leadership deem a strike necessary to achieve a fair contract.

On Thursday, July 31, 2008, Local 2336 will conduct a mobilization rally in Grove LE of Fort Dupont Park on Alabama Avenue SE, Washington, D.C. beginning at 2:00 p.m.

The rally is a show of member support for the bargaining committee, some of whom will be attending the rally to give us an up to the minute bargaining update.

CWA Local 2336 has exceeded its committed pledge of signing up 15 percent of their members. It is now the Local’s plan to sign up the entire membership.

The goal is to gather cards from a million union members to show how strongly workers support the Employee Free Choice Act and to display these cards at the U.S. Capitol when the new Congress is sworn in.

For more information watch at www.freechoiceact.org/cwa/pages/d1mobilization