FairPoint Workers Picket Portland, Maine, Headquarters
Members of the Communications Workers of America and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers who work for FairPoint Communications did informational picketing at company headquarters in Portland, Maine, Thursday to protest the company’s unwillingness to compromise on significant issues during talks…
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about the recently announced layoff of more than 10 percent of FairPoint's northern New England workforce (see 1505150013), said a news release from Fairness@FairPoint, which is made up of CWA and IBEW members. Since FairPoint announced in May it would lay off employees, leaders of the unions have met with company representatives to discuss the layoff process in an effort to reduce the number of workers who will lose their jobs, it said. Union leaders said the company has refused to cooperate on several issues of importance, and the unnecessary cuts will further erode already severely compromised service quality for the region’s telecommunications customers. “There is absolutely no shortage of work out there,” said Peter McLaughlin, business manager of IBEW Local 2327 in Maine. “The company is forcing hundreds of workers to work overtime and many are on permanent standby at locations where the company is planning to cut positions.” Customer service and satisfaction is the company's top priority, and it's confident it has the workforce to deliver quality service, emailed a FairPoint spokeswoman. "Telecom is a highly competitive industry and have seen our voice lines decline by over 15 percent in the past two years," she said. "We need to align the size of our workforce to meet the needs of the business. The size of our workforce is based upon the ongoing needs of the business. Like any prudent business, we are going to manage spikes in demand rather than staff to the highest point. We have the ability to use overtime and recall employees on lay off if needed." Leaders of Fairness@FairPoint cite widespread rumors of an imminent sale.