Congresswoman Chellie Pingree welcomed news today that negotiators had reached a tentative agreement to end the Fairport strike.

“The men and women who work at Fairpoint are some of the best trained, most experienced and dedicated telecommunication workers around,” Pingree said.  “It’s important to keep those jobs in Maine and get these people back to work.  It’s been clear that our telephone network has suffered without them on the job.”

Pingree, who visited the picket line several times and wrote to the company CEO urging and end to the strike. praised the workers for their endurance.

“They spent months on the picket line, sometimes in very cold weather, fighting to keep these good jobs in Maine.  Their perseverance in very difficult conditions was impressive,” Pingree said. “And the support of the communityhas also been incredible, from people who dropped off food on a daily basis to the donations to the strike fund that helped workers keep their homes heated and their families fed.”

Today was day 126 of the strike.  The tentative agreement still has to be ratified by rank-and-file workers.