Stop the Sale

We've told you about the growing opposition to the Verizon-FairPoint deal in Northern New England, which would leave millions of residents out of the digital age. Another rally last Saturday showed that opponents of the deal refuse to let up.

Hundreds of workers and consumers gathered at Waterfront Park in Burlington, Vermont, to protest Verizon's plan to sell its landlines in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont to FairPoint Communications, a small company based in North Carolina.

Verizon employees are concerned that the deal would jeopardize their jobs, because FairPoint lacks the resources to run such a large operation.

Jim McDonald, a 32-year Verizon employee from Norway, Maine, drove four hours to support his Vermont coworkers.

"We don't think FairPoint is big enough to run the company. I think they'll run this thing right into the ground," McDonald said.

The consequences of FairPoint's inability to handle such a large operation would also hit consumers.

Verizon cable splicer Michael Manion said, "We're not going to be able to provide the service that we've been providing. That's basically my main concern."

That also means the many New Englanders who currently lack high speed internet access would continue get left behind. According to Vermont state legislators, 40 percent of state residents using Verizon phone lines lack even the most basic high speed internet access, and FairPoint would have no ability to change that.

Many rally attendees saw the merger as an attempt by Verizon to abandon its customers in Northern New England because it doesn’t see the region as profitable.

"What they're doing is, they're trying to dump it at a very low price to a company that can't really afford to buy it at market value," said Mike Spillane, the I.B.E.W Business Manager.

Therefore, it’s up to the state governments of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont to scrutinize the deal and protect the interests of workers and consumers. If any state rejects the sale, the entire deal will fall through.

The next opportunity for these states to examine the deal will be Wednesday, June 13, at a public hearing in Cabot, Vermont. Rallies like the one last Saturday are crucial to raising awareness among the state officials and the public about the harmful implications of the Verizon-FairPoint deal.

"Road kill on the information superhighway" (Speed Matters)

The point? It’s not fair (Speed Matters)

Verizon employees rally against sale (Burlington Free Press)

New England Verizon Workers Protest Merger (WPTZ – Vermont)

Labor Rally Targets Verizon Transfer (WCAX - Vermont)