“Brothers and sisters, thank you for your courage in standing up for justice against corporate greed,” Sanders told workers  in Brooklyn. “Today you are standing up not just for justice for Verizon workers, you are standing up for millions of Americans who don’t have a union. “I know you thought a lot about it and I know your families are gonna pay a price for going out on strike, but you have chosen to stand up for dignity, for justice." Bernie Sanders

"Our families and customers deserve more from Verizon," Isaac Collazo, a technician and CWA member from Brooklyn who has worked at Verizon for 19 years, said in a statement. "Through our hard work, Verizon is making record profits while our families are left with threats to our jobs and our customers aren't getting the service they need. Striking is a hardship for our families, but we need to remind Verizon executives that the people who build their profits are a critical reason for the company's success."

Bob Mudge, president of Verizon's wireline network operations, said they were expecting the strike."Let's make it clear, we are ready for a strike," said Mudge.Verizon has trained thousands of  Scubs (non-union workers) and moved staff to other locations to fill spots made vacant by picketers.