UPDATED:  Verizon Workers Decide Against Strike

By Candice Nelson
WSLS10 Reporter
Published: August 3, 2008

    The Local 2204 of Communications Workers of America, CWA, say they are not on strike.
    They say progress has been made in contract negotiations dealing with health care and economics.
    Although some issues still remain, both sides have agreed to continue negotiating.

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Verizon workers gather in preparation for a possible strike that could begin at 12:01 on Sunday morning. Dozens of people who rallied are members of the Local 2204 of Communication Workers of America, CWA.  Their contracts with Verizon are set to expire Saturday night at midnight, and the CWA says major changes for health benefits could occur.

Chanting, “What do we want?” – the crowd of workers answers back, “Contract!”  And they say they want it now.

They’re not really on strike. It’s practice and to send a message to Verizon that they are willing to fight for a fair contract.

Workers say they’re concerned about proposals for increased healthcare costs. Selise Miller is a cancer survivor and says the healthcare plan she had is what she wants to keep.

“Out of a medical bill of a quarter million dollars, I only had to pay out-of-pocket probably $300-$400 dollars,” said Miller

The workers claim the new healthcare proposal would increase their out-of-pocket expense by more than $2,000 a year.

John Goodhart, Sr., is fighting for the retirees.

“I’m afraid I may not be able to continue to live in my home. High utility bills with high gas prices- it’s gonna make a big difference in my life,” he sid.

If negotiators don’t reach an agreement by midnight, Chris Criscione says, “We could go out, We could decide to work without a contract. So we want our members to be ready for any eventuality.“

If the workers do go on strike, it could affect you. Criscione says, when you call Verizon, the one in Roanoke could be one of the centers that takes your calls.

“They are the ones who report your service problems, set up your service, help explain your bill. These are the front-line folks for Verizon,” he said.

They’re a group of men and women who say they don’t want to go on strike. They want to walk into work Monday morning with a good contract – ready to work.

A Verizon spokesperson says he could not go into the specifics on how much, or if, the healthcare plan would increase costs for the workers. He did say, overall, their workers often only pay the minimal co-pay in their coverage. Verizon goes on to say, “While health care costs have increased 34% over the last four years, in most cases, Verizon Telecom employees, included in the contract expiring August 2, pay less than the American average.”