Verizon strike heads for court showdown Thursday

Verizon officials say striking workers are illegally intimidating and harassing replacement technicians.

Union officials said Verizon has no evidence such incidents occurred or if striking workers were even involved. They said the telecommunications giant is trying to stifle their legal right to protest.

On Thursday, a Delaware judge could decide who is right when the two sides square off in the Delaware Court of Chancery.

Verizon filed a motion last month asking the court to bar picketers from intimidating nonunion employees, engaging in vandalism and blocking company vehicles. The company also is seeking to limit the number protesters at the entrance of Verizon facilities or work sites to three and forbid protests from occurring within 50 feet of a Verizon facility and 100 feet from a residence where a replacement technician is working.

The legal fight between Verizon and the unions began on April 13 when nearly 40,000 landline and cable workers in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states — including Delaware — went on strike. Union officials have said Verizon is outsourcing jobs and cutting benefits. Verizon has said it has offered a 7.5 percent wage increase and will continue to match employee retirement savings contributions and increase pensions.

Protesters have picketed outside Verizon call centers and retail locations throughout Delaware. Similar protests have occurred throughout the East Coast.

Neither Verizon nor union officials returned phone calls seeking comment.

In documents filed with Chancery Court, Verizon accused protesters of blocking entrances to Verizon facilities for over an hour, harassing replacement workers at job sites and vandalizing equipment. Among the specific incidents Verizon alleges in court filings are strikers using air horns and other methods to disrupt business at the hotel where contract workers are staying; telling hotel staff the contract workers were "child molesters and had police records" and following replacement workers.

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In one instance, Verizon said a protester's aggressive driving resulted in three-car accident along Interstate 95 near Wilmington.

The company also identified instances of damaged fiber optic lines in northern New Castle County, claiming it is the result of sabotage.

Attorneys representing Communications Workers of America Local Nos. 13100 and 13101 counter that Verizon has no evidence striking workers or the unions were responsible for acts against the company. In the case of the car accident, union attorneys allege the Verizon contractor suddenly slowed down her vehicle causing a third car to ram the protester's car and rear end the contractor's vehicle.

The unions claim Verizon cannot prove picketers bad-mouthed contractors to hotel employees or damaged company equipment. They also said in court documents that protesters have not harassed or intimidated replacement workers and most demonstrations have been lawful.

"These thin allegations form the basis for plaintiff seeking contempt against defendants," Susan Kaufman, a Wilmington attorney representing CWA 13100 and 13101, said in court documents. "Verizon has wholly failed to establish by clear and convincing evidence that these alleged incidents occurred, that striking employees were involved, [or] that union leaders encouraged or sanctioned any such alleged conduct ..."

As the strike continues, both sides have dug in their heels. The battle has impacted local businesses and at times required police intervention. Besides the car accident, Newark police earlier this month investigated an incident in which a Verizon contractor reported being followed by a car for over an hour as he traveled to assignments. Sgt. Gerald Bryda of the Newark Police Department confirmed a union member was following the contractor, but no arrests were made because no crime was committed.

Contact Jeff Mordock at (302) 324-2786, on Twitter @JeffMordockTNJ or jmordock@delawareonline.com.