Unionized Workers, Firm to Talk Again: Employees Have Stayed on Job Under Terms of Pact That Ended Nov. 30.
Posted on: Thursday, 16 February 2006, 06:00 CST
By Jerry Lynott, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Times Leader
Feb. 16--DALLAS -- Unionized workers at Commonwealth Telephone Co. will go back to the bargaining table today, nearly two months after their last negotiating session with the company.
Members of the Communications Workers of America unanimously authorized a strike last month, but have remained on the job and continued to work under the old contract, which expired Nov. 30.
The union represents approximately 400 workers in jobs such as installers, line crews and customer service representatives.
A call to the office of Local 13571, one of the four CWA locals involved in the negotiations, was not immediately returned on Wednesday.
According to the local's Web site, the next bargaining sessions are scheduled for today and tomorrow.
An officer with Commonwealth Telephone Enterprises Co., parent company of Commonwealth Telephone Co. would neither confirm nor deny that the sessions are scheduled.
Negotiations have been ongoing since the contract expired, said David Weselcouch, senior vice president of investor relations and corporate communications. "We anticipate and look forward to reaching a fair agreement for both parties," he added.
Separate from the contract issues such as seniority, wages, pensions and holidays, the union has challenged the company's unilateral changes in health care made last July.
A complaint was filed with the National Labor Relations Board in December. But an NLRB official said the agency deferred the matter to the parties to be handled as a grievance under the collective bargaining agreement.
Jerry Lynott, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7237.
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Source: The Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.)
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