- Verizon (NYSE:VZ) said it's deploying "thousands" in extra personnel, as a strike of nearly 40,000 wireline workers drags on in its third week with few signs of resolution.
- Some employees are on special assignment and others are coming out of Verizon's technical training in Virginia.
- The striking unions, meanwhile, have accused Verizon of creating safety risks with its replacement workers, including improper installations of phone poles.
- The replacement workforce (which Verizon says is supplemented by 1,000 strikers who returned to work) have "successfully resolved tens of thousands of repair dispatches, tens of thousands of inquiries in our customer service centers and have fulfilled thousands of new FiOS orders." New auomated technologies are helping, it added.
- Yesterday, the company made a "last, best and final offer" to leaders of the CWA and IBEW, but union leaders responded that the company needed to "get serious about negotiations."
- Since the strike began April 13, Verizon stock has declined 1.9% (a period that also included a Q1 revenue miss last week).
- Now read Verizon Communication: Revenue Dented By Fewer Smartphone Upgrades »