US telecoms giant Verizon, workers reach tentative pay deal

Verizon has reached a tentative deal with unions that could end a weekslong strike and will see about 36,000 workers get a raise over the next three years, the US telecoms giant said Monday. The company said the new contracts would mainly benefit workers in its network operations and "consumer and mass business" units, and it pledged to hire 1,400 new staff, mainly for call center jobs. Verizon workers had been on strike since mid-April, but the deal means they are set to return to work Wednesday. The agreement provides a 10.5 percent raise over three years. "The tentative agreements reached today are good for our employees, good for our customers and will be good for our business," Verizon's chief administrative officer Marc Reed said in a statement. The possible deal with the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers was first announced Friday, though no details were given at the time.