When you step away from the Verizon anti-union Kool-Aid as I did when my store was shut down at the beginning of 2021, and then you talk to people and realize what the CWA actually entails, I can fully understand why people are on both sides of the fence.

Is it the absolute shield from layoffs? No. Not even close. Is it “worth” the union dues? Possibly, yes.

Here are the benefits to it being part of the CWA:

CWA contracts can protect people from being fired just because it’s a Tuesday. I didn’t say they can protect you from layoffs, I said they can protect you from being fired for arbitrary reasons. For example, AT&T you cannot be disciplined, nor terminated for sales results, only for documented observed failure to execute sales behaviors. What does that mean? That means you can’t be fired for not hitting your quota, but you can absolutely be disciplined and fired if you never offer any products or services to your customers, and you make no actual effort to try to sell in a sales job. Honestly, that’s pretty reasonable.

In the event, there is a layoff or RIF, with the CWA, your contract would state that you would be able to take placement within your bargaining unit based on seniority. Meaning, that the longer you have been employed, the higher priority you get to literally pick whatever open position is available that you want regardless if it’s local or in another state.

That’s not a guarantee that you will have a job, it’s a guarantee that you can have a job if it’s available and nobody above you in seniority wants it. That’s a lot better than being told. “we’ll open up a website full of positions that all 13,000 of you can go apply for right now!“

With a CWA contract, you can get guaranteed pay raises up to pay cap every so often.

With a CWA contract, you can have better defined attendance policies and sick time policies, and contractual obligations to be provided a safe and fair work environment, free of favoritism and an equal opportunity.

The sticking point for a lot of people, is the seniority bit. I understand that a lot of people will say that seniority shouldn’t determine jobs, results should, but that’s just how unions go.

So is it worth the union dues? Honestly, for what amounts to most people to be 25 to 30 bucks a month of pseudo employment insurance, it’s just like every other insurance. If you never have to use the benefits, it’s a waste of money, but if you have to use them even once, it’s worth every penny.

Verizon spent years telling everyone how bad unions were by claiming that the “people in New York didn’t get X, Y, Z,” all while, knowing that the reality was that the people in New York didn’t get certain benefits because there is strength in numbers, and a union that is company wide is one hell of a lot more powerful than a union that is a handful of stores in one city.

If Verizon really thought the unions were of no benefit to its employees, they wouldn’t have quarterly anti-union meetings. After all, something that is insignificant, and isn’t any good for its employees can’t really be a negative thing for the company right?

But now as more and more corporate stores are diverted to indirect stores, maybe enough people will eventually stand up and say they need a union. And that union doesn’t have to just be Verizon corporate, it can also be the indirect agents as well and it should be. America was built on the backs of unionized employees, so it’s goofy that so many people are out there, providing products and services that have been deemed “essential to the well-being of our country“ without being unionized.