New York, NY —

The contract for 78 thousand Verizon workers expires tonight at midnight and both sides have begun preparing for a strike. If it happens, the strike would effect 13 sates in the Northeast. Verizon wants more flexibility to move jobs from one geographic area to another but workers say job security cannot be compromised. WNYC's Cindy Rodriguez reports.

Outside a building in midtown Manhattan, about 50 workers picketed against Verizon. The workers are concerned that if Verizon is given further ability to lay off workers and move its work to non-union states, their jobs will be jeopardized. Michael Casano is a cable splicer, he climbs poles and works in manholes and has been with Verizon for 7 years. He says Verizon should be willing to guarantee his job security:

I believe it's a shame in a company that made 2.5 billion dollars last year and spends more money on advertising in America right now. James Earl Jones is on TV every five minutes water skiing, sky surfing and if you look at other utility companies like con Edison they have union member doing their advertising with a glove we're on it

According to Verizon's current contract with workers, the company can shift 7 percent** of its work from one region to another and may only layoff employees if a "discreet external event" occurs. Verizon executives justified layoffs in 2002 by claiming that a weak economy, stiff competition from rival companies and changing technologies had lead to the need for a smaller workforce. But an independent arbitrator disagreed and over two thousand employees in New York State got their jobs back. Verizon spokesperson John Bonomo says the company cannot function with these types of restraints put on them:

All of our other competitors and there are dozens of competitors that are just trying to steal our business in the Northeast not only in New York are basically non-union companies but by being non-union those other companies have the flexibility to manage their workforce between locations and we don't have that in our contract.

The Communications Workers of America say that's not true. They say they have contracts with companies like AT&T, Lucent and Qwest. Bob Master is a union spokesperson and believes Verizon is trying to weaken unions:

We see them as geared up for a strike they're being very aggressive at the bargaining table they're being aggressive in the media and it almost seems like they want a strike as a way to discipline the union.

But unions have already lost some of their clout within the industry as they have been shut out of the wireless division of Verizon. And wireless business is where the company has seen the most growth and profit for. Michael Hodel is a financial analyst from Morninstar Inc. in Chicago. He says revenues from Verizon Wireless offset the losses the company suffered from the part of the business that provides local phone lines for customers:


They're seeing a pretty significant shift in their mix of revenue from fixed line to wireless from phone to data so to have the ability to move employees around is important to the company.

Unlike many labor contracts salary is not at issue here. Workers agree they are well compensated. As part of a major ad campaign Verizon points out the average NY Technician makes 84 thousand dollars a year that's with benefits factored in, gets 5 weeks paid vacation and has unlimited sick days. Michael Casano agrees he is paid well but says the ads forget to mention the company laid off thousands of people right before Christmas:

I am very happy to work for verizon and am proud to say I work for verizon I think they do compensate us well I think the contract is wonderful the way it is I just think its sad they won't give us job security.

Since Tuesday Verizon and union leaders have been meeting with a federal mediator .but both sides agree there hasn't been much progress.

For WNYC, I'm Cindy Rodriguez

**Correction: According to its last contract with unions, Verizon may move .7 percent of its workforce from one region to another.