Grabbing a bullhorn, Sanders told the cheering throng, “We will not tolerate large profitable corporations sending jobs to low-wage countries….throwing American workers out of the streets.”
Sanders said Verizon was cutting workers’ health care benefits while paying CEO Lowell McAdam $18 million in salary and compensation.
“That is the kind of greed that is destroying the American middle class,” Sanders said while the workers gathered on Seventh Ave. and 36th St. roared with approval.
Sanders delivered his broadside ahead of a rally in Times Square where thousands of striking workers were expected to put on a massive show of solidarity on the sixth day of their job action.
There was no immediate response from Verizon or McAdam, but this was not the first time Sanders has stood-up for the strikers.
Sanders got a rock star reception last Wednesday when he visited the picket line in Brooklyn. Many of the strikers belong to the Communications Workers of America (CWA), which has endorsed Sanders.
His rival Hillary Clinton also gave a shout-out of support to the strikers. But so far none of the Republican presidential candidates have weighed in on the side of the workers.
In Times Square, the Verizon workers were expected to be joined by dozens of New York City elected officials, including Public Advocate Letitia James, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and others — all of them Democrats.
Corky Siemaszko









