Verizon Workers Vote to Support Strike
STEVEN GREENHOUSE
July 28, 2011
The main union representing Verizon’s workers announced on Thursday that its 35,000 members at Verizon had voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike once their three-year contract expires on Aug. 6.
Officials with the union, the Communications Workers of America, said the vote was no surprise because, in their view, Verizon was seeking the largest concessions ever from its unionized workers.
Candice Johnson, a spokeswoman for the union, said 91 percent of the workers who voted approved the strike authorization. Such a strike vote does not necessarily mean there will be a strike — negotiators usually settle the contract dispute before the contract expires.
The Verizon contracts that expire on Aug. 6 cover nearly 45,000 workers stretching from Massachusetts to Virginia, including thousands of Verizon employees in another union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. That union is holding a separate strike authorization vote.
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Image: Kat Gloor
