FairPoint Communications appears to be bracing for a strike in Northern New England. The company has retained at least one staffing firm to fill an immediate need for technicians in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
The website Telecom Careers is advertising “STRIKE WORK” for FairPoint.
Union members in July authorized their leaders to call a strike, but leaders have directed employees to keep working for the time being. Mike Spillane, business manager of the IBEW Local 2326 in Vermont, did not rule out a strike under certain conditions. In an interview Thursday, Spillane declined to specify what those conditions would be.
Ron Deese, founder and president of Tennessee-based TelForce Group, declined to say the number of positions his firm has been hired to fill in the event of a strike or lockout. Nor did Deese disclose when the advertising commenced. He said he’s been in communication with FairPoint about the contract since fall 2013 or earlier.
FairPoint spokesperson Angelynne Amores Beaudry said Friday afternoon that the company is doing its due diligence by lining up workers in the event of a walkout.
“The unions have been very vocal about getting ready to strike,” Beaudry said. “So we have to have our contingency plans in place.”
Deese said the workers he recruits stay on a standby list, to be called up in the event of a strike.
“They either drive to the market area with their own truck and tools, or you fly them there and provide truck and tools for them,” Deese said.
The workers, if called to action, are guaranteed a minimum authorized work week of 72 hours, plus mobilization and per diem pay.
“Serious candidates ONLY Please … willing to cross a picket line!”
Deese said he’s worked in telecommunications for 37 years, including three years in New Hampshire. He’s been on both sides of strikes, he said. He started TelForce about four years ago, and he recruits for trade and executive positions, not just for strikes. TelForce started working with FairPoint when the company took over Verizon’s landline service in Northern New England.
FairPoint’s contract with the two unions representing about 2,000 workers across the three states expired Aug. 2. Negotiations took a turn Wednesday night, when the company declared the parties were at an impasse. FairPoint unilaterally imposed new employment terms and conditions on the workers over the unions’ objections.
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and Communications Workers of America filed charges Thursday morning with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging the company had negotiated in bad faith and never intended to bargain fairly.
At issue are changes to the employment package that FairPoint says would bring worker benefits more in line with management benefits. This includes trimming the employer contribution to healthcare, which is currently 100 percent; freezing pensions; and ending retirement medical benefits for current employees. The company also wants more flexibility for hiring non-union contract labor.
FairPoint says the cost savings are needed to make the company a viable contender in the demanding and fast-changing telecommunications marketplace.
