Striking Verizon workers are planning to stage picket lines and rallies in Potsdam and Ogdensburg early Monday morning.

The local pickets are among the over 100 Verizon work locations across New York and New Jersey planned to pressure the telecommunications company to back off its demands.

Approximately 45,000 members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) from Massachusetts to Virginia went on strike against Verizon at 12:01 a.m. Sunday.

Picket lines and rallies in St. Lawrence County will begin at 6:30 a.m. at the Potsdam Verizon garage, 5-7 May Rd., and at the Ogdensburg Garage, 317 Elizabeth St.

Union representatives say Verizon's demands include “gutting pension security, eliminating benefits for workers injured on the job, eliminating job security, slashing paid sick leave, and raising health care costs by up to $6,800 per worker.”

Verizon executives say far-reaching concessions are needed because of a long-term drop in revenue and profit in its land-line telephone business and because of intense competition in television and Internet services, according to the New York Times.

“Despite $22.5 billion in profits over the past four-and-a half-years, Verizon seems intent on destroying middle-class jobs for its unionized workforce,” said a prepared statement from CWA. “The company is reneging on promises to retired workers by seeking to force them to pay thousands of dollars for health care, and has proposed to freeze pensions for current workers and eliminate them for new hires.”

The statement continued: Verizon “CEO Ivan Seidenberg, who took home $81 million in total compensation over the last four years, is guaranteed free health for life, as is his wife. Overall, Verizon paid its top five executives $258 million over the past four years. Verizon's unprecedented demands at the bargaining table include:

“• Continued contracting out of work to low-wage contractors, which means more outsourcing of good jobs overseas.

“• Eliminating disability benefits for workers injured while on the job.

“ • Elimination of all job security provisions.

“• Eliminating paid sick days for new hires and limiting them to no more than five for any workers.

“• Freezing pensions for current workers and eliminating them for future employees.

“• Replacing the current high-quality health care plan with a high-deductible plan requiring up to $6,800 in additional costs.

“Verizon is calling for these drastic cuts for its middle-class workforce despite both increasing profits and a workforce that has shrunk by 50% over a decade in its wireline division.”

The CWA statement continues, "Verizon executives are trying to take money from working people while paying themselves more than ever," said Chris Shelton, Vice President for CWA District 1, which covers New York, New Jersey and New England. "Verizon's C.E.O was paid $81 million over four years, almost 300 times what an average employee makes, but they are still trying to destroy the American dream for middle class workers. We won't stand for it."

In a prepared statement, Verizon said it has activated a contingency plan to ensure customers experience limited disruption during the strike.

Verizon said it has trained tens of thousands of management employees, retirees and others to fill the roles and responsibilities of its union-represented wireline workers. As part of the company’s business continuity plan, those individuals will be reporting to their emergency work assignments, as scheduled, and will continue to provide customers with high-quality support and assistance throughout the duration of the union strike, the Verizon statement says.

“We are confident that we have the talent and resources in place to meet the needs and demands of our customers,” said Marc C. Reed, Verizon’s executive vice-president of human resources. “It’s regrettable for our employees and our customers that the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers have decided to walk away from the table instead of continuing to work through the issues. We will continue to do our part to reach a new contract that reflects today’s economic realities in our wireline business and addresses the needs of all parties. It’s also our intent that under a new contract, Verizon employees will continue to receive competitive pay and benefit programs.”

Verizon Wireless customers and services remain unaffected by this job action.