Verizon said it’s ready, willing and able to handle a threatened strike by nearly 40,000 East Coast wireline workers who’ve been without a contract since August. The phone and cable company has reportedly ignored union entreaties as well as the pleas of 20 U.S. senators who asked that it “negotiate a fair contract with the employees who make your success possible.” Verizon made $39 billion in profits over the last three years, but said its wireline business contributed less than 7 percent of operating profits in 2015.
“Thousands of East Coast Verizon workers – including 5,000 in New Jersey – are planning to strike on Wednesday if labor representatives can’t negotiate a new contract with the communications giant. The strike is scheduled for 6 a.m. on April 13 and would be “by far the largest work stoppage in the country in recent years,” according to union leaders.”
