Striking Verizon Employees Stood Firm As Tentative Agreement Reached

TOMS RIVER, NJ -- For 45 days, they have picketed. In the rain. On cold days. On days they would have preferred to be doing anything else.

And on a day where the sunshine and summer finally seem to have broken through at the Jersey Shore, striking Verizon employees learned their unions and Verizon had finally reached a tentative agreement to end the strike.

"We've been hearing rumors we might go back (to work) June 1," said Cindy Greaney of Toms River, as some of her co-workers waved in response to honking motorists passing the Verizon Wireless store on Hooper Avenue, where the strikers have been stationed daily since the strike began April 13.

>> RELATED: Verizon, Unions Reach Agreement To End Strike, Feds Say

With traffic streaming by on Hooper Avenue, one of the main north-south routes in the county and through Toms River in particular, the strikers tried to draw attention to their cause by loading a large inflatable rat into the back of a pickup truck, along with a lawn sign for those supporting the two unions -- the CWA (Communications Workers of America) and the IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) -- involved in the strike.

"What's been frustrating is the people who don't understand what's going on," said Carol Lombardo of Toms River. "This isn't about the money, it's about the future," and ensuring that jobs stay in the United States as opposed to being outsourced to places like the Philippines.

"People who've crossed the picket line (to do business with Verizon) are some of the first to say they don't want to talk to people overseas," Lombardo said.

The strike has not been easy on the families, Greaney said.

"We are emptying out our pantries and eating a lot of pasta," she said. "We're all going to have to go on low-carb diets after this."

They have had support and help to get through -- from loans made available by their credit unions to assistance from other unions to help from their doctors.

"My doctor has samples of my medication" that he has given to her, Lombardo said. "Thank goodness, because I couldn't really be without the medication."

Word of the tentative agreement -- announced by  U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez about 2 p.m., spread via text message among the strikers. 

"Now we just need the details," one said.