Assemblyman Dinowitz Says, “WE WON” Consumer Affairs Chair Hails Victory Over Verizon on $2 Fee

Here is a small victory for consumers to start 2012 on the right foot. After complaints by customers and vocal opposition by political leaders, Verizon cancelled its $2 single payment fee. (Please see previous post for additional background) Hopefully consumers will start taking back their power in 2012! Capitalism provides the greatest voice for consumers when they understand that their purchasing habits impact how sale driven companies treat them. Kudos to everyone who stood up to the small injustice, Assemblyman Dinowitz for his leadership and Verizon management for listening to its customers. Hopefully consumer diligence against frivolous fees by for-profit corporations and GOVERNMENT entities will become ingrained again in the American consumer psyche.

Gregory

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Assembly Consumer Affairs and Protection Committee Chair Jeffrey Dinowitz hailed Verizon’s decision to back down from its plan to charge single payment fees to consumers who pay their bills online or over the phone each billing cycle as opposed to enrolling in automatic bill pay. Single payment fees generate numerous complaints and inquiries from customers because they unfairly target low-income consumers. “We won! This was a huge victory for consumers. When I called on Verizon to reverse this fee, thousands and thousands of consumers demanded this as well. What a victory!” said Assemblyman Dinowitz.

As Assemblyman Dinowitz stated last week, “During these tough economic times, many consumers are struggling to pay their bills and must budget very carefully. Consumers who pay their bills at the last minute are often living paycheck to paycheck. These people should not be forced to bear the burden of an additional monthly charge. Businesses looking to increase regular and timely payments through automatic bill pay need to look at other ways to achieve this goal, such as incentive-based programs, that do not penalize low- and middle-income consumers.”

“No company should charge some customers additional fees based on how they pay their bills. It just amazes me that, at a time when Verizon has already been harshly criticized for its efforts to cut back on the benefits of its workers, it would take additional steps that negatively impact on middle class and poor people.”

Assemblyman Dinowitz said of the victory, “This abrupt reversal by Verizon shows that consumers really can have an influence on corporate policies. The recent reversal of a fee for use of debit cards by Bank of America and now this change of heart by Verizon prove that it is important to speak out loudly against unfairness and injustice. We may not always win, but the only way to win on issues such as these is to fight.”

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Bronx Elected Officials Join Verzon Workers on Picket Line

Various elected officials showed their support for unionized labor recently by joining Verizon workers at a rally. Elected officials present were Assemblyman Dinowitz, State Senator Gustavo Rivera, Council Member Fernando Cabrera, and Assemblyman Michael Benedetto.

BoogieDowner Editorial: Dennis Walcott, Michael Quill, and the Moral Example of New Yorks' Trade Union Tradition

My last few posts included statements from NYC Comptroller Liu, NYC Council Technology Chair Fernando Cabrera and union leaders from CWU. All three in varying degrees requested a postponement of the $120 million dollar contract renewal between the NYC Department of Education and Verizon. Various reasons for the postponement of the renewal included investigations into alleged fraud and a more thorough review if the funds could better serve our youth. Please do feel free to review the actual press releases, statements and letters posted on previous BoogieDowner posts.

As a side note, even though the letters and press releases were written and made public, and the demonstration lead by CWU was loud and clear, there was hardly a peep about it in the main stream media. The only coverage of union demonstrations I saw Tuesday night included union workers rallying for increases in toll charges for the Port Authority, even though our State Comptroller issued a report blasting the Port Authority for excessive overtime abuse.

As I unexpected, NYC School Chancellor Dennis Walcott ignored all requests for a postponement of the DOE/Verizon contract renewal. He is quoted as saying, “We have a responsibility to pay Verizon - but to do this we have to approve this contract”. The top two questions I have in connection with his actions and words are;

1- How is it possible to pay NYC teachers when they often work without a contract for years, but not pay DOE consultants when they are not under contract?
2- Why would you renew a contract where allegations of a 3.7 million dollar fraud are circulating without further review?

Some people, including our Mayor, have connected the press releases, statements and letters sent as an unholy intrusion of government into the private sector. My response to them is again two fold. Firstly, when there are allegations of miss-appropriation of funds by our NYC Comptroller and other reputable authorities, they should be taken into consideration. Not only does government have a right to intervene it also has a fiduciary responsibility to tax payers to intervene. Secondly, government does have a right to intervene when American workers are under attack. In addition, the voters have a right and obligation to remember if the intervention was justified and handled properly when the ballot box is passed.

