Several thousand members of the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and supporters rallied in front of the Verizon corporate headquarters in New York July 25. At the rally the unions announced that their members in nine states — Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Virginia — as well as Washington, D.C., had voted 86 percent to authorize a strike. Their contract, covering 39,000 workers, expires Aug. 1. Verizon wants increased health care contributions from the workers and concessions on pensions, union officials said.