FairPoint Announces Layoff of More Than 10% of Northern New England Workforce
Source: NH Labor News
AUGUSTA, ME — FairPoint Communications announced today that it will lay off 219 employees in its northern New England operations, which represents more than 10% of its workforce in the region. Members of both the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont will be affected.
Union leaders expressed disappointment at the news and said that the cuts will further erode already severely compromised service quality for the region’s telecommunications customers. “FairPoint has failed to meet service quality benchmarks for years, and cutting its skilled workforce by more than 10% will only make matters worse,” said Peter McLaughlin, Business Manager of IBEW Local 2327 in Maine. “We are disgusted by this company’s total disregard for its employees and customers.”
FairPoint has consistently sought to avoid being held accountable for service quality failures in the region. The company is supporting bills in the Maine legislature that would eliminate its obligation to provide service to customers who rely solely on a landline, or Provider of Last Resort (POLR) customers. It also supports an amendment that would eliminate the Maine Public Utilities Commission’s ability to investigate service quality failures or to enforce standards. An investigation of the company’s service quality failures is ongoing in Vermont.
“This announcement is deeply disappointing and illustrates yet again that FairPoint executives are beholden to the greedy Wall Street hedge funds who own the company, not to our customers,” said Don Trementozzi, President of CWA Local 1400.
FULL story at link. NH Labor News is run by DUer Matt Murray AKA NH Labor News
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) System Council T-9 includes local unions in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont and represents nearly 1,700 employees at FairPoint Communications. The Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 1400 represents nearly 300 FairPoint employees in the three states. For more information, visit www.FairnessAtFairpoint.com.
About NH Labor News
The New Hampshire Labor News is a group of NH Workers who believe that we need to protect ourselves against the attacks on workers. We are proud union members who are working to preserve the middle class. The NHLN talks mostly about news and politics from NH. We also talk about national issues that effect working men and women here in the Granite State.
Read more: http://nhlabornews.com/2015/05/fairpoint-announces-layoff-of-more-than-10-of-northern-new-england-workforce/
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