Bell workers protest lengthy travel time
By:Jennifer Potash
A group of 10 Bell Atlantic New Jersey workers and their families protested Saturday at the Bell Atlantic building on Nassau Street to point out work conditions that they say require them to travel up to 400 miles a day from their homes to their jobs in northern New Jersey.
The technicians work for a subsidiary of Bell Atlantic New Jersey — Bell Atlantic Commercial Construction Services Inc. — and are responsible for fixing telephone lines, replacing and repairing the poles and other customer-service duties.
The Nassau Street protest was part of statewide effort by 100 Bell Atlantic workers seeking to change their working conditions.
When Bell Atlantic hired them, the only jobs available were listed in northern New Jersey, said Brian McCann of Jackson, who works out of the Verona office in Essex County. But a month later, the company hired 100 more workers, mostly from northern New Jersey, to fill jobs in Mercer County, he said.
“It doesn’t make any sense because we’re passing each other on the highway,” said William Strickland of Point Pleasant, who works in the East Rutherford office.
The workers, many of whom live in Mercer or Ocean counties, work out of the Bell Atlantic customer-service operation in East Rutherford, which is in Bergen County. The long commute has made it difficult to get home for emergencies, said Mr. Strickland, who added that he has three children under the age of 5 and a disabled wife who is unable to drive.
While Bell Atlantic has openings in Mercer County and in other central New Jersey locations, the workers said, they have been denied permission to transfer, even for hardship reasons.
The long distance has increased the employees’ cost for gas and tolls, which are not reimbursed by the company, as well as increased the risks associated with their duties, the protesters added.
“We’re getting less sleep and that means our judgment is not as good,” Mr. Strickland said.
“It’s dangerous when you’re working with 20,000 volts of electricity and could fall 20 feet from a pole,” said Frank Leoni, a Ewing resident who works in East Rutherford.
The group said it hopes to work out the problems with Bell Atlantic and their union.
“We love our jobs and took them because it offers us a good future,” said Pete Lombardi of Point Pleasant, who works in Englewood.
Bell Atlantic could not be reached for comment Saturday.