Verizon strike puts local workers on picket line

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Thousands of Verizon workers went on strike early Wednesday after working without a contract for months.

Verizon workers say they are drawing the line, standing up to corporate greed and saying they had no choice but to strike.

"We need to have our fair share of the pie," said Dave Fontaine, a fiber network technician.

The workers who marched in front of Verizon's Rhode Island headquarters on Washington Street in Providence were just some of the 39,000 landline and cable employees who walked off the job in several states.

"Most of them have kids. Most of them are lifelong Rhode Island residents," said business agent Edward Blackburn.

The union says these are some issues they are fighting for.

"They are trying to outsource our jobs to foreign countries," Fontaine said.

Verizon said it did everything it could to reach a fair contract and avoid a strike. The company said it was prepared for the strike and that it hired nonunion employees to fill in.

"With any sort of job action or disruption to our business, our primary goal is to ensure our customers can count on the critical communications services that they pay for and we provide. I want them to know that will happen," said Bob Mudge, president of Verizon's wireline network operations.

Striking workers said customers will wait longer for help.

"You might get someone on the phone now who's a replacement worker who's not as well versed in how to do the job as we are. We built this network," Fontaine said.

Verizon said it knows that millions of customers rely on it to communicate 24 hours a day.