NEW YORK CITY (dpa-AFX) - Nearly 45,000 employees of telecommunications giant Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) went on strike on Sunday after failing to reach an agreement on a new labor contract.
The contracts with the Communication Workers of America, CWA, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, IBEW, expired at midnight Saturday. The contract covers 35,000 CWA represented workers and 10,000 IBEW-represented workers.
The strike is expected to delay service calls and disrupt installations for telephone and Internet service. In a statement, Verizon said it has trained tens of thousands of management employees, retirees and others to fill the roles and responsibilities of its union-represented wireline workers.
'Even at the 11th hour, with contracts set to expire, Verizon continues to seek to strip away 50 years of contract gains. Following the game plan of Wisconsin, Verizon is trying to destroy the collective bargaining process by refusing to engage seriously on the issues,' Candice Johnson, CWA Communications Director, had said in a statement.
Marc Reed, Verizon's executive vice-president of human resources said 'It's regrettable for our employees and our customers that the CWA and the IBEW have decided to walk away from the table instead of continuing to work through the issues'
Meanwhile, blaming the New York-based company Johnson added, 'Over months of negotiations, there has been no real bargaining by Verizon management. In fact, every major concession demand -- more than 100 in all - remains on the table.'
VZ closed Friday's trading on the NYSE at $35.05, up $0.13 or 0.37%.
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