Nearly 40,000 Verizon employees up and down the East Coast walked off the job Wednesday morning after a last ditch contract meeting in New York Tuesday failed to make progress.

These employees, including wiring technicians and other infrastructure maintenance workers, went on strike, saying they are resisting proposed layoffs and outsourcing of Verizon customer service call centers and increasing health care costs on retirees. Workers started picketing in New York City on Wednesday morning, garnering national attention. 

Verizon said it wants flexibility in its personnel decisions and to reduce its health care costs.

About 40 people are picketing outside the service garage in Methuen, Massachusetts, having hit the street at 6 a.m.

Union members said they were unsure how long the strike would last. Verizon on Monday and Tuesday said the company had been preparing for a strike since last year, training new people and employees from other parts of the company to step in during a work stoppage.

The unions representing Verizon employees are the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Communications Workers of America. Between them, they represent 39,000 workers in states from Massachusetts to Virginia. Their contracts expired Aug. 1.

Moser writes for the North Andover, Massachusetts Eagle-Tribune.