COLD SPRING HARBOR, NY — Members of the non-profit Association of BellTel Retirees, Inc. are calling all those impacted by the recent layoffs at Verizon to join their movement to promote the protection and enhancement of the earned benefits and pensions of all retirees and current employees of companies derived from the original Bell system.
In November 2025 Verizon announced the layoffs of more than 13,000 individuals as part of a new plan to “reorient” the company. The announcement came just one month after Dan Schulman stepped into the CEO position. In a letter from Schulman to the staff, he explained that the layoffs are intended to change the company’s cost structure and enable them to invest further. The 13,000 individuals include about 20% of the company’s management workforce, who are not unionized, making this the largest round of layoffs in the company’s history.
Thomas Steed, BellTel Chairman and a former telecommunication technical associate at Verizon said, “To announce these massive layoffs as we enter the holiday season is a cruel example of yet another telecommunications company failing their own. I urge all of those impacted by these job cuts to join the Association of BellTel Retirees as we continue to fight back against failed promises and commitments from the corporations we gave our life’s work to.”
The Association of BellTel Retirees was initially founded in 1995 by seven retirees of companies derived from the original Bell system. The organization now advocates for 205,000 Bell Atlantic, NYNEX, GTE, MCI, Idearc, AT&T and Verizon union and management retirees and retirees who were transferred to Idearc/SuperMedia, as well as active employees with regard to retirement issues. The association has over 134,000 former union and management members.
Chairman Thomas Steed said, “Over the past three decades, we have banded together thousands of retirees and current employees to fight corporations who fail to deliver on their firm commitments to us. We have successfully passed legislation and won multiple shareholder proxies for our members and hope to continue this fight for all future retirees and beneficiaries.”
The Association of BellTel Retirees recently released an open letter to the individuals who were impacted by the layoffs urging them to join their association.
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