Tens of thousands of Verizon employees are expected to return to work on Wednesday, June 1, following a year of "intensive" negotiations with the phone company.

In a statement released on May 30, Verizon announced it reached tentative agreements with the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), creating new contracts for nearly 36,000 employees who operate the company's consumer and mass business units.

The Agreement: "Good For Business"

According to Verizon, the company revealed there will be cost avoidance and savings through changes in their healthcare plans, adopting Medicare Advantage plans for retirees, post-retirement healthcare costs limits, "freezing the mortality table for lump sum pensions using the GATT rate" and offer special buyout incentives to employees.

"The tentative agreements reached today are good for our employees, good for our customers and will be good for our business," said Verizon Chief Administrative Officer Marc Reed. "The new contracts will help ensure that Verizon employees continue to receive solid wages and excellent healthcare and retirement benefits. They also include key changes sought by the company to better position our wireline business for success in the digital world."

"This will allow our business to be more flexible and competitive and will help achieve greater efficiencies as we operate in the ever changing and dynamic digital marketplace," Reed added.

Verizon employees, specifically those covered by the new contracts, will see their wages increase by 10.5 percent throughout the term of their contract, which expires on Aug. 3, 2019. The CWA noted the agreement also provides: "$1,250 signing bonus in the Mid-Atlantic and a $1000 signing bonus plus a $250 healthcare reimbursement account in the Northeast, $2,800 minimum in profit sharing, pension increases, and a first contract for Verizon Wireless retail store employees in Brooklyn, N.Y. and Everett, [Massachusetts]."

Power of the Strike

The new contracts come after almost seven weeks of unions protesting against Verizon. The company acknowledged it engaged with thousands of non-union employees and contractors to fill-in the employees on strike.

"Our children and our families have been depending on us to stand up for what's right and what's fair," said Fitzgerald Boyce, a Verizon field technician, in a statement from the CWA. "Striking wasn't an easy decision for our families, but we knew that we had to fight to save good jobs and our way of life. We fought hard and we won."

"CWA appreciates the persistence and dedication of [Department of Labor Secretary Thomas] Perez, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service Director Allison Beck and their entire teams. The addition of good new jobs at Verizon is a huge win not just for striking workers, but for our communities and the country as a whole. This contract is a victory for working families across the country and an affirmation of the power of working people," said CWA President Chris Shelton.

"It proves that when we stand together we can raise up working families, improve our communities and advance the interests of America's working people," Shelton continued.

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