Contract expires, no new pact for FairPoint's union workers
Contracts with unions representing approximately 1,700 of FairPoint Communications' 2,550 northern New England employees expired at midnight Saturday, but no strike has been called and those employees are continuing to work under most terms of their expired contracts.
“To date, the unions have rejected company proposals on most of the core issues in these negotiations,” FairPoint spokeswoman Angelynne Amores Beaudry said in a press release announcing the expired contract. “There has been little or no movement on pensions, retiree medical for active employees or subcontracting, issues which are key to reaching new contracts.”
Beaudry characterized the unions as “dug in” and said there has been “no movement toward an agreement which will be fair to our employees while enabling the company to be competitive and facilitate in providing modern telecommunication products and services successfully to our customers, communities and states.”
In a report by The Associated Press today, Mike Spillane from Local 2326 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Vermont said talks will resume in the coming days.
Among the unions’ concerns are the company's desire to continue hiring outside help without union approval and the company’s request for $67.7 million from Maine state appropriations to help pay for rural landline service. The Burlington (Vt.) Free Press reported that the company has said current health benefits are too generous compared to plans offered to most workers, and also wants to freeze the current pension program and change future pension benefits to an employer-matched 401(k) program.
In a July 20 vote, members of Local 1400 of the Communications Workers of America and several other unions overwhelmingly voted in support of authorizing a strike if necessary. In response, at that time, FairPoint officials said the company had plans to continue services to its customers without interruption should a strike occur.
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