Verizon Communications Inc (VZ)

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Only on 10: Company says Verizon strike hurting patients who need oxygen
BY MICHELLE SAN MIGUEL, NBC 10 NEWS FRIDAY, APRIL 29TH 2016

As Verizon workers enter their third week on strike, a company in Johnston that helps people who are on oxygen said the strike is hurting its patients. (WJAR)

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JOHNSTON, R.I. (WJAR) — As Verizon workers enter their third week on strike, a company in Johnston that helps people who are on oxygen said the strike is hurting its patients.

The staff at Absolute Respiratory Care contacted Verizon with a simple request on Friday morning -- they wanted to install a fax line. But that request took them off the grid.

"When the gentlemen put the work order in, he took us offline," Dana Lesperance, director of marketing and sales at Absolute Respiratory Care, said.

Suddenly, phones stopped ringing. The waiting room cleared out. Employees were no longer able to help the hundreds of patients they talk with daily who are on oxygen or use ventilators.

"We have patients who are on life-sustaining equipment that we need to take care of," Lesperance said. "(These are) patients who come in for their supplies for their medical equipment."

NBC 10 News was there when Verizon arrived to make the repairs -- nearly 8 hours after employees lost service. An entire workday had been lost.

"We just had staff here that were unable to work because we couldn't get on our server. There was no phone to answer except for one phone that was being routed to one person's cell phone," Lesperance said.

Those on the picket line in Warwick told NBC 10 they're not surprised by the growing list of problems they're hearing from Verizon customers. They said replacement workers just can't fill the void.

"You can see that in a short two weeks we've goT a lot of customers out there having a lot of problems. That would not happen if we were at work," said Joseph Bizon, a Verizon employee who's on strike. He's demanding better pay and that jobs don't get outsourced?