Verizon’s Bid to Buy Frontier

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

On Thursday, Verizon announced a bid to buy Frontier Communications in a $20 billion deal that the company says is intended to expand Verizon’s fiber network.

In our long history with Verizon and Frontier, our union has seen corporate deals and mergers that prioritized profits over people and investors over the infrastructure that our communities need and deserve.

Through it all, one thing has remained constant: Our members care deeply about providing quality service to the communities where they work and live.

Our members have worked with skill and dedication to build and support reliable, future-proof fiber connections for their communities. During previous Verizon-Frontier deals in 2010 and 2016 and Frontier’s bankruptcy in 2020 we secured our members’ collective bargaining agreements and fought to protect good union jobs that sustain our communities.

Our members have built determination and grit into the broadband network that Verizon proposes to buy. In 2018, our Frontier members in West Virginia and Ashburn, Virginia went on strike to make sure that the company lived up to its responsibilities to its workers and to its customers. Our members have advocated for B.E.A.D. funding from the federal infrastructure bill, and stood together in solidarity to ensure that public dollars will fund high-quality fiber networks, built by experienced union technicians.

We are analyzing this deal closely to see what the impact will be on our members and retirees at both Frontier and at Verizon. The Vice Presidents for the affected districts and the Telecommunications and Technologies sector will be involved in any discussions with the company. Together, we will work to ensure that hardworking people, not just profits, are given their due consideration in Verizon’s proposed acquisition.

In Unity,

Claude Cummings Jr.
President