Verizon Employees Set To Strike, Customers Could Be Affected
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Strike placards arrived at the Communications Workers of America Local 13500 in Millvale, a sign that a strike is imminent against Verizon in Pittsburgh, as hundreds of demonstrators plan to march on Verizon in Downtown Pittsburgh.
"We will have a lot of members out in force to let the community as well as the company know that we're here to fight," Cindy Neumeyer told KDKA money editor Jon Delano.
Neumeyer is the executive vice president of Local 13500 that represents the workers in the call centers.
At issue: changes in workplace rules, outsourcing, a freeze in pensions and higher costs for health care -- at a time, the union says, when Verizon is reaping great profits.
Neumeyer: "They actually make $1.5 billion a month in profits."
Delano: "Are they sharing any of that?"
Neumeyer: "No, they do not share. They're very greedy."
Of course, millions of customers are dependent are Verizon for their cable TV, Internet, and landline service, but the union wants public support.
"People always have a bad connotation when it comes to strikes as we're asking for more," says Tom Crawford, vice president of Local 13000 that represents the linemen and technicians. "We're not asking for more. We're trying to maintain what we have. And if the company was hurting, was in financial distress, I could understand it."
Verizon customers could feel an impact, as call center employees, telephone linemen, and repair technicians go on strike.
If your FIOS service goes down, or Verizon cable, television, Internet, or landline has a problem, the union says you're going to have to wait awhile to get it repaired.
Not so, says Verizon in a statement:
"We have trained thousands of non-union Verizon employees to carry out virtually every job function handled by our represented workforce - from making repairs on poles to responding to inquiries in our call centers."
That won't work, says Crawford.
"Customers are going to be adversely affected."
The strike is set to begin at 6 a.m. on Wednesday and will affect 36,000 Verizon employees in the Northeast.