As the strike by 45,000 of its employees entered its second day, Verizon reported at least at least 12 cases of sabotage to its network, including damage to its communications facilities in four states.
Specifically, Verizon cited ten incidents of fiber-optic lines being deliberately cut in the Bronx, Pomona, Farmingdale and Guilderland in New York; two separate incidents in Tewksbury in Massachusetts; incidents in Bel Air in Maryland, and East Dover, Oakland and Plainfield in New Jersey. There was also an outage due to stolen electronic equipment in Cedar Grove, N.J., affecting a local police department, among other customers. The company also believes there was tampering with a heating system at a central office in Manhattan.
The company is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of individuals that intentionally damage Verizon cables or facilities or cause or attempt to cause physical injury to any Verizon employee or contractor.
For its part, the CWA and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers issued a press release stating that it does not condone any illegal activity.
http://www.verizon.com
http://www.cwa-union.org
