More than 45,000 workers went on strike on 7 August at Verizon Communications after talks faltered between two unions representing the company's wireline employees in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states. The Communications Workers of America (CWA) said that bargaining between it, the IBEW and Verizon, which began on 22 June, will continue, even though contract deadlines were passed. The contract covers 45,000 members of CWA and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers from New England to Virginia. The unions noted Verizon Wireless paid the parent company and Vodafone a USD 10 billion dividend, and Verizon paid its top five executives USD 258 million over the past four years, after reporting 2011 revenues at USD 108 billion and a net profit at USD 6 billion. Verizon said that with the strike action, it has activated a contingency plan to ensure customers experience limited disruption in service during the strike. Verizon said it has trained tens of thousands of management employees, retirees and others to fill the roles and responsibilities of its union-represented wireline workers. As part of the company's business continuity plan, these individuals will be reporting to emergency work assignments throughout the duration of the union strike.