On Walcott’s first day as Chancellor he visited Harvest Fields Community Church in the Bronx. The April 18th, 2011 New York Post article stated they “laid hands on the education department new honcho on Palm Sunday Mass”. For those who do not follow the Christian faith, Palm Sunday is one of Christianities most revered holidays. It commemorates Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem as the “Prince of Peace”. I posted the link below for anyone wishing to review the article.

Many had reasonable hopes for Walcott’s appointment after Cathy Blacks “resignation”. Would he be the “Prince of Piece” of the NYC school system, as his public relations stunt at the Harvest Fields Community Church in the Bronx implied, or would he be just another pawn in the privatization of our school system for plutocrats intent on holding him on a tight leash. My conclusion is obviously the latter. He did not even have the line to postpone the contract renewal to a later date.

When a NYC teacher is deemed to be “Unsatisfactory” he is given an opportunity to improve. In the same spirit of helping Chancellor Walcott improve as NYC Chancellor, I attached a video of a true “messiah” of the people. Someone who was a true champion of and for the people. Hopefully the video will be a teachable moment for our school chancellor. It is a short video of the late TWU labor leader Michael J. Quill. As a teaser to the video, here is quote from Dr. Martin Luther King about him’

“Mike Quill was a fighter for the decent things in life – Irish Independence, Labor Organization, and Racial Equality. He spent his life ripping the chains of bondage off his fellow man. This is a man the ages will remember”

- Martin Luther King Jr.

(Video about late TWU labor leader Mike J. Quill)

May the late great Michael J. Quill rest in peace and be remembered for ages as Dr. Luther King predicted.

Sincerely,
Gregory

P.S. Special Thanks John O

Link to April 18th 2011 Daily York Post Article: "Thank God for Walcott"
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/bronx/thank_god_for_walcott_hByFjLPEdrG7zwHSqY3PdP

COMPTROLLER LIU CALLS FOR POSTPONEMENT OF PEP / VERIZON VOTE

Here is more from NYC Comptroller Liu's office weighing in on the Panel for Educational Policy to postpone tonight’s vote to approve Verizons $175 million contract with the NYC DOE.

A balance protecting our middle class and corporations from unfair competitive practices needs to be found. Is Verizon at a disadvantage if it does not outsource workers or if it pays health benefits to its employees? If so regulation needs to be passed. In addition, transparency must be a top priority for all government contracts. It’s our money!!!!

Tonight’s rally and PEP meeting should be interesting. Major issues related to how labor, management and regulators interact are at stake. Hopefully the middle class will not be bull dozed over. Hopefully the middle class will keep track of who our champions are during negotiations and remember them at the ballot box. Once again our long term corporate profits and our democracy are tied to the American middle class. Choking America’s middle class would only provide short term profits for a select few and prevent a needed recovery at the cost of what our nation stands for; a strong middle class.

Gregory
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COMPTROLLER LIU CALLS FOR POSTPONEMENT OF PEP / VERIZON VOTE
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NEW YORK, NY – City Comptroller John C. Liu issued the following statement in response to questions about tonight’s Panel for Educational Policy vote:

“The members of the Panel for Educational Policy should act appropriately and postpone the vote to allow the DOE to pay Verizon $120 million until a resolution is reached in the company’s ongoing labor dispute. Now is not the time to fund new projects, especially as thousands of New Yorkers and their families are in danger of losing their benefits. No City agency should take sides in a disagreement between labor and management, and a ‘yes’ vote would equate to a validation of Verizon’s demands. Instead, the suitable action would be to wait until an agreement is reached. My office remains available to assist both sides in any way possible.”

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NOTE: In May, Comptroller Liu registered a contract between the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications and Telesector Resources Group, Inc. (a Verizon subsidiary) to provide citywide landline and voicemail services as part of an agency-wide consolidation effort.

The contract is valued at $175 million and specified that DoITT was the lead agency, with a number of additional city agencies able to utilize Telesector services. Today, the NYC Panel for Education Policy is set to vote to allow DOE to allocate $120 million to Telesector, while an ongoing labor dispute is taking place.

CWA Spearheads Rally against Verizon Securing Multimillion Dollar Deal with NYC DOE

Here is more on the pending Verizon contract with the NYC Department of Education and a rally spearheaded by CWA. The protestors are against the city ratifying the contract with verizon due to allegations of corporate greed and outright fraud by Verizon perpetuated against NYC taxpayers. Please see a copy of the press release sent with information about the rally scheduled for today and their allegations against Verizon.

