Serfs up

13 April 2016 By Reynolds Holding Follow @holdingren

The telecom company’s staff walked out in one of the largest U.S. strikes in years after contract talks stalled. Add a Supreme Court win, minimum wage hikes and a big role in presidential races, and organized labor may have a bright future. But there’s lots of ground to make up.

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Some 40,000 Verizon Communications workers on April 13 walked off the job because of disagreements about planned cuts in healthcare and pension-related benefits over the next three years.

The strike called by the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers involves customer-services representatives, network technicians in landline-telephone operations and employees in similar jobs. They have been without a contract since their old one expired in August and have been negotiating with the company since June.

The strike could affect service in Verizon’s Fios Internet, telephone and television-services businesses across several U.S. East Coast states, including New York, Massachusetts and Virginia. The walkout does not extend to the wireless operation.

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