Verizon, union trade abuse charges

Verizon released six photos Tuesday that it said showed sabotage to its equipment as a strike by unionized technicians and customer service representatives for its landline and FiOS services ground through its third day.

The Communications Workers of America, representing most of the strikers, said no such acts were condoned by it and said in a statement Tuesday afternoon that it had 23 reports of strikers “hit or narrowly missed by vehicles driven by Verizon managers or nonunion contractors.“

They included one incident in Massapequa reported Monday and one on Sunday in New Jersey with a serious injury.

George Bloom, president of the union's Local 1104, representing Verizon workers in Nassau County, said the worker in Massapequa was treated at a hospital and released. He said strikers continued to picket Verizon locations and some executives' homes Tuesday while others followed Verizon repair trucks operated by managers to picket the job locations.

Verizon spokesman John Bonamo couldn't confirm any of the alleged incidents of workers narrowly missed or hit. “I don't have the manpower to look into all these incidents,“ he said, adding that those already checked boiled down to one person's word against another.

Informal talks between the company and union representatives continued at a hotel in Rye but no formal negotiations were scheduled. “They went at it for 14 hours,“ said Robert Master, a union spokesman. Robert Morrow, president of Local 1108, covering Suffolk workers, said union officials reported some movement by the company Monday. “It was giving them a feeling things may be progressing,“ he said. “But I've heard nothing more .“

Verizon said the six photos it released were taken at locations in New Jersey, although it wasn't clear how many alleged incidents the pictures showed. The company said another incident of vandalism, in upstate Utica, affected nonemergency telephone service for the Lewis County sheriff's office Tuesday. Master said, “We don't condone any illegal actions and encourage members to conduct themselves professionally and abide by law when they picket.“

About 2,700 Verizon employees on Long Island are among 45,000 workers in nine states and the District of Columbia who went on strike early Sunday morning. The Communications Workers represent about 35,000 of the employees and most workers in this area. Another 10,000 are in the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Verizon, based in Manhattan, has 196,000 workers.

At issue are demands for givebacks by Verizon, which says it needs cost savings to offset the loss of millions of landline customers to competitors or Verizon's cellphone services.