The Wednesday 6AM deadline has passed for Verizon and labor unions to reach an agreement. Nearly 40,000 workers have joined the strike on the east coast, and it’s one of the largest strikes in recent years.

Verizon Strike – What’s all the fuss about?

The workers are expected to picket and protest hundreds of Verizon facilities due to proposed rule changes that would make it much easier for Verizon to outsource work, as well as make cuts to pension benefits. Additionally, Verizon wants to give workers two-month assignments, which would require workers to relocate. The idea behind the strike is to put pressure on politicians and regulators to push Verizion into settling while garnering support for the workers.

Is Verizon Ready?

Verizon says that it has been training a strike readiness team for over a year for just this occasion, and is “fully activated and ready”.

President of Verizon’s wireline network operations, Bob Mudge stated, “our primary goal is to ensure our customers can count on the critical communications services that they pay for and we provide.  I want them to know that will happen.”

With thousands of non-union employees trained to fill in, and employees from across the country ready for temporary relocation, Verizon is confident that they are ready to handle the strike.

How Will Customers Service Be Affected?

Verizon says they are prepared for the strike, and therefore customer service should not be affected. However, Jeffrey Keefe, a professor emeritus at the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations said the following on the matter, “Training and doing are very different things, you can be as well trained as anybody, but it doesn’t mean you can go in the field and fix anything.”

What do you think? Is Verizon well prepared to ensure great customer service amidst the strike?