Gregory
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Rally to protest the NYC Department of Education’s proposed $120 million contract with Verizon before Panel for Education Policy’s vote

Wed. August 17, 2011, hundreds of parents, teachers, elected
officials, community activists and striking Verizon workers will speak
out against the NYC Department of Education’s proposed $120 million, two
year Verizon contract. A meeting and vote of the Panel for Educational Policy
will follow.

WHO: Parents, teachers, community activists, elected officials, union
leaders, and striking Verizon workers

WHAT: Rally to oppose an egregious, wasteful and possibly illegal $120
million Verizon contract

WHERE: Murry Bergtraum HS, 411 Pearl Street, in lower Manhattan

WHEN: Wednesday, August 17, 2011 at 5 PM

The NYC Department of Education proposes to grant a two year, $120
million contract to Verizon, despite the company’s demand for huge and unfair
givebacks from their workers, despite Verizon being implicated in a $3.7
million fraud against the DOE, despite twenty other instances of
questionable corporate activities, despite the fact that all schools are
already wired for the internet and schools are suffering huge budget
cuts, sharply rising class sizes, and stagnant achievement levels, and
despite the fact that this contract began last January, without any vote of the
Panel for Educational Policy (PEP), making it potentially illegal.

The PEP will vote on this contract at a meeting at Murry Bergtraum High
School in downtown Manhattan, starting at 6 PM.

Before the meeting, at 5 PM, hundreds of striking Verizon workers, along
with parents, teachers, elected officials, union leaders and community
activists, will speak out against it.

For more information, see "Five reasons to say NO! to the DOE's $120
million contract with Verizon" at http://tinyurl.com/3glh8zq

Bob Master, CWA: 212-344-2515/917-657-6483:
Leonie Haimson, Class Size Matters: 917-435-9329
Julie Cavanagh, GEM: 917- 836-6465
Zakiyah Ansari, CEJ: 917- 309-5742
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NYC Councilman and Technology Chair Fernando Cabrera, Weights in on Multimillion Dollar Contract Pending between DOE and Verizon

I received multiple e-mails today about a multimillion dollar contract on the table between the DOE and Verizon. Here is the e-mail received from Councilman Cabrera’s office about his letter sent to DOE Chancellor Walcott, asking that today’s vote on Verizons $60 million dollar contract be delayed based on a recent report that found the company complicit in a $3 million dollar scheme of city funds. Please see a copy of the text sent by the Cabrera’s office late last night.

Gregory
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Copy of letter sent to DOE Chancellor Walcott by NYC Technology Chair Fernando Cabrera:

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

Dear Chancellor Walcott,

On Wednesday, the Mayor's Panel for Educational Policy will consider approving a $60 million dollar contract with Verizon to provide internet and phone service to schools. While our schools are in desperate need of resources, and while investment in education should remain a priority for our City, I have serious concerns over the pending contract with Verizon.

In a report prepared by Special Commissioner of Investigation Robert J. Condon for the New York City School District released April 28th, 2011, it was stated that “the investigation also established that Verizon, in order to be awarded a multi-million dollar contract, agreed to a demand that Verizon use subcontractor Custom Computer Specialists (“CCS”) at a higher cost to the DOE than Verizon would have charged for the same services.”

The SCI Report further suggests that “The DOE refrain from contracting or subcontracting with Ross Lanham or any company associated with him and that he be barred from working for the DOE and on DOE premises,” and that if “that, if the DOE continues to use the contractors or subcontractors cited in this report, adequate safeguards must be put in place to prevent a recurrence of this type of scheme.”

It is for these reasons I believe the vote to approve another city contract with Verizon should be delayed until certain questions can be answered in a formal manner. In my capacity as the Chair of the Technology Committee on the City Council, I plan to hold an oversight hearing concerning this matter in order to begin that process.

I am therefore asking that any decision made on the pending contract between Verizon and the Department of Education be delayed until the City Council is allowed the chance to conduct a hearing over a process that has in some instances turned out to be a bad deal for the taxpayers. It is my hope that you will take into consideration the findings of the New York Schools Investigation Report and the sentiment of the public that suggests we proceed with caution when contracting millions of dollars in tax-payer funds.

Thank you for your consideration,

Sincerely,

Fernando Cabrera
Council Member