Verizon Accuses Strikers Of Sabotage 45,000 Employees On Strike Since Sunday Over Cuts

From Infoshop: http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=20110818000053591

Emmanuel Tambakakis/CNN

By David Goldman

August 18, 2011

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The rift between Verizon and its 45,000 striking employees grew wider on Friday, after the telecommunications giant called in the FBI to investigate allegations of sabotage.

Verizon spokesman Rich Young said more than 90 acts of sabotage have taken place since the strike began on Sunday. Saboteurs have cut phone lines, affecting the service of several thousand customers primarily in New York and New Jersey but also in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Delaware.

Acts of sabotage are hardly uncommon in contentious labor strife's, but Young said that these acts "cross the line." A police station and a hospital were among those that lost service as a result of the sabotage, he said.

Federal Bureau of Investigation spokesman Jim Margolin confirmed that an inquiry is under way and is being handled out of the FBI's Newark, N.J., field office.

The strikers' union, the Communications Workers of America, condemned the acts.

"CWA does not condone illegal action of any kind, and instructs its members to conduct all strike activities in accordance with labor law," the union said in a prepared statement.

The merry-go-round of accusations didn't end there.

CWA spokeswoman Candice Johnson accused Verizon replacement workers and managers of driving vehicles into picketing crowds, striking more than a dozen pickets.

Verizon's Young accused the strikers of throwing themselves in front of vehicles, which Johnson called "ridiculous."

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