NORTH TONAWANDA — The Verizon strike found its way to North Tonawanda on Friday, as picketers spent the morning and early afternoon protesting out-of-town workers who were called in to fix a phone line on Oliver Street at First Avenue. 

By noon, at least a dozen strikers representing the Communication Workers of America had gathered at the intersection to protest the work being done by Downriver Utility Construction of Detroit. The protesters held signs with phrases like "fighting corporate greed" or "build up Fios, not executive pay," as workers proceeded to fix a downed telephone line.  

"These are scabs that came in to cross the picket line to perform work," said John Mudie, executive vice president of CWA Local 1122. "These are not qualified workers, they just lowered the standards." 

In addition to crossing the picket line, the strikers also had complaints about the way that Downriver was getting the job done. While they said they were complying with all standards set forth by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Mudie said the CWA operates under different standards. 

He said they abide by Bell Safety Practices, which he said are the standard way of operating within the telecommunication industry. He pointed out a number of ways in which the Downriver workers wouldn't have measured up to Bell Standards, including failing to wear gloves or safety goggles. Protesters also called the workers out when the phone line was raised back up. It was too low and a semi-truck was nearly unable to pass beneath it. 

"Every safety practice that we learned, that we have to follow on the job, they've violated every one," Mudie said. "They had no flagman to direct traffic, they had only one cone out earlier and the police came by and said 'you have to cone this area off.' They don't follow the same safety standards that we have to follow."

A police officer who came by the work site wasn't just on patrol, he was sent there after the Downriver workers called in a complaint after harsh words started being thrown around. Jason Close said he called the police on the protesters because they were harassing his crew. 

Close said the line they were working on supplies telephone service to the Elizabeth Harley Apartments, an assisted living facility located at the intersection. He said that without having the quick ability to dial 911, someone could get hurt and they wouldn't be able to alert emergency services. When asked about the incident with the truck, Close said they were on the task of raising it up further. 

"We're being harassed and all we're trying to do is help the people out and make sure everybody's safe," he said.

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