New England telecom workers authorize a strike against Consolidated Communications
New England telecom workers who are members of CWA Local 1400 and IBEW Locals 2320, 2326, and 2327 have voted to authorize a strike against Consolidated Communications. The workers say the company is hiring too many outside contractors and bargaining in bad faith in negotiations that have been ongoing since March. A three-year contract with Consolidated is set to expire on August 7.
Consolidated purchased FairPoint Communications in 2017. FairPoint workers struck for four months from October 2014-February 2015 over many of the same issues on the table now.
“CWA and IBEW are in lockstep with each other to continue to fight for good-paying jobs and to maintain those jobs in northern New England,” said CWA Local 1400 President Don Trementozzi as reported in the Portland Press Herald.
Links:
Consolidated Communications bargaining update (CWA, July 23, 2021)
Biden Administration honors CWA steward for rural innovation
CWA Frontier workers sue Connecticut for anti-union contract interference
New CWA program incorporates union basics into IT training