Unions: FairPoint requests are unfair
Concessions topic of talks, leaders say
By CHELSEA CONABOY
Monitor staff
 
here--October 20, 2009
 
Two unions representing about 1,450 FairPoint Communications workers say it is unfair that the near-bankrupt company is asking workers for concessions.
Union leaders would not say specifically what FairPoint has proposed but acknowledged that the company has broaced the topic, and the leaders have discussed it with their members.
When FairPoint purchased Verizon's landline network in northern New England last year, opposition from the two unions - Communications Workers of America Local 1400 and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 2320 - played a major role in earning FairPoint about $350 million in savings on the deal.
"To come back to the people that really helped you get a much sweeter deal and say, 'We need concessions now,' I think that's unfair," said Glenn Brackett, business manager of the IBEW chapter.
FairPoint took over operations of the network at the end of January and has since struggled operationally and financially. The company defaulted on its bank loan this month but obtained permission from lenders to postpone penalties while it comes up with a plan for restructuring nearly $2 billion in debt. Analysts say a bankruptcy filing seems likely by the end of the month.
Union representatives have been meeting regularly with the company. They met last week, and the IBEW chapter held a meeting for members statewide Sunday. Brackett and Don Trementozzi, president of the Communication Workers chapter, declined to speak about any specifics regarding their discussions with the company or members.
The unions will meet again with FairPoint representatives Thursday. Trementozzi said the two unions are working together with a team of experts including an economist and their attorneys.
"We're not in negotiations," Trementozzi said. "We're in listening mode. . . . We will just take it one step at a time, but we won't be pushed around. I can promise you that."
FairPoint spokeswoman Jill Wurm declined to say specifically whether the company has asked for concessions or what they would entail. She said FairPoint has regular conversations with union leaders.
"Both union and nonunion employees are important stakeholders in the future of our company," she said. "As such, we've kept the leadership informed and engaged with them in discussion of cost-reduction opportunities. . . . There's nothing concrete."
The unions would have to agree to reopen their contracts for negotiations in order to make any concessions. The Communications Workers have a five-year contract with the company that started in April 2008, when the sale was finalized.
"We believe they can be a successful company if they restructure their debt, but it doesn't mean they have to attack our contracts," Trementozzi said.
He noted that, if the company declares bankruptcy and the proceeding changes the contract, the workers have a right to strike. But, he said, the union would not take that option lightly.
"The parties are looking to be reasonable," he said. "We need to have a healthy company here."
New Hampshire Consumer Advocate Meredith Hatfield said the company must maintain its relationship with the unions if it hopes to pull together a neat plan for restructuring.
"The fact that the union is coming out publicly now while the clock is ticking . . . is definitely cause for concern," she said.
Hatfield said cooperation from the workers will be critical in maintaining service during a court proceeding if the company does declare bankruptcy.
 
 
 

FairPoint workers cool to bid for cuts

By DENIS PAISTE
New Hampshire Union Leader
5 hours, 19 minutes ago
Business 200x200 -- Business 200x200 --
 
