The Communications Workers of America and Frontier Communications (NASDAQ: FYBR) on Saturday reached a tentative four-year contract agreement that covers roughly 1,400 mostly West Virginia-based employees, according to West Virginia Public Broadcasting. Now the overall union membership must vote to ratify the agreement.
Frontier operates over 16,000 fiber route-miles and more than 12,000 miles of copper network in West Virginia, to serve approximately 350,000 customers, according to Inside Towers Intelligence. Frontier acquired its network operations in West Virginia from Verizon (NYSE: VZ) in 2010.
“Our bargaining committee put in long, hard hours,” comments CWA Local 2001 President J.D. Thompson. “And the employees around the state who participated in mobilization and just keeping the public aware, we were in it for the long haul.”
Thompson said he appreciates that the contract maintains health benefits, includes wage increases, and with $1.2 billion coming to the state for broadband expansion, the agreement incorporates all-important job security provisions, West Virginia Public Broadcasting reported.
“A large part of our membership is covered by a no-layoff provision,” Thompson said. “With the fiber work that’s coming in, it maintains that Frontier workers, union workers, will be the ones getting the lion’s share of that work.”
In a statement, a Frontier spokesperson said, “We have been working constructively with CWA and are pleased to have reached a tentative agreement that is good for our employees, our customers, and our business. We recognize the critical importance of our communications services to West Virginia.”
Thompson said Local 2001 members will receive contract details in the next few days, “to either accept it or decline it” and hopes “to have everything wrapped up” by September 29.
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