Christopher Bloncourt

Verizon Business Monsey, N.Y.

Christopher Bloncourt has been a telecommunications technician for Verizon Business (previously MCI) for seven years.  Bloncourt and his coworkers troubleshoot phone circuits for corporate clients in the New York metropolitan area, such as Bank of America, IBM, and Microsoft.

Bloncourt and his coworkers wanted to form a union because they wanted to have rights on the job and someone to defend those rights.  Bloncourt complained of favoritism by management in which raises were given out arbitrarily and promotions were often denied to more senior employees.  Bloncourt saw management hiring new employees rather than promoting from within.  When Verizon took over from MCI in 2005, Bloncourt began working with Verizon’s unionized work force, who make more money and have better benefits.  Bloncourt and his coworkers saw the benefits of union membership and decided to form their own union.    

When the workers started to form their union in May 2006, Bloncourt became an outspoken leader in support of the union.  It seems to Bloncourt that he was then singled out and that his manager was scrutinizing his every move.  A senior manager flew in from Pennsylvania to meet one-on-one with Bloncourt.  Bloncourt says coming to work became very stressful and his stomach was constantly turning under the pressure.  “You feel like you’re going to be fired,” says Bloncourt.  “It’s a horrible, horrible, horrible feeling.” 

According to Bloncourt, the company was not only sending a message to him, it was sending a message to all of the other workers who could see what was happening to him.  The company held several mandatory anti-union meetings trying to scare the workers and telling them the union just wanted their money and predicting that the union would force them out of strike.  The break rooms were littered with anti-union literature. 

Despite the company’s campaign of fear and misinformation, a majority of the workers signed cards authorizing the union as their bargain agent.  Unfortunately, the company refused to recognize the workers’ choice to form a union.  Bloncourt and his coworkers continue to fight for recognition while management continues to run its anti-union campaign.  If the Employee Free Choice Act were law, Bloncourt and his coworkers would have their choice to form a union honored and currently be at the bargaining table trying to improve their benefits and working conditions.