SEATTLE — The union representing Verizon Wireless employees in western Washington claims a Seattle employee was illegally fired after attending a union event in Lynnwood and after joining with his coworkers to organize a union.
The Communications Workers of America (CWA), which has more than 700,000 members nationwide, filed an "unfair labor practice" charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against Verizon Wireless.
CWA said the employee, Jesse Mason, was fired just days after he attended the union vote count for Everett and Lynnwood Verizon workers on Friday, April 15.
Mason and his colleagues at the Seattle Northgate and Aurora Village Verizon stores recently went public with their own union campaign.
The union said Mason "had a stellar employment record with no previous disciplinary action" while working at Verizon.
“Jesse’s firing, just days after dozens of other workers at two nearby Verizon Wireless retail stores successfully formed a union, is a clear tactic meant to intimidate other workers,” said CWA Secretary-Treasurer Sara Steffens.
“Verizon management targeted me for organizing a union,” said Mason. “It’s illegal to do that, and I’m confident that I will eventually be reinstated."
“The allegations that Mr. Mason was terminated for his union activity is false. Verizon respects our employees’ rights to choose whether they want union representation. We intend to vigorously defend ourselves against these baseless accusations," Verizon said in a statement to KING 5.
"They can fire me, but they can’t fire all of us, and we won’t stop fighting until every worker who wants a union has a union," said Mason.
Employees at the Everett and Lynnwood Verizon Wireless stores are the first to unionize in the country outside of New York.
The near-unanimous victory represents the latest in a growing labor movement across the country that includes the unionization of Starbucks stores and the first Amazon warehouse union.