Vermont Business Magazine FairPoint Communications stated Tuesday that a spike in vandalism on its network during the ongoing strike is "no coincidence," an implication which the unions say is a "desperate" move on the telecommunication company's part. The worker stoppage on the Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine operations of the region's largest telecom has been bitter from the start. Negotiations began on a new contract last April. The contract expired and FairPoint implemented new employee rules and benefit packages in late August.
Vermont Senators Bernie Sanders and Patrick Leahy have both urged the parties to get back to the bargaining table.
Unionized FairPoint workers walk a picket line at the entrance to FairPoint's Vermont headquarters in South Burlington October 17. VBM photo.
“Thousands of Vermonters rely on FairPoint for their businesses, residential and emergency services," Leahy said. "These are essential connections for real people, and I encourage all parties involved in the negotiations to return to the bargaining table and work in good faith to resolve the remaining differences. Vermonters expect both sides of the table to be respectful and to remain focused on the customers, workers, friends and neighbors affected by this impasse.”
In contrast to Leahy's tempered remarks, Sanders took a clear stand on the workers' behalf.
“FairPoint is putting the interests of the multi-billion-dollar hedge funds, which own the company, ahead of its workers and customers. That is not acceptable,” Sanders said. “My message to FairPoint is not complicated: Go back to the bargaining table. Negotiate in good faith. Agree to a contract that is fair to the workers, the customers and the company as soon as possible.”
Some 1,700 workers throughout northern New England, including 450 in Vermont, went on strike on October 17 after the North Carolina-based company cut health benefits and froze workers’ pensions.
FairPoint, which has been losing money, but recovering its business, since it emerged from bankruptcy in January 2011, maintains that it needs to realign union benefits with those of the rest of the company's employees, reduce retirement costs and have the ability to hire non-union workers as need arises, say following a storm, to become financially viable.
The unions say that the FairPoint plan would slash labor costs by more than $700 million and result in outsourcing of some jobs overseas. Meanwhile, the unions involved in the strike, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Communications Workers of America, say their counter offer would save the company $200 million.
“FairPoint’s management must understand that it can’t have it all,” Sanders said.
Mike Spillane, an IBEW business manager in Vermont, said FairPoint is attempting to “destroy middle-class jobs.” Mike O’Day, a CWA vice president in Vermont said, “They want to outsource all of this work and let Wall Street make all of the money.”
Don Trementozzi is the CWA president in New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine and Massachusetts. “This is about Main Street, not Wall Street. They want to destroy this company and middle-class jobs,” he said. “This is about keeping good jobs here in New England,” added Keri Evinson, the CWA executive vice president for New England.
In it statement about vandalism, FairPoint stated that it is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of any unauthorized persons tampering with, damaging or destroying its network or equipment and is asking the public to report suspicious behavior to the police in light of a recent spate of vandalism against FairPoint property.
"FairPoint's first commitment is to maintain a reliable network capable of providing access to emergency 911 services across our markets in northern New England," said company spokeswoman Angelynne Beaudry. "Vandalism and disruption of our network potentially puts access to those services at risk."
Since the strike began October 17, FairPoint said it has investigated eight incidents of vandalism to key components of its infrastructure and outside facilities, Amores said. For the five years prior to October 17, 2014, the company investigated only one such incident.
"Most of the strikers are exercising their legal right to stop working and to publicize their position, but it is no coincidence that these acts of vandalism are being committed during the strike," Beaudry continued. "It is not enough for strikers to deny that they are vandals. We understand that the vast majority would never vandalize. But it is time to help us stop the vandalism."
As our unionized workers exercise their right to strike, FairPoint said it is executing its contingency plans to ensure continuity of service. It said it will continue to mobilize to meet service needs and safeguard critical networks but the recent spike in vandalism has complicated these efforts.
"We extend our sincere appreciation to the public while we address this unacceptable and potentially dangerous spike in vandalism," Beaudry added. "We are working closely with law enforcement agencies across northern New England to increase monitoring of infrastructure and ask that customers or members of the public who see something unusual notify local law enforcement immediately. We take our obligations to our customers and the communities of northern New England seriously. This infrastructure is essential to safety services and to the customers who rely on it, and we will not tolerate sabotage of valuable company assets that provide such critical services to the public."
The unions rebutted on Wednesday: "A little more than one week into a strike by FairPoint’s union workers, the company is struggling to maintain its systems and failing to respond to many customer calls. The company is trying to distract attention from this fact by making bogus insinuations that union members are responsible for acts of vandalism say representatives of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) System Council T9 and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 1400.
Union workers said that individuals working inside FairPoint have told them that the current replacement workforce is unable to maintain the systems or respond to the troubles reported by customers.
“We’re hearing from managers that customer calls are so backed up that many do not make it through at all,” said Don Trementozzi, President of CWA Local 1400. “This is clearly a desperate attempt by FairPoint to distract the public from its inability to maintain the systems and network without its qualified workforce.”
“We’re fighting to maintain the best possible service for New England,” said Peter McLaughlin, Chair of the IBEW System Council T9. “FairPoint has produced absolutely no evidence that any of our members have committed such acts. And we strongly condemn vandalism or any attempt to damage equipment or the network.”
Members of the IBEW and CWA said they have been picketing FairPoint work sites for 12 or more hours per day since the strike began. In addition, they said members are “mobile picketing,” meaning that they follow replacement workers to work sites to picket those locations in order to educate the replacement workers and the public about the company’s unfair work practices.
According to Glenn Brackett, Business Manager of IBEW Local 2320 in Manchester, NH, “In the course of mobile picketing, our members have witnessed replacement workers engaged in unsafe practices that endanger themselves and the public. We are gathering these reports in order to file complaints with the proper authorities. Far from endangering the network, our members are taking actions to protect the public from replacement workers’ recklessness.”
“The company admits that it cannot meet service needs and safeguard critical networks,” said IBEW's Spillane. “This desperate attempt to shift blame for that from their unskilled replacement workers to the members of our unions whose hard work and commitment brought FairPoint through bankruptcy is truly disgusting.”
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Source: (October 28, 2014) - FairPoint Communications. CWA. IBEW. Leahy's office. Sanders' office.