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UPDATE: FairPoint unions go on strike [The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester]
[October 17, 2014]

UPDATE: FairPoint unions go on strike [The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester]


(New Hampshire Union Leader Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Oct. 17--MANCHESTER -- Union workers at FairPoint Communications in three New England states -- including more than 650 in New Hampshire -- went on strike at exactly 12:01 a.m. Friday.

By 6:30 a.m., dozens of protesters had gathered outside the Holt Avenue facility in Manchester, walking slowing back and forth in front of two entrances.

At one point, about a dozen cars were backed up along William Loeb Drive as supervisors, managers and workers wearing "FairPoint Contractor" badges were slowed from entering the Fairpoint parking lot.

Occasionally, a protester would yell "Scab" to those in the cars, but for the most part the protest was orderly.

"Scab," one woman yelled at another woman driver, while laughing. "We still love you though." It was her sister, a manager at FairPoint Communications.

The line parted, and the woman drove into the parking lot.

About 7:15 a.m., two Manchester police officers arrived, after receiving a call from someone at the nearby New Hampshire Union Leader, complaining traffic was backed up and they were unable to get into work.

By 8 a.m., the number of protesters had climbed to about 200.

The bottleneck of cars evaporated as the protesters allowed them -- one at a time and at a very slow pace -- to get into the parking lot.

Police Officer Matthew Bonigen said the protesters know the rules and were within their rights.

"They know what they can and cannot do," he said. "They're allowed to walk. They're allowing cars to go through, but just extremely slow." One striker complained to the officer that drivers had bumped two protesters with their cars. And another man complained that a Cadillac drove further down the road to get around the strikers and then drove across the newspaper's lawn to get into FairPoint's rear parking lot.



According to the website fairnessatfairpoint.com -- which is a joint effort between the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) locals that represent the 2,000 FairPoint workers in New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont -- and news reports, the decision to strike was reached Thursday night.

The contract between the telecommunications company and the unions expired on Aug. 2. Negotiations between FairPoint -- which took over Verizon's 1.6 million telephone lines in the three states in early 2009 after purchasing them a year earlier -- and the unions have been stalled over key issues including pensions, outsourcing of work, health care premiums, and benefits for future retirees.


"The work done by the employees of FairPoint Communications is critical to our state's communications infrastructure, our public safety systems, and our regional economy, with businesses and consumers across New England relying on FairPoint's services and its hard-working employees," Gov. Maggie Hassan said Friday in a prepared statement. "The State of New Hampshire has been closely monitoring this situation for months, preparing for a potential interruption to service and working to ensure that key areas are maintained and remain workable so that we remain prepared to respond to any emergency. I encourage both sides to return to the table in order to reach an agreement that is fair to all parties." FairPoint, based in Charlotte, N.C. and the unions have been negotiating a new labor contract since April.

Glenn Brackett, business manager for IBEW Local 2320, said the company wants to change the workers' pension plan; outsource all jobs and close four call centers -- two in New Hampshire, including the Holt Avenue facility, and one in Dover.

The two centers employ about 370 New Hampshire workers. He said FairPoint has rejected all counter-proposals the union has made.

He said 80 percent of FairPoint is owned by 10 Wall Street hedge fund companies and they want dividends.

"They want the company to be able to declare dividends and create value for Wall Street at the expense of New Hampshire workers," Brackett said.

When Verizon owned the company, there were hundreds of thousands of shareholders, according to Brackett. FairPoint, he said, has 190 shareholders.

He believes the company intends to take everything away from the workers and give it to Wall Street.

"Then they'll package this thing up and sell it to somebody else," he said. "We believe there's a buyer in the background now. The corporate leaders in North Carolina are greedy, corrupt and immoral." The union, he said, proposed a better health care plan, which would have cost FairPoint considerably less money, and the telecom company rejected it.

FairPoint wanted concessions that would cost its unionized workers $700 million in reduced health care coverage and a freeze in pensions, the unions say.

The company says it needs to cut labor expenses to remain competitive.

FairPoint spokeswoman Angelynne Beaudry said FairPoint is disappointed by the unions' decision to walk out, but the company has comprehensive plans in place to ensure continuity of service to its customers.

"We value every customer and it is important for them to know that we have comprehensive contingency plans in place to ensure the service they, and the economy and communities of northern New England, rely on continues without interruption," Beaudry said.

Residential customers who need assistance can call 1-866-984-2001, Beaudry said. Business customers can call 1-866-984-3001.

"The previous contracts with our unions expired in early August and, unfortunately, despite months of negotiations the two sides remain far apart on the issues we think are key to the future of the company," said Beaudry. "While we have implemented our final proposals, we have always remained willing to negotiate and have committed to evaluate and respond to any counterproposal from the unions that meaningfully addresses the core issues of these negotiations. So far we have not received any such counterproposals." Beaudry continued, "At no point in the negotiation did FairPoint propose to reduce base wages for existing employees. We sought instead to bring the existing health care and pension benefits in line with what we believe are mainstream for employees in the region, and transition union represented employees to the same or similar benefit plans as offered to other FairPoint employees, including management. We believe these changes are fair to our employees while enabling the company to provide modern telecommunication products and services to our customers, communities and states at a competitive price." Under the previous contracts, the company paid 100 percent of all health care premiums for its unionized workforce, provided unlimited paid sick days, a defined benefit pension plan with no employee contributions and a 401K plan with a company match.

In total, under the old agreements, the average wage and benefit costs for FairPoint's union represented employees in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont were approximately $115,000 per year -- not including the future costs of pension and other post-retirement benefits, Beaudry said.

Beaudry concluded by noting, "We are disappointed in the unions' decision to strike. In the meantime, FairPoint will focus on meeting the product and service needs of our customers." ------ ___ (c)2014 The New Hampshire Union Leader (Manchester, N.H.) Visit The New Hampshire Union Leader (Manchester, N.H.) at www.unionleader.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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