Back in April, over 40,000 Verizon workers walked out off their jobs to protest the contract conditions. That turned out to be the second biggest strike in United States history. Today, the Verizon 2016 strike has entered its second month.
Verizon Communications' telephone, cable and broadband internet service is starting to suffer. There is a significant decline in new customers this quarter, according to a company statement. Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo noted that there is a significant drop in the new orders and installations services in their FiOS line of business. Fortune has it that Verizon may be seeing a net loss coming from their broadband and cable TV customers this quarter compared to previous months and year. The Verizon 2016 strike has affected the company in this manner.
The union groups and Verizon executives are still continuing the dialogue in order to reach a better round of negotiations. The Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers have agreed not to comment on the new round of negotiations. It was reported by the Huffington Post that the Obama administration has stepped in to push a better conversation between the two opposing groups to avoid further delays in employment. Unemployment claims have already risen slightly because of the Verizon 2016 strike.
The union groups will not accept Verizon's plan to outsource jobs to the Philippines, Mexico and Dominican Republic as a form of cost minimization because the telephone business is shrinking. The Verizon 2016 strike also has affected the shares of the company. It has declined 3% since the strike began, were down 2% to $49.35 in morning trading on Thursday.
The strike has reached it's second month and there is no clear sign that both parties have reached an agreement as of yet. However, Shammo added that the start of new talks was "a good sign" that some progress was being made.
