PORTLAND (AP) — FairPoint Communications workers ratified a new contract during three days of voting, ending a four-month strike by more than 1,700 workers in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, two unions announced Sunday. Workers for northern New England’s primary telephone company were eager to return to their jobs this week after a bitter strike […]
strike
Posted inBusiness, Maine, sj-web
Voting continues on ratification of FairPoint agreement
MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Striking FairPoint workers are continuing their voting on a tentative agreement to end a four-month strike in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and Communications Workers of America were holding briefings and ratification votes Saturday in Presque Isle; and in Manchester and Portsmouth, N.H. Voting wraps […]
advertisement
Posted inBusiness, Maine, sj-web
Strike by more than 1,700 FairPoint workers reaches 100-day milestone
PORTLAND (AP) — FairPoint Communications and more than 1,700 striking workers reached the 100-day milestone on Saturday with workers marking the occasion with events across the region and expressing hope that the two sides will soon reach an agreement. Striking workers said they’re hopeful because mediated negotiations have continued for three weeks without breaking down. […]
Posted inBusiness, Maine, sj-web
Workers in the dark on talks between FairPoint, unions
PORTLAND (AP) — FairPoint and its two unions have been meeting for a week but a strict gag order has left more than 1,700 workers in the dark about any possible progress toward ending the strike. The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service imposed the order when the parties returned to the table last weekend for […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
2014: A year of tragedies, triumphs and tribulations
At first glance, 2014 looks like a year of staying the course — of familiar faces and the unchanging Maine way of life. We elected a new governor who wasn’t new to us at all. We voted against a referendum that would have changed the way sportsmen hunt bears in the Maine woods. A popular […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
NLRB rejects ‘bad faith’ claims against FairPoint
PORTLAND (AP) — The National Labor Relations Board has dismissed complaints by two unions who accused FairPoint Communications of bargaining in bad faith, delivering a blow to striking workers in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, officials said Tuesday. The Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers said they were appealing the […]
Posted inBusiness, Maine
Maine sees ‘dramatic spike’ in FairPoint complaints, but public advocate says state lacks ‘any real leverage’
AUGUSTA — On Nov. 1, an ice storm broke a telephone pole and took down two FairPoint Communications telephone lines on Monhegan Island, laying them across the community’s main drag, Blackhead Road. FairPoint workers rigged a temporary fix that restored phone service, but they couldn’t immediately replace two broken telephone poles. Sheets of plywood were […]
Posted inBusiness, New England, sj-web
Three FairPoint strikers hit by truck on N.H. picket line
KEENE, N.H. — Three striking FairPoint workers suffered minor injuries when they were struck Tuesday by a replacement worker who was driving a pickup truck across a picket line. None of the strikers suffered serious injuries, but one of them was taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure, according to union officials. The three […]
Posted inLetters
J. Mailey: It’s all about corporate greed
Recently, FairPoint Communications placed a full page ad in the Sun Journal explaining its side of the strike. There is another side. FairPoint wants the workers to give up nearly $700 million in concessions. That would be done by reducing present worker benefits and future hires’ wages and benefits. Will those concessions be used to […]
Posted inNews
FairPoint, unions return to bargaining table with no promises
PORTLAND — Representatives of two striking unions and company officials at FairPoint Communications were scheduled to return to the bargaining table Tuesday at the request of a federal mediator, but both sides said they entered the discussion with few expectations. The meeting in Boston was called by a federal mediator assigned to the case. The […]