CWA Attacks Service Settlement Between Verizon and Maryland
A settlement on service standards proposed by Verizon, the Maryland Public Service Commission and the state People’s Counsel doesn’t serve consumers, the Communications Workers of America said Thursday. The CWA filed as an intervenor in the case, taken up at commission hearings Thursday and Friday.
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The hearings continue an inquiry spurred by thousands of complaints by Marylanders in 2007 about poor Verizon service. If the proposal takes effect, Verizon would pay $1 million total to customers who have experienced service lapses and missed appointments. Verizon’s charge in the state for basic dial-tone would rise $1 in July, then be frozen three years, according to media reports. The carrier would get flexibility in pricing other services -- a break Verizon says it needs to compete with providers not under the regulation it faces.
The proposed settlement “allows Verizon to keep its service failures a secret from the public, avoid service standards altogether and raise rates,” the CWA said. The company’s Maryland work force includes 5,000 CWA members, the union said. The union said some would be at the hearings to ask and answer questions but not to testify.
“This is a deeply flawed agreement, one that allows Verizon to avoid the settlement’s ‘incentive plan’ once the company has passed a ’secret’ percentage of market share of the Maryland public,” said Vice President Ron Collins of CWA District 2. “It also limits Verizon’s liability to customers who receive poor service.”
The CWA cited commissioners’ criticism, at a preliminary hearing Tuesday, of statements by Verizon that keeping its performance under wraps is in the public interest. “The PSC made clear it would not approve that aspect of the agreement and emphasized that Verizon’s service performance record would be available to consumers,” the union said. “This is one of the worst settlement agreements we have seen,” said Collins. “It practically rewards Verizon for poor performance. Our hope is that the PSC will either amend it or reject it altogether.”
The CWA and consumer advocates have contested Verizon’s follow-through on plans to drop copper networks in favor of fiber in many markets. “CWA sees this as a regulatory issue around the country,” union spokesman Jimmy Tarlau told us. “The quality of service provided consumers is interrelated with staffing levels. … The company promises to adhere to standards, but that can’t be done unless they hire enough people.” A Verizon representative didn’t respond to calls seeking comment.