2026 Summary of Agreement in Principle Between CWA and Verizon: Frontier

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District One Vice President Dennis Trainor is pleased to announce that CWA has reached an Agreement in Principle with Verizon for CWA members currently employed by Frontier under the Rochester and Elmira, NY contracts. The Agreement is subject to ratification by the combined membership covered under all the applicable CBAs (Frontier and Verizon). 

This Agreement signals a new trajectory for CWA members at Frontier who have gone head-to-head for years with a company that has been a consistently bad actor and made repeated attempts to violate our union contract. 

As these members move into CWA’s Verizon bargaining unit, they will no longer be fighting on their own. They will be a part of our entire bargaining unit and we will all be stronger for that. This is a huge win for every single one of our Frontier and Verizon members.

CWA members who are currently employed by Frontier under the Rochester and Elmira, NY contracts will be covered under the applicable Agreements between CWA District One and Verizon beginning no later than January 3, 2027.  

This Agreement:

• Provides for significant improvements to the members' wages and benefits
• Will reduce the use of contractors in the former Frontier footprint
• Strengthens our bargaining unit 

Highlights of the Agreement:

Timeline

• Extends the Frontier CBAs until the Transition Date
• Transition date will be no later than January 3, 2027 - then former Frontier employees will be covered under the Verizon CBAs covering NY State

Wages and Other Compensation

• Retro pay:
  • 3% from June 14, 2024 through October 18, 2025 for time worked - and for paid time off only if the employee was active on payroll at some point between June 14, 2024 and the beginning of the paid time off.
  • An additional 3% from June 15, 2025 through October 18, 2025 for time worked - and for paid time off only if the employee was active on payroll at some point between June 15, 2025 and the beginning of the paid time off.
• Increase to current wage rate (still Frontier rate): 4% on July 26, 2026
• Upon the transition date, you will be covered under the applicable wage table in the Verizon CBAs based on your service with Frontier,   meaning 85% of the Frontier employees will receive top pay under the Verizon CBAs.
  • For example:
    • SST, at current top pay $1,732/week will be mapped to the Field Tech title, which has a top rate of $2,114 (top pay at 60 months).
    • Comms Coordinator I, current top pay $1,499/week will be mapped to the FCSA title, which has a top rate pay of $1,827 (top pay at 48 months).
  • Please reach out to your CWA Local to find out the specific mapping for your job title and length of service.

Pensions and Retirement Security

• Retiree Healthcare Subsidy
  • Your time employed by Frontier will count as service credited towards Verizon’s retiree healthcare subsidy
  • Verizon’s retiree healthcare subsidy is $772 for each year of service up to a maximum of 20 years, resulting in an annual maximum benefit of $15,440 a year towards pre-Medicare retiree healthcare.
  • This annual benefit may be taken in the form of an HRA to purchase a plan on the open market or pay for out-of-pocket expenses (not premium payments) under another plan you are eligible to participate in.
  • Once you reach Medicare age, the annual subsidy is reduced to $7,200 and the HRA is no longer an option.
• Medicare Advantage Plan
  • The current annual price of the Company-sponsored UHC Medicare Advantage Plan is $2,405 for an individual and $4,810 for individual +1 coverage — well below the subsidy amount.
  • In order to participate in an Advantage Plan you must be enrolled in Medicare Part B and pay those premiums to the federal government.
• Pension: All Frontier employees who are accruing a benefit under the Frontier Pension Plan will continue to accrue the benefit under the same plan rules and will not be treated as a “pension new hire” under the Verizon Corporate Profit Sharing award and 401(k) plan.

Subcontracting

• Verizon will continue to have the flexibility to subcontract work under the terms of the Frontier CBAs until December 31, 2028.
• Beginning on January 1, 2029, the Verizon CBAs will govern the company’s right to contract out work.
• Beginning on March 31, 2027, Verizon will be obligated to share contracting information with the Union and discuss in committee ways in which work could be brought back into the bargaining unit prior to December 31, 2028.

Service Credit

• Frontier employees will receive service credit for their time with Frontier for all purposes except - participation in the Verizon Pension Plan, coverage under the Job Security Letter (all other applicable job protections under the CBAs apply), and pre-08 retiree healthcare.

PSC Agreement

• In-home installation will begin to be returned to bargaining unit members 120 days after the acquisition.
• 3-year no layoff protection from the date of the acquisition.
• PSC Agreement is incorporated into the CBAs.

Highlights of 2026 Verizon Tentative Agreement:

All former Frontier employees will be considered post-08 and post-12 employees for the purpose of retiree health care and pension benefits.

