Workers taking it to the streets

Striking Verizon workers were in Malverne recently, picketing in front of a home being serviced by non-union workers on Morris Avenue West. From left were Ken Lerner of Coram, Edward LaChappelle of West Hempstead, Carlos Oscolava of Massapequa and a worker who declined to be identified.

Rossana Weitekamp

Verizon strikers in front of the company’s offices on Zeckendorf Boulevard in Garden City in late April.

Rossana Weitekamp

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Is your Verizon service acting up? Perhaps your Internet connection is slow, or you hear crackling on your phone line? When you call for service, you may get more than just a technician visiting your home.

Over 39,000 Verizon workers along the East Coast have been on strike since April 13, and they want you not only to know about it, but also to understand that replacement workers are filling in for them on customer service calls.

So, in order to get their message across, the striking workers have been mobilizing picket lines — literally — by following Verizon service trucks operated by the replacement workers to their service calls. When the trucks arrive at their destinations, the strikers form picket lines. When the service call is done, the strikers follow the truck to the next job.

“We just want to let people know we are on strike and that non-union people are taking our jobs,” said Edward LaChappelle, a 27-year Verizon employee who lives in West Hempstead. LaChappelle and four of his colleagues picketed in front of a parked Verizon truck on Morris Avenue West in Malverne on April 26, while a replacement worker was servicing a home there. “This guy is pretty good,” LaChappelle acknowledged. “He’s a wireless tech, but most of them have never been out in the field. Verizon will train anyone, from lawyers to non-union people, for one week to do our jobs, and that includes safety.”

According to Don Dunn, president of the Communications Workers of America Local 1108 in Patchogue, the union’s contract with Verizon expired last August, and the parties have been bargaining ever since on a new one. Verizon is offering workers a 6.5 percent pay increase, but is asking them to pay more of their health care costs, and wants to freeze retirement benefits after 30 years of service. The company also wants to loosen a rule that prevents it from re-assigning workers to other locations.

“Our strike is over keeping benefits that we have — we’re not asking for more,” said Dunn. “They say that they’re offering us a 6 percent raise. They can offer us a 20 percent raise, but without the job security, we wouldn’t be there to collect.”