Verizon fumbled a mass layoff, and is now under a labor commissioner scrutiny
Oh, the thumbnail image? It's former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders giving a fiery corporate greed/labor-adds-value type of speech in front of striking Verizon employees last year. Recently, mass layoffs at the Verizon Data Services India (VDSI) brought renewed focus to the practice, and Verizon seemingly fumbled a procedure or two.
More than 900 people, mostly mid-level staff, were given the pink slip there due to "role rationalisation." That's not all there is to it, though, as some of the employees reported pretty rough handling:
The bouncers pushed me back into my chair and held me by my shoulders till I signed the document. It was an awful experience and I can't begin to tell you how demeaning it was. It was not like I was on the bench, I was performing and they treated me in this terrible manner.
Adding insult to injury, the obligatory counselor was present, telling the 32-year old Verizon VDSI worker to keep calm, and try not to worsen their health with excessive worrying. The counselor pointed out that he will be getting a generous severance package with four-months worth of pay, too.
That did little to soothe the hurting soul of the data center employee, and now the Chennai labour commissioner, alerted by the Union of IT and ITES Employees (UNITE), is meeting with Verizon representatives, as well as the affected workers. Needless to say, Verizon is denying unfair treatment, and claims the following in its defense "Security personnel along with HR personnel were part of the meeting to ensure there were no emotional outbursts or adverse reactions." Haven't these guys watched "Up in the Air"?
source: NewsMinute
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