PORTLAND, Maine (AP) – Saddled by crippling debt, FairPoint Communications Inc. is asking its union employees in northern New England for pay cuts and other concessions as it seeks to avert filing for bankruptcy.

FairPoint spokeswoman Rose Cummings says company and union officials representing about 3,000 workers have met regularly in recent months to discuss ways FairPoint can reduce costs. Another closed-door meeting was scheduled Thursday in Boston.

FairPoint is based in North Carolina, but its biggest holdings are in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, where it bought Verizon’s landlines and Internet services in 2008.

FairPoint is in talks with lenders in hopes of restructuring its debt, but says it still may be forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.