Consolidated Communications Employees Overwhelmingly Endorse Strike. Vote count shows widespread support in New England!

An overwhelming majority of union members voted to authorize union leaders to call a strike at Consolidated Communications. Representatives of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 1400 and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Locals 2320, 2326, and 2327 have been in negotiations with the Company since March and have yet to reach an agreement. The contracts of over 1,000 union employees in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont expire on August 7.

A strike authorization vote is a necessary precursor to a work stoppage, but does not require the union members to actually go on strike. Such a decision could be made later by union leaders.

Once again, the major sticking points between management and labor are the company’s insistence on being able to use outside contractors to perform bargained for work and continuation of moving work outside of Northern New England.

IBEW T-9 Chairman, Pete McLaughlin says, ““No one here wants a strike. Our members want nothing more than to provide the service our customers deserve. We will continue to bargain in good faith and are only asking that CCI lives up to the commitments it made to us 3 years ago.  If they won’t work with us to reach a mutually-agreeable contract, we may be left with no other option.”

New England communities will suffer if Consolidated is allowed to hire poorly trained, out of state workers to maintain the networks in your local neighborhoods.  

CWA Local 1400 President, Don Trementozzi says, “CWA and IBEW are in lock-step with each other to continue to fight for good paying jobs, and to maintain those jobs in Northern New England.”

We need everyone to continue mobilizing against corporate greed –we are now living in a workers’ economy, where most employers are hurting to find good employees.