The workers were protesting Verizon’s announcement May 7 of its intention to lay off nearly 1,400 CWA members in New York State. A union fact sheet distributed at the event explained that these layoffs would be the first in the history of the local phone company in New York. Unionists charge that the proposed layoffs violate the job security language of the 1994 contract.

Verizon, listed as the 11th largest company in the United States on the Fortune 500 list, has total assets of $170 billion. The company’s adjusted net income in 2001 was $8.2 billion before a series of one-time charges reduced reported profit for the year to $400 million.

"I’m here to stop them from laying people off," Emmett Moore, 52, told the Militant. Moore is a grid technician and cable splicer. "The company has backed off until August 1, for any layoffs, but it’s just a reprieve. They want to start with the upstate workers. Then they’ll come after us," he said. "We’re a union. We’re going to stand together and fight. We don’t want one layoff."

Moore said that Verizon needs more workers, not fewer, to keep up with maintenance and installation. "The cables are in bad shape," he said. "It would take 11 years to repair the existing cable at the rate the company is doing it. And people wait months for DSL lines."

Wade Magwood, 32, said, "I don’t want to see one person lose their job. If we let them start it will never end."

"I’ve been pro-union since I started with the company," said Krista Inman, 31. "Verizon claims because of ‘external events’ they will lay people off. I don’t like it."  
 
 
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