WASHINGTON—Verizon Communications Inc. has reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract with the Communications Workers of America, to be effective when the current contract expires on March 16, for employees in Los Angeles, Ventura and Orange Counties and the Inland Empire region of California.
“The proposed settlement will help us continue to attract and retain qualified employees who place outstanding customer service foremost in their mind,” said Ron Johnson, Verizon’s chief negotiator.
The tentative agreement, which must be passed by a majority vote of the impacted CWA members, is similar to pacts reached earlier this year covering 4,200 employees in Texas and 645 employees in Washington and Idaho.
Verizon employs approximately 14,000 people in California.
The terms of the tentative agreement are as follows:
- A 12 percent wage increase spread over three years;
- The continuation of a team performance award plan that rewards employees for meeting business-unit objectives;
- The addition of one personal holiday, effective Jan. 1, 2002, so that each employee has a total of 13 paid holidays;
- The increase of lifetime comprehensive medical plan maximum to $2 million per covered individual beginning in July;
- Two years of company-paid medical coverage for an employee’s spouse, domestic partner, and dependents in the case of the employee’s death;
- The incorporation of mail-order prescription benefits;
- The removal of the deductible for “out of area” participants effective in July;
- The establishment of a $500 annual “opt out” credit for employees who elect not to enroll themselves or their eligible dependents in a company-sponsored medical plan or Health Maintenance Organization effective January 2003;
- The waiver of the annual deductible when an employee and/or enrolled dependents use a preferred dental provider effective January 2003;
- The creation of an adoption assistance plan, effective July 1, that up to $10,000 for authorized expenses related to the adoption of a child;
- The establishment of a vision plan, effective July 1, that provides reimbursement for eye exams and the purchase of eyeglasses and contact lenses;
- The creation of new hearing-aid benefit, effective January 2003; and
- The creation of a trial program allowing employees to donate vacation time to coworkers experiencing catastrophic illness or injury themselves or in their immediate family.
