On-Strike Verizon Workers Protest Along Lee Highway

Commuters traveling along Lee Highway witnessed a small part of a national standoff on Monday, as a small group of Verizon workers clothed in red shirts marched along Lee Highway, picket signs in hand. 

"None of us want to be here," said Ben Beach, a cable technician from Centreville, who stood on the road that led to a Verizon service center, near the Centre Lee Business Park. "We all have mortgages. We all have bills to pay."

Behind Beach, a handful of protestors marched back and forth, carrying signs that read, "CWA on Strike against Verizon's Corporate Greed" and "CWA on Strike for Middle-Class Jobs." The group of 10 arrived at the center at 6 a.m. Monday and said they would not leave until 6 p.m. These local protestors are among the thousands of Verizon workers along the East Coast from Rhode Island to New York to Washington D.C. are on strike this week as the result of a contract dispute.

The 45,000 workers, represented by the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhoood of Electrical Workers unions, say that Verizon is demanding too many concessions as they try to renew their contracts. The New York Times reports that Verizon's demands include asking workers pay between $1,500 to $3,000 for family coverage, freezing pensions for current employees, and getting rid of traditional pensions for future employees.  

In a press release issued Sunday, Marc C. Reed, Verizon's executive vice-president of human resources, said that customer service would be unaffected and that the cuts to benefits were due to a difficult economic climate. 

"We will continue to do our part to reach a new contract that reflects today's economic realities in our wireline business and addresses the needs of all parties," Reed said. "It's also our intent that under a new contract, Verizon employees will continue to receive competitive pay and benefit programs."

But the protestors along Lee Highway are unconvinced. They say that while the economy is poor, and the landline section that they work may be declining, Verizon's overall business is doing quite well, raking in $6.9 billion in the first six months of this year alone. The workers, some of whom came from as far away as Beltsville, Md., said that they would keep coming back until the dispute was settled. 

"We'd all rather be working," said Beach, who added that he has worked at Verizon for the last 30 years. "We just want to keep what we have. We'll be out here until that happens."