BellSouth eliminating technician slots ; 32 positions will be lost as part of plan to cut 595 jobs

Thirty-two technician positions in BellSouth’s Tennessee operations are being eliminated as part of a plan that ultimately will cut 595 jobs and may result in layoffs throughout the company’s nine-state region.

BellSouth released the information Friday to the Communications Workers of America, the union that represents BellSouth hourly workers, as part of a quarterly report it provides the union, said BellSouth spokeswoman Patsy Hazlewood.

The company said loss of business customers through deregulation has resulted in a shortage of work for the employees.

Hazlewood said BellSouth did not have information on how Knoxville-area BellSouth operations would be affected, but Debbie Helsley, president of the Communications Workers of America Local 3805, said she understood about five local positions would be affected.

Hazlewood said BellSouth has about the same number of vacant positions as positions to be eliminated, but she said many of those jobs are in the company’s consumer services division and would require different skills.

She said employees might also have to move to take new positions.

Hazlewood said BellSouth would first offer early retirement and retirement packages to the affected workers and then decide whether workers whose positions are being eliminated would qualify for other jobs. After that, she said, BellSouth will determine whether layoffs would occur.

Business writer Larisa Brass may be reached 865-342-6318.