WHEREAS, 40,000 Verizon employees who are part of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and International Brotherhood of Electric Workers (IBEW) went on strike on April 13 along the East Coast; and

WHEREAS, our brothers and sisters in the CWA and IBEW have been working for Verizon without a contract since August; and

WHEREAS, in addition to outsourcing jobs, Verizon wants to cut job security for its workers, keep union members working in locations away from their homes and families for as long as two months, freeze pensions at 30 years and cut retirees’ health care coverage, cut benefits for workers injured on the job and cut healthcare benefits; and

WHEREAS, Verizon insists these cuts are necessary despite massive profits: $39 billion over the past three years and $8.9 billion in 2015 alone;

WHEREAS, according to proxy statements filed for 2015, five of the top executives at Verizon each earned more than $6 million in 2014, in cash, equity and other compensation, and the Chairman and CEO Lowell C. McAdam made $18,260,568, making him one of the five highest paid executives in the telecommunications sector and one of the 200 highest-paid CEOs in the nation, according to the Equilar 200 Highest-Paid CEO Rankings;

WHEREAS, UFT members know too well the stress, fear and insecurity of working without a contract, having been forced to do so between 2009 and 2014 because former Mayor Michael Bloomberg refused to negotiate in good faith; and

WHEREAS, Verizon has outsourced 5,000 jobs to other countries; and

WHEREAS, as New York City educators, UFT members are invested in maintaining decent, middle-class jobs in the U.S., which is a goal of many of our students; therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the UFT stand behind striking Verizon workers in their bold effort to keep good, stable jobs in the U.S. and fight corporate greed.