39,000 Verizon workers on strike

About 39,000 Verizon Communications Inc. landline and cable workers on the East Coast walked off the job Wednesday after little progress in negotiations since their contract expired nearly eight months ago.

The workers, members of two unions — the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers — represent installers, customer service employees and other service workers in nine states and Washington, D.C., for Verizon’s wireline business, which provides fixed-line phone services and FiOS Internet service.

“We’re on strike to maintain good jobs and maintain our standard of living,” said Keith Purce, president of CWA Local 1101, which represents about 3,500 workers in New York City.

Verizon spokesman Rich Young said the company was disappointed by the strike. He said Verizon has trained thousands of nonunion workers to fill in for those on strike and “we will be there for our customers.”

But some customers said the strike was affecting them. Jennifer Aguirre, 27, said that when her husband called to confirm their Wednesday appointment to install cable and Internet at their home in Washington, he was told that systems were down and that the appointment was canceled.

The unions say Verizon wants to freeze pensions, make layoffs easier and rely more on contract workers. The company has said that healthcare issues need to be addressed for retirees and current workers because medical costs have grown and that it wants “greater flexibility” to manage its workers.

Verizon, based in New York City, has a total workforce of more than 177,000 employees.