1. Duration of Extension

The terms of the contract will become effective upon ratification and will remain in effect until 11:59 pm on August 3, 2030.

2.  All current terms and conditions remain in effect during the 2026 extension agreement, including the Work and Family Committee Funding and the Work from Home provisions agreed to in 2022. 

3. Wages and Other Compensation

• The wage increases listed below will be applied to all steps of the basic wage schedules on the date indicated:
  • 4.0% effective July 26, 2026
  • 3.5% effective July 25, 2027
  • 3% effective July 30, 2028
  • 3% effective July 29, 2029
  • 3% effective July 28, 2030

This is a 17.62% compounded wage increase between 2026-2030. 

• Cost of Living Adjustment: A cost-of-living adjustment, effective on July 29, 2029 if applicable, will be made to base wage rates. The adjustment is as follows: one-half of the increase above 3.75%  in CPI-W for the period April 2028 through April 2029, not to exceed 2%.
• Corporate Profit Sharing: The Company will award Corporate Profit Sharing distributions in each year of the extension, with a minimum distribution of $1,200 in each year (increased from $700 per year).  Additionally, members who were hired after October 28, 2012, will receive an additional $3,100 CPS award in each year, bringing their total to $4,300 a year.  The additional award will be automatically deposited into an individual's 401(k) unless they choose to take the distribution at the time of the award.

Note:  This combines the CPS and Stock Together and makes it a guaranteed distribution.  The Stock Together Program remains, but it continues to be at the company’s discretion.

• Added a 401(k) Savings Plan Matching Contributions Based on Student Loan Payments

4.  Dental Benefit Improvements:

Effective January 1, 2027, the following dental benefit improvements become effective:

1. The individual annual benefit will be increased by $500
2. The lifetime benefit for orthodontic care will be increased by $500
3. The schedule of benefits will be increased by 20% 

5. Healthcare Changes

Below are the premium contribution and plan design changes for each year of the Agreement:

a. Monthly Contributions toward Health Care Coverage

The following monthly rates assume non-smoker and completion of the Health Risk Assessment and apply for Employee only / Employee + Family Coverage:

b. MEP and HCN Plan Design Change

Plan Design Elements (Employee Only Coverage)

• Deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums for Family coverage will continue to be 2.5x of the employee-only amount.
• Copays for all covered services and supplies that currently have a $35 copay will be increased by $5 in 2030.
• Emergency Room copays will increase by $5 in 2029 and by $5 in 2030.

c. EPO and HMO Plan Design Changes

• Copays for all covered services and supplies that currently have a $35 copay will be increased by $5 in 2030.
• Emergency Room copays will increase by $5 in 2029 and again by $5 in 2030.

6. Jobs

• A minimum of 500 employees will be hired into jobs outside the Sales and Service Centers and Tech Support Centers in the CWA NY footprint. An additional 300 jobs are allocated to New England, and another 100 employees will be hired in the areas the Company determines it is most needed, bringing the total to 900 in the NY/NE footprint.
• 140 call center employees will be hired into Sales & Service Centers in NY/NE (proportionately distributed based on current headcount)
• 140 call center employees will be hired into the Tech Support Centers in NY/NE (proportionately distributed based on current headcount)
• Temporary employees (excluding escorts) will be offered permanent status within 30 days of ratification.
• LOA on contracted VZB Work - fiber restoration, cable pulls, and splicing work to be performed exclusively by Verizon or Verizon Business Techs beginning on January 1, 2027.
• LOA on Verizon Wireless co-location Work - technician work on operational transport equipment (Hut Work) outside the NY Metro area, will be exclusively performed by COTs beginning on January 1, 2027.
• LOA on Verizon Wireless Switching Work (SAP/TAP) - Verizon Business Technicians and/or Verizon Telecom Technicians will exclusively perform this work outside the NY Metro Area beginning January 1, 2027.  Additionally, Verizon will offer the wireless employees who perform this work bargaining unit jobs or hire at least 14 new employees in the NY/NE footprint to perform this work.
• LOA for Representatives to sell Verizon Wireless products. Wireless Reps can do a limited amount of secondary functions for Verizon Telecom customers but when it occurs it would be counted as a call that was routed to a contractor under the call share agreement resulting in no loss of work for our bargaining unit.
• LOA for Representatives and Tech Support to handle a majority of the work related to the Verizon/Eaton Fiber arrangement.
• LOA provides the opportunity for Verizon Telecom MET/MSTs to perform Network Installation work for Verizon Wireless and Verizon Business.
• LOA for bargaining unit employees to install Verizon Wireless One Talk product.
• LOA to purchase conduit heating equipment in six Upstate NY locations.
• Call Share percentages are increased as follows: