Philadelphia JLC Supports Verizon Workers
(September 11, 2011) Philadelphia - Michael Hersch [holding placard], Philadelphia JLC Director, on picket line outside Verizon Store at 17th and Market in Philadelphia. Forty-five thousand Verizon employees were on strike for nearly two weeks in August because despite earning $19,000,000,000 (that's nineteen billion) in profits over the last four years, Verizon management wanted to take away overtime pay, benefits, pensions, and holidays including Veteran's Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Strikes were held in cities around the U.S. and coordinated by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). In the Northeast, this included CWA Districts 2-13. The strikes and comunity support resulted in a return to the negotiating table.