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CWA Rallies to Fight Verizon-Frontier Deal in West Virginia: Deal Benefits Wall Street Bankers, Not Consumers

Phillip Dampier January 14, 2010 Frontier, Public Policy & Gov't, Verizon, Video 1 Comment

Some of the crowd at Sunday's rally in Charleston

Verizon employees affiliated with the Communications Workers of America turned out in force Sunday to protest the proposed sale of Verizon’s West Virginia operations to Frontier Communications of Connecticut.

Hundreds of workers and union members rallied at the West Virginia Culture Center in Charleston, the state capital, to protest the deal.

The CWA is concerned the transaction will enrich a handful of corporate executives and Wall Street bankers while saddling the state with sub-standard phone and Internet service for years to come.  Frontier Communications will assume enormous debt to make the deal happen with Verizon, and set itself down the same path that ended in bankruptcy for two similar deals in the recent past involving FairPoint Communications and Hawaiian Telcom.

Union members are, of course, concerned about their future employment prospects at a Frontier-owned operation, but insist they are also concerned with the citizens of West Virginia.

“I work in the community and live in the community. I want to be able to go out to the stores with nobody yelling at me for not being able to provide service for them,” said Jim Radcliff, a Verizon employee.

(from left to right) CWA Pres. Larry Cohen, Local 2003 Pres. Anekia Greiner, and CWA District 2 VP Ron Collins

West Virginia’s governor Joe Manchin made an appearance at the rally, saying he has concerns about the proposed sale, and joined labor and community leaders to say he would do everything in his power to make the proposed deal work for working families in the state, not just Wall Street bankers.

Other rally speakers included Sen. Jack Yost, Del. Mike Caputo, state AFL-CIO President Kenny Perdue, and representatives from the firefighters, nurses and senior citizens.

Firefighters and other public safety officials are concerned about potential disruptions of 911 service, which were an ongoing problem after FairPoint Communications took control of Verizon lines in northern New England.

[flv]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/CWA 911 Service At Risk Ad.flv[/flv]

The Communications Workers of America is concerned the sale of Verizon’s phone lines to Frontier Communications could cause disruptions in 911 service, as happened with FairPoint Communications in northern New England.  The CWA is running this ad in West Virginia.

“We need to bring high speed broadband to West Virginia and communities across the country, to foster economic growth,” CWA President Larry Cohen said.  “Instead, Verizon is using an obscure tax loophole to do a tax free deal that will leave West Virginia without a platform for achieving the speeds that are necessary for economic development.  This deal is only good for Wall Street, not Main Street.”

Cohen was speaking about Verizon’s use of the Reverse Morris Trust provision in corporate tax law, which Stop the Cap! explored last fall in detail.  This transaction could cost taxpayers as much as $600 million in lost tax revenue.

Audio Clip: Communications Workers of America Frontier-Verizon Radio Ad (30 seconds)
You must remain on this page to hear the clip, or you can download the clip and listen later.

[flv]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WCHS Charleston Union Opposes Sale of Verizon Landlines 1-10-10.flv[/flv]

WCHS-TV in Charleston covered the weekend rally by CWA opposing the sale of Verizon’s landlines to Frontier Communications. (2 minutes)

[flv width=”640″ height=”500″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/CWA Rally Excerpts 1-10-10.flv[/flv]

Here are some excerpts from Sunday’s rally including speakers protesting the proposed sale and praising union involvement in consumer protection. (courtesy: LairdWilliam) (10 minutes)

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Skye Smith
Skye Smith
14 years ago

Here is an email I sent to Frontier Customer Service today on behalf of an elderly friend. All of the information I’m about to post is fact. I am writing from Northwestern Arizona. I encourage everyone who has received questionable or outrageous billing from Frontier services, been victimized by their “misinterpretation of customer’s requests” and so on to share their own horror stories. And I, too, absolutely disagree with this internet “Cap” nonsense, which is simply another attempt to fleece customers during a time when the U.S. economy is in a downturn matched only by what was known as “The… Read more »

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