Saturday, August 20, 2011

Verizon Strike Turns Violent: Union Striker Hospitalized After Altercation

After nearly two weeks of raucous protests, sabotage, and union calls to torture replacement workers, things got ugly in Long Island Friday afternoon when a fight broke out between the brother of a union boss and a Verizon manager.


According to Riverheadlocal.com:

A Verizon manager crossing a picket line on West Second Street, where Verizon was working inside an office building, exchanged words with one of the picketing strikers.

The Verizon manager, Edward Googe of Hamden, Conn. and striking worker Dennis Dunn of Mattituck became involved in an altercation, according to Riverhead police.

Witnesses on the scene said Googe pulled Dunn by the neck and slammed his head into the wall of a building, then punched him several times before other men broke up the fight. Googe then fled the scene in a Verizon van, driving north on Roanoke Avenue according to witnesses.

Googe was arrested a short time later.

Of course, the “witnesses” were likely the Verizon strikers whose picket line the manager crossed. Nor is there word why Googe fled the scene (other than perhaps his own safety?).

According to the LongIslandPress.com, the fight occurred in front of the Suffolk County National Bank on West 2nd Street in Riverhead.

Donald Dunn, executive Vice President of Communications Workers of America Local 1108, is the brother of the hospitalized union member.

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