"FairPoint workers strike after pensions are frozen" Associated Press October 18, 2014
PORTLAND, Maine — Frustrated over a negotiating stalemate, more than 1,700 FairPoint Communications workers in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont went on strike Friday, with picket-wielding employees demanding that the telecommunications company return to the bargaining table.
A FairPoint spokeswoman said the company is willing to listen if the unions provide a proposal that ‘‘meaningfully addresses the core issues.’’
But striking workers said they deserved better after helping the company negotiate a rocky transition when FairPoint purchased Verizon’s land-based assets and FairPoint went through bankruptcy.
Workers represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Communication Workers of America authorized a strike months ago, before FairPoint declared an impasse in late August and imposed a contract that froze pensions this week.
The strike was declared Thursday night after union representatives unsuccessfully tried to reengage the company in negotiations at a meeting in Boston.
--more--"
