The unions representing 1,800 regional workers filed the complaint in August shortly after negotiations with FairPoint stalled and the company imposed cuts to worker compensation.
The board rejected the unions’ claims after a nearly five month investigation. The National Labor Relations Board Region 1 determined that FairPoint did not bargain in bad faith nor was the company’s imposition of final contract proposals unlawful.
Union leaders say they will appeal the decision to the general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board in Washington, D.C.
The Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers alleged that FairPoint never intended to bargain. The six charges filed with the National Labor Relations Board alleged that the company violated federal labor law by not negotiating in good faith. If the union’s charges had been found to have merit, FairPoint would have been ordered to make employees whole for any compensation they lost in the interim.
Peter McLaughlin, chair of the unions’ bargaining committee and Business Manager of IBEW Local 2327, said the board’s decision was disappointing, but not surprising. “Unfortunately, US labor law favors corporations like FairPoint, not working people. The NLRB is one tool in our toolbox—the NLRB does not decide what’s best for our workers and our communities. We remain united and committed in our fight for fairness at FairPoint.”
The two unions represent about 450 workers in Vermont.
FairPoint workers in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont have been on strike since Oct. 17.
FairPoint officials say the unions want to maintain benefits under contracts from a “bygone era”; union leaders argue that the company’s push for increased outsourcing and reductions in pay and benefits are unfair.
FairPoint and the union are in disagreement over use of outside contractors who would be used to replace union workers, among other issues, including a freeze on pensions and a discontinuation of health care benefits for retirees.
The company wants to restructure its retirement system for workers in order to better compete with its rivals in the telecommunications industry.
Unionized workers at FairPoint make on average $115,000 a year, including benefits. The company covers 100 percent of health care costs.
Consumer complaints about FairPoint service have increased since the strike began. The Vermont Department of Public Service has received more than 700 complaints about FairPoint’s service since workers walked off the job in mid-October. That’s more than eight times the number of complaints from the same period last year, according to department officials.
Earlier this month, complications from a winter storm led to a 6-hour lapse in service on Nov. 28 that disrupted the state’s emergency 911 system. The state of Vermont is investigating the outage.
FairPoint has nearly 200,000 customers in Vermont, and for roughly 10 percent of those customers, or 20,000 homes, the company is their only option for phone service.
Consumers can file complaints with the department, but beyond that, the state has no way of measuring the number of FairPoint customers without service.
Last month FairPoint Communications agreed to new protocols for tracking and responding to service outages aimed at reducing the current backlog, according to the department.
Gov. Peter Shumlin and Vermont’s congressional delegation have urged FairPoint CEO Paul Sunu to restart negotiations with the striking workers. But Sunu said that workers’ demands are unreasonable. He blames the service issues on bad weather.
Before the strike, FairPoint had 100 field workers in Vermont. Today they deploy around 115, and more contractors will be hired, according Sunu.
