Can you hear me now? 36,000 Verizon workers go on strike

Is your phone working? The reason I ask is this morning at 6am EDT 36,000 Verizon workers walked off the job in protest of outsourcing of work to countries such the Philippines, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. The carrier is closing call centers in favor of overseas help. The union also makes accusations of sending workers out of state for extended periods of time.

"Verizon's corporate greed isn't just harming workers' families, it's hurting customers as well," the CWA (Communications Workers of America) says in a statement to CNN.

If you are using Verizon Wireless your mobile will probably be working fine, but if you have one of those old-fashioned landlines then you may experience problems. Likewise with the Fios internet service, though the company promises it's prepared and interruptions should not occur.

Like all situations, there are two sides to this story. While Verizon profits are up, that is the result of the wireless side of the business -- one not served by the CWA. Landlines are in decline and that side of the business is slipping as more and more people find them unnecessary.

While a Verizon spokesman told the New York Times there would be no problems, the union contends that landline service will be degredated and customer service will be less readily available.

Despite the possible problems there is no need to worry about your bill -- it will be unaffected even if your service is having problems.

Image Credit: Ken Wolter / Shutterstock