Verizon strike of 2016

The 2016 Verizon workers' strike was a labor action in the United States involving about 40,000 Verizon Communications landline and Verizon Fios workers.^[1][2][3][4] The strike, which began April 13, was organized by trade unions International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Communications Workers of America, and represents the biggest labor action in the United States since the Verizon strike of 2011 when 45,000 workers walked out.^[5][6] Picket lines were established along the East Coast of the United States, from Virginia to Massachusetts. A tentative agreement to end the strike was announced Friday, May 27.^[7]

Verizon workers had been without a contract since August 2015 due to a disagreement about support services being outsourced to call centers in the Philippines, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic, a cap placed on pensions, and cuts to their benefits. Nearly all Verizon Wireless workers are nonunionized.^[8]

Union leaders refused to accept a new contract citing multiple issues, including pensions, healthcare, work assignments, job security, and wages. According to Verizon, employees received $130,000 a year in wages and benefits. Union leaders claimed that the average total was $74,000 a year. Verizon offered workers a 7.5 percent salary increase. Union leaders responded by stating that the increase would be negated because workers would have to pay an increased amount for deductibles and premiums, prescriptions, and co-pays.^[9]