MANCHESTER – Union leaders are unhappy with a FairPoint Communications Inc. request for concessions as the company struggles to avoid bankruptcy.
"Nickel and diming the unions is not a way to get the company back on track," said Don Trementozzi, president of Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 1400.
"Especially when we worked so hard to get them to this point because they would have been under a long time ago if we didn't help them," he said.
Similarly, Glenn Brackett, business manager for International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 2320, said, "Our position is that FairPoint and the union negotiated the contract in good faith. Nothing has changed as far as we're concerned."
Neither the union officials nor FairPoint Communications spokesman Jill Healey Wurm would specify what concessions FairPoint is seeking.
Wurm said, "We have been exploring options to improve our financial position that has included increasing revenue, controlling our costs and restructuring our debt, and so we are exploring a number of cost-cutting measures across every part of our business.
"Our employees, both union and non-union employees, are important stakeholders in the future success of the company and as such the company has kept union leadership informed and has engaged them in discussions on cost reduction options," Wurm said.
FairPoint negotiated a 30-day grace period with lenders just before it would have missed more than $42 million in principal and interest payments due Sept. 30/Oct. 1.
The company has said it needs to restructure its debt, possibly through a bankruptcy.
Charlotte, N.C.-based FairPoint Communications bought 1.6 million land lines in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont from Verizon on March 31, 2008, for more than $2 billion.
Since changing over to its own systems Jan. 30, FairPoint has been plagued by complaints from retail, business and wholesale customers.
The IBEW represents 975 FairPoint workers in New Hampshire, while CWA represents about 50.
Wurm said there have been no layoffs and none are anticipated in the foreseeable future.
"Both the IBEW and CWA told the regulators and whoever else would listen, they were taking on much too much debt," Trementozzi said.
"They need to get rid of at least half the debt," he said.
FairPoint has about $1.9 billion of bank debt and $500 million of bond debt.
Although unions initially opposed the sale of Verizon's landlines in northern New England to Charlotte, N.C.-based FairPoint, Brackett said the unions helped FairPoint win $350 million to $400 million in concessions from Verizon.
Brackett said he told IBEW members at a meeting Sunday that whatever happens with FairPoint, the union will do whatever it has to do to protect members' jobs and wages.
"The state of New Hampshire has a mess on its hands today because Verizon was allowed to leave. To me, that's the story; FairPoint is just a result of the story," he said

New Dependent Care Reimbursement Guidelines

Click here to see the new guidelines for Fairpoint NNE's reimbursement for dependent care.

A message from Mike O'Day

Hello Burlington Members,
If you could not make last nights meeting here is just a recap
for you.

Pat O'Neil, from the CWA National, was an employee of, and sits
on the bankruptcy panel from IDEARC. While the papers have
printed several articles mentioning that bankuptcy may become a
possiblilty for Fairpoint in the future, Pat was able to give
many scenarios with regard with what might happen should that
come to fruition. None of those possibilities included immediate
job loss, immediate modification or liquidation of the union
contract and, as a regulated utility, they could not possibly
liquidate the phone company in its entirety.

Pat spoke at length about the current and public information
that he could compare between both IDEARC and Fairpoint. IDEARC
was saddled with 9 billion of debt when it was spun off from
Verizon and Fairpoint only inherited less than a third of that
amount. IDEARC's restructuring will likely result in 2/3
reduction of debt through the Chapter 11 proceedings and will
come out at the other side of it as a much healthier company and
they never even touched the union contracts, although there had
been concessions made voluntarily prior to the bankruptcy
filing.

Pat was asked to be there to answer questions and reassure you
that if Fairpoint does wind up filing for bankruptcy it is not
necessarily a bad thing for the long term health of the
employees and the company.

Don and Keri were also in the office yesterday for a high level
meeting in Burlington. While there were non-disclosure
agreements signed no specific information could be given. They
did want to assure us all that they have been callng to the
national for help since January 1 when they took office since
they have been concerned about all of us since the very
beginning of their administration.

Rest assured that CWA International and your local elected
officials are spending an inordinate amount of their collective
resources to insure that your long term well being is kept at
the forefront! Countless meetings with the company and
regulators have already taken place with more to come!

We were happy to have in attendance retired Chief Steward
Darlene Stone and we thanked our newly elected Chief Steward
Lisa Heisler for running. Lisa typed actual minutes of the
meeting which will be available later.

I wish to thank the Carpenters Union Local 1996 for allowing us
to use their hall for the meeting and brother Ralph Montefusco
for making the arrangements and taking the attached photos.

Please go to the local website to keep abreast of any new
developments. Below are links to informative sites regarding
Bankruptcy. Keep in mind that Fairpoint does not have a
cash-flow problem, it has a significant long term debt problem:
should it be able to restructure the debt, i.e get a more
favorable interest rate and/or reduction in debt, it will be a
stronger company afterward. As Pat said, 'Bankruptcy is not the
end of the world'.

