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Nearly 40,000 workers at Verizon have gone on strike, objecting to, among other things, outsourcing and temporary location transfers.

The two unions representing Verizon workers say their employees have been without a contract since August. They call the walkout, which began at 6 a.m. ET Wednesday, "by far the largest work stoppage in the country in recent years."

The unions — the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers — say Verizon has made billions in profits, while still looking to spend less on employee benefits, Joel says.

Other objections from the union include offshoring of jobs, increasing use of contract workers and Verizon's request for the ability to give workers two-month assignments that would require relocating — what the unions call "family-busting transfers."

Verizon, which accuses union leaders of "ignoring today's digital realities," said Wednesday that it had indicated a willingness to enter into mediation if the unions extended their strike deadline, but that the unions refused.


The telecom giant says it is ready to serve customers during the walkout; a strike readiness team has been preparing for more than a year, the company 

.
Thousands of nonunion employees have been trained as fill-ins, and they will be reassigning employees from elsewhere in the U.S. and other units in the company.  Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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Nearly 40,000 workers at Verizon have gone on strike, objecting to, among other things, outsourcing and temporary location transfers.


Tens of thousands of Verizon workers go on strike

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