Union May Strike Against Consolidated in Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire

reach agreement with CWA and IBEW in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, Consolidated Vice President-Human Resources Ryan Whitlock said in a statement. “We have been negotiating in good faith for months with union leaders in a mutually respectful manner to secure labor agreements that provide flexibility to effectively and efficiently meet our customers’ needs,” Whitlock said. “We are hopeful to negotiate contracts that will allow us to more effectively and efficiently serve our customers, benefit our employees and ensure we are a sustainable and competitive Company.” It has a contingency plan to minimize potential service disruptions, he said. Consolidated “is pursuing subcontracting flexibility to allow for the use of additional labor resources to expedite the repair, maintenance and installation of services for customers” but “has proposed no IBEW-represented employee will be laid off as a result of using subcontracted resources,” Whitlock said. Consolidated “offered to hire additional IBEW represented jobs to assist in overseeing the quality and safety of these resources.” An "overwhelming majority" of the 1,000 workers represented by CWA and IBEW voted to authorize the strike if talks fail on the contract that expires Aug. 4, the unions said in a Wednesday news release. “Despite more than three months of bargaining, we are still far from an agreement that protects consumers and good jobs in our communities,” said IBEW Local 2327 Business Manager Peter McLaughlin. “Management continues to insist on outsourcing work, and we strongly believe that will hurt consumers and the hard-working employees who support, build, and maintain Northern New England’s critical telecommunications infrastructure.”