The rallies come after Verizon, which makes $1 billion in profits every month, has refused to bargain constructively with its 39,000 employees over the terms of its contract, continuing to insist on the ability to outsource more jobs, increase health care costs by thousands of dollars a person and slash retirement security. Verizon also refuses to build the FiOS network throughout New York while abandoning proper maintenance on the traditional telephone network.

Verizon refuses to build out FiOS to many underserved communities up and down the East Coast, and has abandoned upkeep of the traditional landline network, leading to extensive service problems for consumers. In these negotiations, the union members? interest is linked directly to the public interest, since our jobs involve maintaining quality service on traditional landlines and building and servicing Verizon?s state of the art FiOS broadband network.

A group of New York mayors joined CWA in contract negotiations with Verizon, calling on the company to expand its FiOS service to their cities.

Eighty-six percent of Verizon workers voted over the last two weeks to authorize a strike if necessary. Their contract expires at 12 midnight on Saturday, August 1 and covers 39,000 CWA and IBEW represented telephone workers from Massachusetts to Virginia.

The Rate Counsel filed a petition seeking an investigation into a threatening letter Verizon sent its customers and an appeal of another agency's decision to end state regulation of Verizon?s pricing and service.

Twenty-nine consumer organizations signed a letter to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler urging the agency to establish clear rules to protect customers as communications companies phase out their traditional copper wire service.

In meetings with the FCC, CWA urged the agency to move forward quickly to update its rules to protect consumers during this period of transition from copper to fiber networks -- and to prevent a repeat of Verizon's controversy following Hurricane Sandy.

Verizon's $4.4 billion takeover of AOL is complete. The deal is yet another sign that wireless video streaming is the wave of the future, and that Verizon wants to be at the forefront in this sector.

Verizon broke its promise to bring FiOS to NYC by 2014, again failing to deliver promised services.