CWA union says it faced “SWAT team armed with automatic weapons” after uncovering “massive Verizon o

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Source: Salon

CWA union says it faced “SWAT team armed with automatic weapons” after uncovering “massive Verizon offshoring operation in Philippines”

Photos and videos show what union reps say are armed police and a SWAT team "intimidating" them in the Philippines

The union that is on strike against corporate telecommunications giant Verizon alleges that its representatives were confronted by a heavily armed “SWAT team” in the Philippines, where it says it discovered undeclared offshore operations. Verizon strongly denies the accusations.

Chris Shelton, president of Communications Workers of America, or CWA, says his union was contacted by call center workers in the Philippines who work for Verizon. CWA says it sent four representatives to the Philippines this week, where they “discovered that the extent to which Verizon is offshoring work is far beyond what has previously been reported and what the company publicly has acknowledged.”

CWA alleges that Verizon is offshoring U.S. customer service calls to centers in the Philippines, where workers are paid as little as $1.78 an hour. The union says that Filipino workers told it they are being forced to work overtime an extra one to two hours each day, along with another full eight-hour sixth day, and are not receiving additional overtime compensation.

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“Terrified that the public might find out about what has happened to the good middle-class jobs the company has shipped overseas, Verizon sent private armed security forces after peaceful CWA representatives and called in a SWAT team armed with automatic weapons,” the union wrote in a statement.

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Read more: https://www.salon.com/2016/05/13/cwa_union_says_it_faced_swat_team_armed_with_automatic_weapons_after_uncovering_massive_verizon_offshoring_operation_in_philippines/