Verizon labor talks continue, beyond deadline

Verizon Communications and two big unions kept talking after a labor contract covering 65,000 workers expired on Saturday and the unions said they made progress toward a deal, averting a strike threat. The majority of the Communications Workers of America's 50,000 members and the 15,000 members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers covered by the contract have voted in favor of a strike authorization. Areas in dispute in the talks included job security, outsourcing, employee and retiree health care.