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Fairpoint Workers To Vote On Strike Authorization

Two-thousand unionized FairPoint employees across New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine will vote this weekend on whether they are willing to strike. The vote comes after two months of unsuccessful contract negotiations.

The electrical and communication workers’ contracts end August 2. Don Trementozzi, president of CWA local 1400, says FairPoint is demanding a lot of concessions, including the ability to outsource jobs that are currently union-only.

"The company wants to be able to contract any and all work and all job titles whenever they want," Trementozzi said.

In a statement, FairPoint says the company has no plans to reduce wages of existing employees. However, the company says, “we believe the current Union benefit plans are out of sync with the mainstream.”

FairPoint acquired Verizon Northern New England six years ago. The company then filed for bankruptcy in 2009, and cut about 500 jobs.

If the members vote in favor of strike authorization – and negotiations don’t improve, a strike could begin as early as August 2.

This story originally appeared on New Hampshire Public Radio.

Emily Corwin reported investigative stories for VPR until August 2020. In 2019, Emily was part of a two-newsroom team which revealed that patterns of inadequate care at Vermont's eldercare facilities had led to indignities, injuries, and deaths. The consequent series, "Worse for Care," won a national Edward R. Murrow award for investigative reporting, and placed second for a 2019 IRE Award. Her work editing VPR's podcast JOLTED, about an averted school shooting, and reporting NHPR's podcast Supervision, about one man's transition home from prison, made her a finalist for a Livingston Award in 2019 and 2020. Emily was also a regular reporter and producer on Brave Little State, helping the podcast earn a National Edward R. Murrow Award for its work in 2020. When she's not working, she enjoys cross country skiing and biking.
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