Politicians Lend Support to Fight Verizon Sale

CWA leaders who are fighting Verizon's plan to sell off its 1.6 million local telephone lines in New England are encouraged by meetings with regional governors, most recently New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch.

"I walked away from that meeting feeling very positive," said CWA Local 1400 Executive Vice President Meg Collins. "He seemed to be very understanding of what the sale could mean for his state."

Lynch hasn't yet joined Maine Gov. John Baldacci in sending a letter of concern to Verizon, but Collins said union members are hopeful that he will. Recently U.S. Sens. Patrick Leahy and James Jeffords and Rep. Bernie Sanders, all of Vermont, also sent a letter to the company.

A sale would affect about 350 CWA members employed as service representatives and 2,700 IBEW members who work as technicians, clerks, operators and service reps. Members have been mobilizing throughout the summer and are planning many activities on and around Labor Day.

Union leaders say a Verizon sale would hurt consumers as well as workers. In Hawaii, for instance, Verizon sold all its landline operations there to a smaller local company several years ago. According to the Aug. 18 New Hampshire Union Leader, "Taking control of more than 80 computer systems set off months of problems for Hawaiian Telecom, from disruption to web access to doubled billing on phone bills."

Labor and political leaders also note that a sale would be a technological step backward for rural America, which is already struggling to keep up with urban areas in access to high-speed Internet service.

"The possible sale of Verizon's access lines throughout Vermont raises serious questions about Verizon's commitment to bridging the digital divide found primarily in rural America — and so evident in the mostly rural areas of our state," the Vermont politicians said in their letter to the company. "High-speed Internet access is essential to the economic growth of rural Vermont, and is integral to our state's plan to build healthy Vermont businesses for the new century."