Verizon’s 45,000 employees declare Strike after labor discussions failure

About Forty-five thousand Verizon Communications Inc. workers from Massachusetts to Washington, D.C., went on strike Sunday after talks fizzled over a new labor agreement for in excess of  a fifth of the company's work force.

Verizon is the state’s biggest wireless carrier, but the agreement that ended at midnight Saturday covers workers in the company's wireline division, which contains domestic-phone operations, services for businesses and governments and stretched-haul wholesale traffic.

Talks in Philadelphia and New York boothed Saturday night after Verizon sustained to demand more than 100 allowances from workers related health care, pensions and work rules, said the Communications Workers of America.

CWA workers protested at Verizon headquarters in New York City on Sunday morning, wearing red and holding signs with messages counting "CWA on strike for middle-class jobs."

Verizon's executive vice president of H.R., Mark C. Reed, called the result of the unions' actions "unfortunate" for consumers and workers.

"We will carry on doing our part to reach a new agreement that reproduces today's economic realism in our wireline business and discusses the needs of all stakeholders," he said in a statement.

Employees covered by the ended agreement include 10,000 represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, who serves as telephone and repair technicians, customer service agents, operators and more. Contract negotiations started June 22.

"Yet at the 11th hour, as deals were set to end, Verizon continued to seek to strip away 50 years of joint bargaining acquires for middle-class employees and their families," CWA said in a statement Sunday.

New York-based Verizon has 196,000 employees; 135,000 are non-union.

The CWA said the dispensations are baseless and stringent, given that Verizon is highly lucrative— the company's income rose 2.8 percent to $27.5 billion in the second quarter. Its increase was grately credited to its wireless business.

But Verizon said its wireline business has been in reduced for more than 10 years, and that it is asking for alterations in the agreement to reinforce the unit. The company said union workers add nothing to their health care premiums.

Verizon set off a emergency plan to make sure consumers experienced "limited disturbance in service" for the length of the strike.

"A huge numbers of Verizon managers and other staff have been educated to step in and do emergency work assignments," Verizon spokesman Rich Young said.

A customer pleasure survey released in May showed Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel Corp. positioned highest among the Big 4 wireless carriers. The survey polled 8,000 households in the first quarter of this year.

Verizon further 1.26 million wireless subscribers under pact in the April to June period this year, an outcome that flies in the face of the holdup in new subscribers across the industry in the last two years. A year ago, Verizon further just 665,000 subscribers under agreement.

Verizon expired the last quarter with 106.3 million devices linked to its wireless network. No. 2 and chief rival AT&T is trying to leapfrog Verizon in size by buying No. 4 T-Mobile USA for $39 billion.

The former head of Verizon Wireless, Lowell McAdam, became CEO of Verizon Communications Inc. on Aug. 1, reinstating Ivan Seidenberg. Seidenberg, the longtime CEO, remains chairman of the company.