Unions urge customers to abandon Verizon

[MaineDem]

WASHINGTON -- Unions in a labor dispute with Verizon Communications Inc. are urging customers to pledge to switch their local and long-distance phone service, raising the stakes in negotiations that so far have avoided a walkout by 78,000 East Coast workers.

The new campaign, being announced Wednesday by the Communications Workers of America and the AFL-CIO, relies on support from 3.5 million union members in five states where Verizon faces competition from AT&T Corp. for local telephone service. Those states are Virginia, Maryland, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts.

"We're asking you to pledge to switch your local and long distance phone service to AT&T, another unionized carrier, if and when union leaders say it's time," CWA's Web site says.

http://business.boston.com/business/articles/2003/08/13/unions_urge_customers_to_abandon_verizon