Verizon workers headed for strike in New York

The current labor agreement between Verizon Communications and Communications Workers of America Local 1103 is scheduled to expire on August 7. The latest round of negotiations created little, if any, headway as the two sides remain far apart and set for strike.

Union workers in the Upstate New York facility seem resigned to the potential disruption in operations.

"I don't remember us ever being this far apart," union president Joseph Barca told the Wall Street Journal. "This feels a lot like 2000, and that was terrible."

In 2000, more than 86,000 union employees walked out during an 18-day strike.

The union is particularly dissappointed by Verizon's calls for significant changes to pension and healthcare provisions at a time when the company is enjoying record profits. But Verizon insists these propositions are motivated by a decade-long decline in the company's landline division.

The impending strike could affect the quality of repair and installation work for phone and internet customers in the short-term. But Verizon insists it has a trained thousands of technicians and managers as part of its contingency plans.

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