The state says despite efforts to address service delays by FairPoint Communications, the pace of customer complaints shows no sign of slowing.
The Department of Public Service says it has received more than 730 complaints about FairPoint service since workers went on strike on Oct. 17.
The department was pressing the company to resolve repair delays for telephone customers even before the strike, but says the number of complaints increased dramatically when the work stoppage began.
Last month, the department asked the quasi-judicial Public Service Board to open an investigation into the delays and an E-911 outage Thanksgiving week. The process is likely to take months.
FairPoint has agreed to a department demand to implement an interim repair protocol that requires the company to give priority for repairs to those without cellular phone service.
In a letter made public this week, FairPoint CEO Paul Sunu attributed the repair backlog to a series of storms in Northern New England.
"Despite our best efforts to mitigate the disruptive impact of the unions' strike, a larger-than-normal backlog of work has developed. The reality is that the majority of the backlog of orders is directly associated with the extreme weather we have encountered." - FairPoint CEO Paul Sunu
“Despite our best efforts to mitigate the disruptive impact of the unions’ strike, a larger-than-normal backlog of work has developed,” Sunu wrote.
“The reality is that the majority of the backlog of orders is directly associated with the extreme weather we have encountered.”
Sunu said the company has more personnel working on repairs in Vermont than it did before the strike.
There was a flurry of correspondence this week between Sunu and elected officials. In separate letters, Gov. Peter Shumlin and the state’s Congressional delegation expressed impatience with the company and blamed it for not resolving the strike.
Sunu’s letters were his first public response since the strike began. He told Vermont officials that union demands are a barrier to providing the telecommunications services Vermonters want.
In separate letters, Gov. Peter Shumlin and the state's Congressional delegation expressed impatience with the company and blamed it for not resolving the strike.
Public statements by officials in New Hampshire have been less forceful, although New Hampshire Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan issued a statement last month saying workers had offered "real concessions" and encouraging FairPoint to do the same.
According to published reports, New Hampshire’s Public Utilities Commission has seen a spike in complaints by FairPoint’s Granite State customers since the strike.
In Maine, neither Republican Governor Paul LePage nor the state’s Congressional delegation have taken a position on the strike, which has entered its third month.
According to a union spokesman in Vermont, it is the second-longest walkout against FairPoint or its predecessors. A 1989 strike lasted 17 weeks.
