LABOR battles are often fought on the picket lines, but Verizon and its largest union are dueling to get the upper hand in an unusual battle of newspaper ads and spot broadcast messages.þþFacing an Aug. 2 contract-negotiation deadline, Verizon and the union, the Communications Workers of America, have poured more than $1 million into advertising in a dozen Northeastern cities, straining to win public sympathy and throw each other on the defensive.þþVerizon has run full-page ads featuring a large photo of a waiter and a customer in a diner. As the middle-aged waiter pours a pot of coffee for a customer at the counter, he asks: ÿCharlie had almost all his medical bills covered? Who does he work for?ÿþþThe customer replies, ÿVerizon.ÿþþIn the text below, the advertisement seeks to convince the public — and perhaps union members — that Verizon's workers have a good deal. ÿOur union-represented employees currently have some of the best benefits in the industry,ÿ the ad says. The proof, it says, is that technicians in New York average $84,000 in annual salary and benefits, receive up to five weeks' vacation and rank No. 1 for pension benefits among workers at the nation's 10 largest companies. þþVerizon makes the same point and uses much of the same language in 30-second television spots with the same characters. The campaign was created by one of its regular agencies, Draft Worldwide in New York, part of the Interpublic Group of Companies.þþNoting the telecommunications slump, the company is demanding that the union, which represents 60,000 Verizon employees from Maine to Virginia, agree to loosen job security protections and that workers contribute more toward health coverage. The union is resisting the notion of their workers' paying more for health insurance and it wants management to agree to ways to make it easier to unionize nearly 20,000 workers at Verizon Wireless, a joint venture owned 55 percent by Verizon and 45 percent by the Vodafone Group of Britain. þþVerizon is in ways using the ads to go over the heads of labor leaders and appeal directly to its unionized workers. Indeed, the ads show that the two sides recognize the importance of public support. þþÿPublic opinion is going to matter in this battle,ÿ a spokesman for the Communications Workers, Robert Master, said.þþThe union has replied pointedly with a half-page ad that began running yesterday. The ad mocks Verizon for using models rather than real workers in its ads. Its headline says: ÿReal People. Real Jobs. In Real Jeopardy.ÿ þþThen the ad, showing three real Verizon workers standing stiffly, says, ÿHave you seen Verizon's `diner' ads where actors go on and on about how good benefits are at Verizon? Well, think about what real people, in real diners, would say if they knew Verizon was trying to cut the very same employee health benefits it's bragging about.ÿþþA Verizon spokesman, Eric Rabe, defended the ads, saying it was common for companies to use models. ÿBut the facts are what they are,ÿ he said, ÿand even if the union accepts what's on the table right now on health coverage, the workers' plan would be much better than what the vast majority of American workers have, and better than what all other telecommunications workers have.ÿ þþIn interviews, company officials said that the union's members pay only 5 percent of their annual health costs and that it was only fair for them to pay more when health costs are climbing more than 12 percent a year.þ• þþIn its newspaper and broadcast ads, the union has sought to rebut this argument by noting that Verizon had $4 billion in profit last year and asserting that its chief executive, Ivan G. Seidenberg, received many thousands of stock options last year.þþA newspaper ad the union ran last week showed a well-dressed executive sliding dozens of $100 bills into his pocket. (It's a model, not Mr. Seidenberg, Verizon officials point out.) The ad began: ÿ$58.4 million for 1 guy or health care for 34,600 families? Verizon's making the wrong choice.ÿþþThe ad then noted that Verizon wants 34,600 retirees, who now contribute little toward health coverage, to pay $60 million more for health benefits each year through higher premiums and co-payments.þþJeffrey Miller, the union's communications director, said, ÿThis particular ad talks about the fact that this is a wealthy company that rewards its executives extremely well while it's demanding such things as cutbacks in health care for active and retired workers.ÿ The ad, like a high-polished commercial the union broadcast in December, was created by GMMB in Washington, part of the Omnicom Group.þþThe two sides have accused each other of distortions. The union said Mr. Seidenberg's stock options would rise by 10 percent in value annually over 10 years, but Verizon officials said that figure was optimistic bordering on unrealistic. Rather, they say, Mr. Seidenberg took a pay cut.þþÿThey're using selective data,ÿ Mr. Rabe said. ÿIvan took a decrease in compensation last year. They've mischaracterized it completely.ÿþþSimilarly, labor leaders accuse Verizon of exaggerating workers' pay levels. Mr. Master, the union spokesman, said that the base salary for Verizon's union members in New York is $52,000. He said that the company has downsized so much that workers average $7,500 in overtime each year.þþÿFifty-two thousand a year is not an outrageous amount of money,ÿ Mr. Master said. ÿWhat they're doing is a smoke screen for the fact that their top executives are making tens of millions in compensation and options, and they're asking us to make major sacrifices.ÿþþCutting through all the arguments and charged language, some labor experts say that reaching a deal by Aug. 2 will be difficult unless management agrees to make it easier to unionize workers at Verizon Wireless and the union agrees to increase health contributions and to give management more flexibility to reduce the work force.þþþ
Source: NY Times
