Verizon workers: Picket line is no party (Update)

UPDATE: Several Verizon strikers called Tuesday to protest my quote of a Wall Street analyst's comment in my Tuesday column, that CWA and IBEW members were having "fun picketing in the sunshine with on-site beers and barbecues" while waiting out the company as it copes with multimillion-dollar losses from their labor dispute.

The men and women who called don't recognize that sunny picture of their picket lines; they resent me giving anyone the impression their strike is pleasant for anyone.

"I don't know what locations you have visited, but I don't know of anyone having beer on picket locations openly," writes Ed Tarasiewicz. "There's nothing wrong with barbecuing, especially when funds are low. It's cost-effective when done as a group." But most sites don't lend themselves to outdoor cookery.

As to buying medical coverage under the federal COBRA law after Verizon stops payment (also in the column), Tarasiewicz adds: "It would cost me $730 a month to cover myself for just medical, not including dental or vision. It would cost $1681 a month to cover myself and family for just medical. That’s more than my monthly mortgage payment."

Bottom line: "No one wants to be out there picketing with no income or benefits. It’s 42 days now. It’s old and frustrating. I have 30 years and I have never seen this company so uncaring and greedy. Know all the facts before you print them!"

EARLIER: "My Union brothers and sisters are having a very tough time of it here," writes James, a Verizon striker in New Jersey, who asked me to withhold his last name.

He's one of several strikers who called or emailed, answering my column in today's Inquirer, quoting a stock analyst predicting the strike is costing Verizon up to $200 million, and will likely end in June.

"I am walking around a building with a used sign for four to six hours a day. I am growing broke while the billionaires cry about a nickel a share on their stock," he added. Whatever the strike costs Verizon, James figures it's costing him $1,000 a week. And "no benefits is a frightening thing to go thru when you have kids or you are in your sixties. "

Why they strike: "I have been with the company almost twenty years. I feel like we are the rubber that hits the road and makes it all happen, including the $1.8 billion in in profits (not revenue) that this company makes in one month and shareholders enjoy. For that I make a good living -- you know, the American middle class. To see all that going to the Philippines and India for two dollars an hour makes me sick."      

Source: Philly.com