Verizon talks to resume Tuesday

WASHINGTON -- Negotiations will resume Tuesday between Verizon Communications and its two unions after a break called by government mediators.

Long and intense negotiations have been ongoing since a 12:01 a.m. Aug. 3 strike deadline passed, with both sides saying they were making progress.

The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service has been hosting top-level negotiations at the agency's headquarters while regional talks continued at other sites in Washington and in New York.

The agency said Friday that talks will be held at the regional locations when they resume Tuesday, adding "FMCS will continue to assist the parties to reach an agreement."

Nearly 80,000 Verizon telephone workers from Virginia to Maine were prepared to walk out when their contracts expired Aug. 2. But union negotiators said enough progress was being made at the bargaining table to postpone the walkout.

Negotiators for the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers have aimed to protect job security and health benefits.

Verizon has said "all the issues are connected and boil down to the company's need to create a more competitive cost structure."

The company's local phone service business is shrinking, while growth areas are in wireless and high-speed Internet, separate divisions of the company that are not highly unionized.

Negotiations have been ongoing since June 16, and federal mediators stepped in last week.

Separately, about 150 workers in western North Carolina voted to approve a new contract, ending a 12-week strike. Those workers are expected to return to their jobs Monday.

The three-year contract includes a 12 percent wage hike, a 4 percent pension increase and improvements in health care and other benefits, the communications workers union said.

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On the Net:

Verizon: http://www.verizon.com

Communications Workers of America: http://www.cwa-union.org

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers: http://www.ibew.org/