[November 20, 2009] Union brings Verizon sale concerns to county commission Tweet Nov 20, 2009 (The Charleston Gazette - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- About two dozen members of the Communications Workers of America went to the Kanawha County Commission on Thursday to ask commissioners to weigh in on the debate over the proposed sale of Verizon's land telephone lines. Company officials want to sell about 600,000 telephone lines to Connecticut-based Frontier Communications, the second-largest telephone company in the state. Verizon West Virginia president Keith Fulton said the company wants to sell its land lines to concentrate on wireless service and other technologies. Frontier wants to buy the phone lines in West Virginia and 13 other states to concentrate on expanding broadband coverage and to increase the company's corporate power. Fulton told county commissioners Kent Carper, Dave Hardy and Hoppy Shores that Frontier -- which specializes in rural telephone systems -- can better manage the state's telephone lines. "They can do this market better than we can," he said. But the communications workers aren't convinced. Union representative Elaine Harris said Verizon's current employees are worried that Frontier doesn't have the financial strength to handle such a vast communications empire. If the deal goes through, workers fear the added strain on Frontier could force the company into bankruptcy, leaving phone customers and employees to suffer. "The state of West Virginia should not be abandoned," Harris said. "We should not be shortchanged." This week, consumer advocates for the state Public Service Commission said they feared Frontier would not be able to afford to make repairs and upgrades to the state's existing network of telephone lines, which they said have been neglected for years. Frontier general manager Kenneth Arndt said the deal would require the company to secure $3.3 billion in financing. But he said the company would actually be in better financial shape after the sale than it is now. Carper and Hardy said their main concerns about the proposed deal are about what happens to Verizon's employees. Frontier, like Verizon, is a union company, but Hardy and Carper said employees are understandably worried about their jobs and benefits if the sale is approved. Fulton said Frontier has agreed to honor employees' existing union contracts through 2011, and said retirement benefits will transfer between the two companies. Most Verizon employees will keep their existing jobs after the switch. Fulton said all employees will know by the end of the year whether they'll keep their existing jobs or be reassigned. Both Carper and Hardy asked what assurances Frontier could give that the new company would do right by employees. Both Arndt and Fulton offered to sit down with workers and talk more about the proposed sale. If approved, company officials hope to complete the deal by summer. Reach Rusty Marks at [email protected] or 304-348-1215. To see more of The Charleston Gazette, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.wvgazette.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Charleston Gazette, W.Va. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]