FBD
08-16-2011, 04:24 PM
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/terror_cops_aid_verizon_jkHbyPAKaEDEFXFEeNWEUN
he NYPD is using crucial anti-terror resources to protect Verizon workers and equipment during a massive strike against the telecom giant, The Post has learned.
The short-staffed department, already stretched thin in all five boroughs, is monitoring Verizon garages and following its trucks with cops from all over the city, including members of the Critical Response anti-terrorism units.
"We have to follow Verizon trucks all day," said one disgruntled officer. "Why don't they have private security? Why are police being used to help a private company?"
About 45,000 Verizon workers, from Massachusetts to Virginia, went on strike last Sunday after negotiations broke down between union and company negotiators.
The workers are represented by the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
At issue is Verizon's demand for more than 100 concessions regarding health care, pensions and work rules.
Verizon said it needs the cuts in the wake of its declining landline business in the wireless era.
A police spokeswoman said the anti-terror resource was "deployed to protect any city infrastructure that may be at risk."
Striking workers at a facility at West 38th Street and 11th Avenue said managers and other employees driving trucks often get escorted in and out of the parking lot by cops.
"Verizon does have its own private security. I'm not sure why they need the cops. Cops stand there, watching," said striking worker Luis Santana, 48.
The strike has gotten hostile at some facilities, including in The Bronx, where a striking employee allegedly fired a BB gun at a non-striking worker.
In Manhattan, picketing employees intimidated workers sent to splice a cable and refused to leave when police were called, according to a company legal filing.
In Albany, a striker pushed another worker into scaffolding, the company said.
"We have no issue with striking workers picketing and protesting outside our facilities, but it's irresponsible and dangerous when they take the extra step of blocking our employees from entering or exiting," Verizon spokesman Richard Young said.
"Our phones are lifelines for people who may need to make emergency communications."
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/verizon-customers-see-outages-as-worker-strike-continues/2011/08/12/gIQAzSJzBJ_story.html
Verizon customers see outages as worker strike continues
As negotiations over a strike by 45,000 Verizon workers continued to sour, several thousand Washington-area customers experienced service outages caused by what the company called acts of sabotage.
Verizon reported 28 incidents of cut cables and damaged terminals in the District and Maryland since the strike began Sunday, out of more than 100 similiar incidents along the East Coast. Most of the vandalism has taken place in New Jersey and New York, Verizon spokesman Harry Mitchell said Friday.
Employees who work on the company’s wireline systems and in its call centers — about a third of the workforce — went on strike when their contract expired Sunday. Negotiations over a new labor agreement bogged down over disagreements about pensions and health-care benefits.
Aaron Dom, the area manager for Maryland and the District, said there has been a marked rise in serious vandalism on the company’s systems since the strike began.
“Normally, in a year’s time we’d see maybe six acts of sabotage,” he said, adding that of the 28 incidents of damage, 18 took place in the District and 10 in Maryland.
Vandals in the region appear to be cutting fiber-optic and copper lines as well as going after the large, square terminals on street corners, in what appear to be attempts to damage more of the system at a time, Dom said.
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http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/tense-verizon-strike-continues-20110815
“It is open season. Follow them safely, but when you get to a location, torture them. Torture them with chants and noise. Be so loud that they can’t concentrate and wish they never got out of bed,” he said on the recording. Calabrese also said Verizon doesn’t want a fair deal, but instead wants to break the union. “Understand brothers and sisters, we can never let these [expletive] piece of [expletive] pigs break us.”
he NYPD is using crucial anti-terror resources to protect Verizon workers and equipment during a massive strike against the telecom giant, The Post has learned.
The short-staffed department, already stretched thin in all five boroughs, is monitoring Verizon garages and following its trucks with cops from all over the city, including members of the Critical Response anti-terrorism units.
"We have to follow Verizon trucks all day," said one disgruntled officer. "Why don't they have private security? Why are police being used to help a private company?"
About 45,000 Verizon workers, from Massachusetts to Virginia, went on strike last Sunday after negotiations broke down between union and company negotiators.
The workers are represented by the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
At issue is Verizon's demand for more than 100 concessions regarding health care, pensions and work rules.
Verizon said it needs the cuts in the wake of its declining landline business in the wireless era.
A police spokeswoman said the anti-terror resource was "deployed to protect any city infrastructure that may be at risk."
Striking workers at a facility at West 38th Street and 11th Avenue said managers and other employees driving trucks often get escorted in and out of the parking lot by cops.
"Verizon does have its own private security. I'm not sure why they need the cops. Cops stand there, watching," said striking worker Luis Santana, 48.
The strike has gotten hostile at some facilities, including in The Bronx, where a striking employee allegedly fired a BB gun at a non-striking worker.
In Manhattan, picketing employees intimidated workers sent to splice a cable and refused to leave when police were called, according to a company legal filing.
In Albany, a striker pushed another worker into scaffolding, the company said.
"We have no issue with striking workers picketing and protesting outside our facilities, but it's irresponsible and dangerous when they take the extra step of blocking our employees from entering or exiting," Verizon spokesman Richard Young said.
"Our phones are lifelines for people who may need to make emergency communications."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/verizon-customers-see-outages-as-worker-strike-continues/2011/08/12/gIQAzSJzBJ_story.html
Verizon customers see outages as worker strike continues
As negotiations over a strike by 45,000 Verizon workers continued to sour, several thousand Washington-area customers experienced service outages caused by what the company called acts of sabotage.
Verizon reported 28 incidents of cut cables and damaged terminals in the District and Maryland since the strike began Sunday, out of more than 100 similiar incidents along the East Coast. Most of the vandalism has taken place in New Jersey and New York, Verizon spokesman Harry Mitchell said Friday.
Employees who work on the company’s wireline systems and in its call centers — about a third of the workforce — went on strike when their contract expired Sunday. Negotiations over a new labor agreement bogged down over disagreements about pensions and health-care benefits.
Aaron Dom, the area manager for Maryland and the District, said there has been a marked rise in serious vandalism on the company’s systems since the strike began.
“Normally, in a year’s time we’d see maybe six acts of sabotage,” he said, adding that of the 28 incidents of damage, 18 took place in the District and 10 in Maryland.
Vandals in the region appear to be cutting fiber-optic and copper lines as well as going after the large, square terminals on street corners, in what appear to be attempts to damage more of the system at a time, Dom said.
-------------------------------------------------\\
http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/tense-verizon-strike-continues-20110815
“It is open season. Follow them safely, but when you get to a location, torture them. Torture them with chants and noise. Be so loud that they can’t concentrate and wish they never got out of bed,” he said on the recording. Calabrese also said Verizon doesn’t want a fair deal, but instead wants to break the union. “Understand brothers and sisters, we can never let these [expletive] piece of [expletive] pigs break us.”