Next week our President Don Trementozzi, EVP Keri Evinson and
the local DVP's will meet with Fairpoint regarding the status of
the 401K plan and the Pension Plan. The GetActive website this
notification was designed through is a new tool we will use to
get you updates; thanks is due to Ralph for helping us get
connected to it.

I want to thank all of the stewards, mobilizers and members who
came to the meeting after a long 10 hour tour and especially Pat
O'Neil who traveled on his own time from Maine to help us grasp
the magnitude of this situation. Brother Don also came during
his vacation week, and Keri drove up with a broken ankle. As you
can see, the local and national are not forgetting about us!

http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/newsroom/fsbankruptcy.html

http://www.uscourts.gov/bankruptcycourts/bankruptcybasics/discharge.html

http://www.uniteinstrength.com/

In Solidarity,

Mike O'Day

DVP D7

April 20, 2009

Northern New England Work & Family
*Enrollment Notice*

The enrollment (re-enrollment) period for the Dependent Care Reimbursement Fund (DCRF) starts April 1, 2009. Everyone who wishes to enroll in, or continue to be part of the DCRF program MUST submit their paperwork. The new DCRF year begins on May 1, 2009.

You will find the Work & Family Enrollment Policy under quick links on the Work & Family home page. You can access this by logging on to the Employee Portal, click on Human Resources then the Work & Family icon. You should find all the information you need on this website, but if you have any questions please contact the Work & Family Coordinator (Julie Dawkins) at 207-648-3421.

Please remember to include your 2008 Federal tax form and W2s.

Joint Letter from CWA & Fairpoint to our Fairpoint Members

February 6, 2009

Dear FairPoint Members,

The transition is almost complete and by the time cutover is finished you will have officially become independent from Verizon.  The new systems will allow the company to become more competitive and win back the overwhelming and unexpected line losses that they have had since April.  

Verizon's greatest loss, however, was FairPoint's gain. We know that you are the "best in class" employees no matter what function you perform.  We need you to appreciate the enormity and the importance of the task that you are about to undertake.  We know that, as our members, you are the only ones that can make this transition a success.  

We anticipate that when the systems come back up we will need to declare an emergency.  If necessary, this declaration will allow us to go over the 10 hours of overtime that is allowed in February under the contract. While we do not always agree, we do agree that we need to ensure your future with FairPoint.  This cutover has to be successful and we need to minimize customer impact so that there is no further erosion of the customer base to secure our jobs in the future. 

Together, we are asking that you acknowledge that the future of FairPoint's business in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont lies in your hands.  We understand that this may be an inconvenience.  We know that you have families and personal lives that may be affected for this short period.  We also know that we need to get this done in order to ensure that FairPoint is successful in this endeavor. 

FairPoint's success will, in turn, ensure your future! 

 

In Solidarity,

Don Trementozzi
President, CWA Local 1400


Sincerely,

Paula E. Armstrong
AVP, Consumer Sales & Service
Fairpoint Communications

A Letter from Darlene Stone to our Burlington, VT stewards:

Hello Burlington Stewards' Army,

2009 is here and with the new year there is new leadership at CWA Local 1400. They have hit the ground running!

Better communication is one of their goals for 2009. In their effort to have better communication they are asking that we gather everyone's email address. That way the Local can send out updates directly to our members.

I need your help on this email gathering project done!

I'll be coming to each of you to show you what we need and to see if you can help me in getting this big email project done.

This year will bring many things for us here in Vermont.
AT&T coming to VT (here's our opportunity to organize them to join Local 1400)
Switch Campaign ( getting our members, friends, relatives, etc to Switch their wireless to union AT&T wireless)
Employee Free Choice Act.
Fairpoint's finances

We will have a Stewards meeting soon in Jan or Feb.

So...as you can see we have a lot going on this year. I have submitted the Burlington Stewards' Army emails to the Local so you can start to get the union updates. This way you can let people around where you sit know about the latest stuff.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

In Solidarity,
Darlene