PORTLAND (AP) — FairPoint Communications said it needed to bring costs and benefits into sync with competitors in the telecommunications industry. By doing just that in a new labor pact, the company has made itself more attractive to potential buyers, an analyst and workers say. Workers said during a four-month strike in northern New England […]
Fairpoint Communications
Posted inMaine, sj-web
FairPoint workers fear they’re going to have to clean up messes caused by replacement workers
PORTLAND (AP) — FairPoint’s unionized workers fear they’ll find a mess when they return Wednesday from a four-month strike in which replacement workers handled call center duties and maintained the telecommunications network in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. There were widely documented customer service problems during the strike of more than 1,700 workers, and union […]
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Posted inBusiness
FairPoint workers ratify agreement to end four-month strike
PORTLAND (AP) — FairPoint Communications workers ratified a new contract during three days of voting, ending a four-month strike by more than 1,700 workers in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, two unions announced Sunday. Workers for northern New England’s primary telephone company were eager to return to their jobs this week after a bitter strike […]
Posted inBusiness, Maine, sj-web
Strike by more than 1,700 FairPoint workers reaches 100-day milestone
PORTLAND (AP) — FairPoint Communications and more than 1,700 striking workers reached the 100-day milestone on Saturday with workers marking the occasion with events across the region and expressing hope that the two sides will soon reach an agreement. Striking workers said they’re hopeful because mediated negotiations have continued for three weeks without breaking down. […]
Posted inBusiness, Maine, sj-web
Workers in the dark on talks between FairPoint, unions
PORTLAND (AP) — FairPoint and its two unions have been meeting for a week but a strict gag order has left more than 1,700 workers in the dark about any possible progress toward ending the strike. The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service imposed the order when the parties returned to the table last weekend for […]
Posted inBusiness, Maine
Maine sees ‘dramatic spike’ in FairPoint complaints, but public advocate says state lacks ‘any real leverage’
AUGUSTA — On Nov. 1, an ice storm broke a telephone pole and took down two FairPoint Communications telephone lines on Monhegan Island, laying them across the community’s main drag, Blackhead Road. FairPoint workers rigged a temporary fix that restored phone service, but they couldn’t immediately replace two broken telephone poles. Sheets of plywood were […]
Posted inLetters
J. Mailey: It’s all about corporate greed
Recently, FairPoint Communications placed a full page ad in the Sun Journal explaining its side of the strike. There is another side. FairPoint wants the workers to give up nearly $700 million in concessions. That would be done by reducing present worker benefits and future hires’ wages and benefits. Will those concessions be used to […]
Posted inNews
FairPoint, unions return to bargaining table with no promises
PORTLAND — Representatives of two striking unions and company officials at FairPoint Communications were scheduled to return to the bargaining table Tuesday at the request of a federal mediator, but both sides said they entered the discussion with few expectations. The meeting in Boston was called by a federal mediator assigned to the case. The […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Hundreds of striking FairPoint workers rally in Portland’s Monument Square
PORTLAND — Striking FairPoint workers from Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont gathered in Monument Square on Saturday afternoon to rally for what they say is a fair contract that would maintain “good jobs and good service” in northern New England. “No contract, no peace,” the crowd chanted, led by Diane Winton, president of the International […]
Posted inBusiness
FairPoint cries foul as striking unions say nor’easter will test replacement workers
PORTLAND — A warning of possible storm-related service outages from leaders of a union strike at FairPoint Communications prompted a sharp response from company officials Tuesday, who alleged union members have harassed the workers hired to replace them during the strike. The unions warned early in the day that a nor’easter storm expected to bring […]