Communication Workers of America 13101 participated in a strike against Verizon April 13.

Beth Marvel, CWA 13101 executive vice president, said nearly two dozen people showed up at 6 a.m. in front of Verizon's Rehoboth Avenue Extd. location to protest the communication company's contract bargaining tactics.

"That's a good turn out for being so early in the morning," she said proudly.

The protests ranged from Massachusetts to Virginia, with an estimated 39,000 Verizon employees taking part.

Marvel said between CWA 13101 and CWA 13100, there are close to 900 Verizon employees in the Delaware area.

Marvel said despite billions of dollars in revenue, Verizon continues to cut jobs and increase healthcare costs for active and retired workers. Officials are unfair to the people who built the company from nothing, said Marvel, who has worked for Verizon for two decades.

Marvel said the unions have been negotiating with the company for more than nine months, and their tactics have left families hurting.