Mike Snider

USA TODAY

Fresh from several successes and ahead of New York’s primary next week, Bernie Sanders is expanding his attack on America’s CEOs.

America’s CEOs are fighting back.

Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam became the latest chief executive to spar with the Democratic presidential candidate after Sanders accused the telecommunications giant of "corporate greed" for its plans to "outsource decent paying jobs" while paying high executive wages and avoiding federal taxes.

"You have chosen to stand up for dignity, for justice and to take on an enormously powerful special interest," he told striking Verizon workers in Brooklyn, N.Y., Wednesday.

Sanders comments come just more than a week after his criticism of General Electric for "destroying the moral fabric of our country," also claiming GE outsourced jobs and avoided taxes. GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt fired back in an op-ed piece in The Washington Post that "we’ve never been a big hit with socialists. We create wealth and jobs, instead of just calling for them in speeches."

Similarly, Verizon's McAdam wasn't backing down from Sanders and responded with an essay on LinkedIn entitled "Feeling The Bern of Reality -- The Facts About Verizon and The 'Moral Economy'." McAdam called Sanders' views "uninformed" and "contemptible," and noted the company had paid more than $15.6 billion in taxes over the last two years.

Nearly 40,000 Verizon workers go on strike

McAdam said Sanders "oversimplifies the complex forces operating in today’s technologically advanced and hyper-competitive economy. ... Our objective in these negotiations is to preserve good jobs with competitive wages and excellent benefits while addressing the needs of our ever-changing business."

On Thursday, the same day McAdam met with some striking Verizon workers, Sanders campaign spokesman Warren Gunnels told USA TODAY: "At a time when Verizon is making billions in profits, paying its executives tens of millions in compensation, and paid zero federal income taxes in five out of the last 15 years, the least this greedy corporation can do is negotiate a fair contract with its workers."

40,000 strike

The back-and-forth came during the first day of a strike by 40,000 Verizon employees -- members of the Communications Workers of America and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. More than ten months of negotiations between Verizon and the unions failed to yield a replacement for the contract that expired Aug. 1, 2015.

Striking union members want the company to limit outsourcing and increase job security, complaining the telecommunications giant's profits — $39 billion over the last three years — have come at the expense of workers. Verizon, in turn, says health care and retirement compromises are needed to help manage costs in the landline business as more consumers shift to wireless.

After McAdam posted his commentary, Sanders fired back on Twitter that "I don’t want the support of McAdam, (GE CEO Jeffrey) Immelt and their friends in the billionaire class. I welcome their contempt."

Finneytown's Immelt: Bernie Sanders 'wrong' about GE

Tax bill

Citizens for Tax Justice, a tax fairness advocacy group, found some fault with McAdam's statement that Verizon paid a 35% tax rate in 2015. Instead, its analysis of the telecom company's SEC filings suggests that Verizon's 2015 U.S. tax bill was about $5.5 billion, a 23% tax rate based on its $23.8 billion in pretax profit.

McAdam is "likely is tallying the company’s global taxes to make this claim," wrote CTJ director Bob McIntyre in the post on the group's web site.

Over the last 15 years, Verizon's federal tax bill has averaged 12.4%, and the company paid no taxes in five years over that period, the group found.

"While there is no indication that this spectacular feat of tax avoidance is anything but legal (the company’s consistently low tax rates are most likely due to overly generous accelerated depreciation tax provisions that Congress has expanded over the last decade), few Americans would describe the company avoiding tax on $78 billion of profits as 'fair'," McIntyre wrote.

Verizon did not provide exact numbers on its taxes paid, but company spokesman Richard Young said that "(Sanders) needs to get his facts straight and so does this group. Verizon pays billions in local, state and federal taxes each year. The Senator and his friends need to find a new calculator."

For his part, McAdam visited several Verizon work sites in New York on Thursday. He spoke to customers as well as striking employees and workers from other Verizon locations who are filling the strikers' jobs. Topics discussed, Young said, "our offer on the table and the need to bring in non-union Verizon employees to fill-in for those engaged in this union-led strike. He also urged these striking workers to 'get the facts' from a source other than the union."

Verizon (VZ) shares were up 0.1% Thursday to $51.36.

Follow Mike Snider on Twitter: @MikeSnider