DEWITT -- Roughly 45,000 union workers at Verizon remain on picket lines up and down the east coast, one week into a contract dispute between workers and the company, Verizon.
One thousand of those union workers are employed in Central New York.
At the Verizon Building on Thompson Road in DeWitt, union workers remained upbeat on the picket line despite not having a new contract. Local union spokesperson Chris Ryan said both sides are still actively talking, but so far no significant progress has been made toward a new deal.
The contract between union workers and Verizon expired a week ago. The main sticking points in a new deal are job security, health care costs and pensions. Ryan described the progress so far between both sides as a mixed bag.
"the bad news is there haven't been any major breakthroughs and we're still walking the line and we're still without a paycheck. The good news is that they're still meeting...and as long as they're still meeting and there's constructive dialogue then I guess you could view that as some sort of progress," he said.
As workers enter week two of the strike, Ryan said the picket lines will be fully staffed, 24/7. They will stay that way, he said, until workers get, what they say, is a fair deal.
Verizon maintains the stance that it is not only bargaining in good faith, but it has a fair offer on the table.
