Hundreds of striking Verizon workers held a candlelight vigil outside their CEO's mansion, hoping to draw a stark contrast between the contract demands of blue-collar workers and the quality of life enjoyed by the company's execs MENDHAM, N.J. (AP) - Hundreds of striking Verizon workers held a candlelight vigil outside their CEO's mansion Thursday, hoping to draw a stark contrast between the contract demands of blue-collar workers and the quality of life enjoyed by the company's executives. Wearing red shirts, singing union songs and chanting "What's disgusting? Union busting," union members lit candles outside Lowell McAdam's home as the sun set on Mendham. "It makes me sick that Americans have to come out and do this," said Joe Mastrogiovanni, a 29-year-old cable repairman from Piscataway. "We're not asking for more; we're asking to keep what we have." About 45,000 Verizon landline workers from Massachusetts to Virginia have been striking since Aug. 7, fighting management demands for contract givebacks. About 7,000 of those workers are in New Jersey, and some of them were bused Thursday to the wealthy, suburban town where their top executive owns a home, intending to underscore that their benefits should not be cut while the company takes in billions in revenue. At issue is Verizon's declining landline business in an era of mobile phones. The New York-based Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) says it wants to change benefits that date from a time when the telecommunications marketplace was less competitive and landlines were ubiquitous. http://apnews.excite.com/article/20110819/D9P6SJ4G2.html