The two unions negotiating a new labor contract with Verizon have set an early Monday morning bargaining deadline, thus paving the way for a potential strike to commence next week.

The Communications Workers of American (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) say that the potential for a strike "becomes possible" if they have not reached a new deal with Verizon by 12:01 a.m. on Monday. The previous labor deal between the unions and Verizon, which covered a total of 65,000 employees, was due to officially expire last week before being given a one-week extension to grant the parties more time to come to a deal. Among the critical issues that the unions say still need to be resolved are "permanent, quality" jobs at Verizon, healthcare and retirement security, and a wage settlement. While the unions have been negotiating with Verizon all week, they have categorized progress as "slow."

In response to the deadline, Verizon chief communications officer Peter Thonis issued a statement saying that Verizon was "very surprised" and asserting that "we and the union leadership have been making consistent progress and have resolved most of the important issues." He also emphasized that Verizon is still committed to working on a deal "for as long as it takes" to complete.

While the unions have not announced a potential strike date yet, Verizon workers have been picketing before work throughout the week. According to the Wall Street Journal, healthcare has become one of the major sticking points for Verizon and the unions, as Verizon "currently picks up the entire cost of insurance premiums for CWA and IBEW workers." As the Journal notes, paying for all workers' healthcare premiums has become both a rare and costly practice for companies faced with soaring healthcare costs.

In total, the two unions represent around 28% of Verizon’s 230,000 workers nationwide. If the unions decide to go on strike, it could potentially disrupt the Verizon FiOS fiber-optic network rollouts that the company has been planning for several areas in the Northeast, particularly in New York City.