With issues such as job security, health care costs and the flexibility to transfer work still on the table, Verizon and the unions representing its employees have agreed to extend a negotiation deadline on Saturday, avoiding a strike. Verizon wants the freedom to transfer work or reduce its work force in an effort to cut costs and the unions want to protect jobs and benefits while extending their organizing efforts to other parts of the company. A spokesperson for the union has said that both sides are making significant progress.
See "Verizon, Unions Make Progress in Talks", The New York Times, August 3, 2003