Verizon Workers Go On Strike Amid Contract Dispute
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Verizon landline and cable workers are on strike and say they have been without a contract since August.
It's the first time Verizon workers have gone on strike since 2011.
The company says it is ready to deal with the work stoppage.
Hundreds gathered in the midst of the morning rush as Verizon workers walked off the job.
"They make $1.5 billion a month, yet they want to strip us of our health care and retiree benefits and then they want the call sharing ability to be able to send calls anywhere and then they want the ability to lay our members off," CWA Local 13000 Regional Vice President Tom Crawford said.
Roughly 39,000 Communication Workers of America and members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers went on strike in Pennsylvania, New York, New England, Virginia, Delaware and Washington, D.C.
Approximately 10 percent of those workers are here in Pittsburgh. With these people off the job, Verizon management will cover the repair and installation jobs and will man the phones in the customer service roles.
"The call volumes will not be able to be handled by the management people who will be taking the calls. I am going to say it is safe to assume that there will be a long wait time for customers calling in. It's going to be pretty hectic the first couple of days," CWA Pittsburgh Local 13500 Executive Vice President Cindy Neumeyer said.
The rank and file members say a freeze in pensions, outsourcing of jobs and health care costs are just some of the reasons they walked.
"We are affecting about 4,000 here in the Pittsburgh area alone. We want the company to build out the FIOS and offer it to all the communities, but they are unwilling to do that. They want to abandon the landlines," Crawford said.
The work stoppage has nothing to do with Verizon Wireless and will not impact cellular service.
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