PHILADELPHIA – Verizon Pennsylvania is seeking to vacate an arbitration award in a union dispute.
Verizon Pennsylvania LLC filed a complaint on Jan. 31 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO, Local 13000 and Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO, District 2-13 citing the Labor Management Relations Act.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff and its predecessors and the union and its predecessors have been parties to bargaining agreements since 1943. The suit states a dispute arose between the parties when the plaintiff offered FiOS TV customers the option of installing their own set-top boxes, which the plaintiff alleges requires no technical skill or training to do.
The suit states the union filed a grievance in February 2008 asserting the bargaining agreement was violated because all work associated with the set-top boxes should be done by Communications Workers of America members. The plaintiff alleges the union demanded arbitration in April 2008, which was not completed until December 2015. The suit states a final award was issued in July 2016, which the plaintiff dissented, and a supplemental award issued in January 2018.
The plaintiff seeks requests that the court vacate the arbitral awards, court costs and any further relief the court grants. It is represented by James S. Urban of Jones Day in Pittsburgh, E. Michael Rossman of Jones day in Chicago and Meir Feder of Jones Day in New York.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case number 2:18-cv-00394-CMR