CWA members picket over proposed contract changes

In support of a six-day old strike against Verizon, some local employees this week maintained a picket line in front of a non-descript brick building used as a switching central office in Leesburg.

Four men took turns, two by two, walking up and down Market Street in front of the building and wearing signs as two others drank water and sat in the shade of a small tree; then they changed places. The men did not want to be identified by their last names.

At issue are terms of heath care and other employee benefits, according to press reports. "At the moment, it seems like health benefits is going to be the major issue," said one of the Leesburg picketers. "We want to maintain our good health care coverage." They said Verizon also wants to reduce the number of paid holidays from the present number, nine, to as few as five. 

About 45,000 workers went on strike at midnight on Sunday, Aug. 7, when a three-year contract expired for wireline employees in the northeast and mid-Atlantic states, The Leesburg pickers include members of the Communications Workers of America.  Virginia is a "right to work" state.