CBS and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers reached an early contract renewal agreement covering 3,500 technicians, the broadcaster said in a news release Wednesday. The IBEW represents CBS workers in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, St. Louis, San Francisco, Dallas, Miami and Atlanta, the announcement said. The contract was ratified by the affected workforce and will be effective Feb. 1 and goes through April 30, 2021, it said. The current contract was scheduled to end Jan. 31 and the new deal includes pay increases, increased benefit contributions and “a path forward for new media,” said the company.

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and three left-leaning public interest groups urged Senate Democrats Wednesday to place a hold on FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's reconfirmation amid concerns about what the groups believe is special FCC treatment of Sinclair. Several Senate Democrats said they plan to focus a floor debate on Pai's reconfirmation on their concerns about FCC handling of controversial policy issues under Pai, including Sinclair's proposed buy of Tribune. Senate Republicans are aiming to bring Pai up for a final vote before the Columbus Day recess (see 1709130054 and 1709150060). Congress “seems to be asleep at the wheel” on Sinclair/Tribune given that key congressional committees haven't held hearings on the deal and have given no indication they plan to do so, said Allied Progress Executive Director Karl Frisch during a conference call with reporters: “I don't think there should be a vote” on Pai's reconfirmation to a new five-year term “until some serious questions are answered and until hearings are held in Congress" on Sinclair/Tribune. A hold on Pai would be “first step” to allow hearings to occur, Frisch said. IBEW also supports a hold on Pai to allow Congress to “look at the steps that [Pai] is taking” that affect Sinclair, including reinstatement of the UHF discount, said International Representative Vinny Butler. Senators “should be prepared to ask tough questions” about Sinclair/Tribune, said Credo Action Campaign Manager Brandy Doyle. Pai recently told several top House Democrats that Sinclair hasn't received any special treatment, noting any actions that affect the company “have been motivated by my belief that a strong over the air broadcast service advances the public interest” (see 1709190060). The FCC, the House and Senate Commerce committees and Sinclair didn't comment.

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and three left-leaning public interest groups urged Senate Democrats Wednesday to place a hold on FCC Chairman Ajit Pai's reconfirmation amid concerns about what the groups believe is special FCC treatment of Sinclair. Several Senate Democrats said they plan to focus a floor debate on Pai's reconfirmation on their concerns about FCC handling of controversial policy issues under Pai, including Sinclair's proposed buy of Tribune. Senate Republicans are aiming to bring Pai up for a final vote before the Columbus Day recess (see 1709130054 and 1709150060). Congress “seems to be asleep at the wheel” on Sinclair/Tribune given that key congressional committees haven't held hearings on the deal and have given no indication they plan to do so, said Allied Progress Executive Director Karl Frisch during a conference call with reporters: “I don't think there should be a vote” on Pai's reconfirmation to a new five-year term “until some serious questions are answered and until hearings are held in Congress" on Sinclair/Tribune. A hold on Pai would be “first step” to allow hearings to occur, Frisch said. IBEW also supports a hold on Pai to allow Congress to “look at the steps that [Pai] is taking” that affect Sinclair, including reinstatement of the UHF discount, said International Representative Vinny Butler. Senators “should be prepared to ask tough questions” about Sinclair/Tribune, said Credo Action Campaign Manager Brandy Doyle. Pai recently told several top House Democrats that Sinclair hasn't received any special treatment, noting any actions that affect the company “have been motivated by my belief that a strong over the air broadcast service advances the public interest” (see 1709190060). The FCC, the House and Senate Commerce committees and Sinclair didn't comment.

Some opponents of Sinclair buying Tribune argue in petitions to deny posted by the FCC Tuesday that the new company would have unprecedented ability to drag the post-incentive auction repacking to a halt, and would want to do so because of its massive investment in ATSC 3.0. “Sinclair’s ‘all-in’ posture on ATSC 3.0 gives it a strong self-interest in using whatever leverage it has to promote the adoption of this standard,” petitioned T-Mobile. A delay in repacking would give Sinclair more time to lobby the commission to devote more reimbursement funds to paying for stations to buy 3.0 equipment, said the filing in docket 17-179.

Some opponents of Sinclair buying Tribune argue in petitions to deny posted by the FCC Tuesday that the new company would have unprecedented ability to drag the post-incentive auction repacking to a halt, and would want to do so because of its massive investment in ATSC 3.0. “Sinclair’s ‘all-in’ posture on ATSC 3.0 gives it a strong self-interest in using whatever leverage it has to promote the adoption of this standard,” petitioned T-Mobile. A delay in repacking would give Sinclair more time to lobby the commission to devote more reimbursement funds to paying for stations to buy 3.0 equipment, said the filing in docket 17-179.

About 21,000 AT&T wireless workers in 36 states could strike Monday after sending their employer a 72-hour notice to end their contract extension, the Communications Workers of America said in a Friday news release. The workers authorized a strike in February, when their contract was to expire, but have been working under an extension (see 1702090054). The union sent the notice Friday as CWA workers from various AT&T contract negotiations protested outside the carrier’s shareholder meeting in Dallas. Inside, stockholders re-elected AT&T board members and voted against requiring reports on political spending and lobbying.

The Vermont Department of Public Service supported OK of Consolidated Communications' buy of FairPoint, but only if the Public Service Board conditions the deal on requiring Consolidated to invest in the Vermont network. “The merger should result in a healthier, better managed company, which should lead to greater investments in the Vermont network and improved service quality for Vermont businesses and residential consumers,” DPS Director-Telecommunications and Connectivity Clay Purvis said in testimony dated Wednesday (docket 8881). The department “is concerned that Consolidated does not have a full understanding of the condition of FairPoint’s network, especially with regard to the last mile,” he said. In other testimony, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers sought a condition requiring Consolidated to commit to network investment and defend any proposed job cuts as not hurting reliability or safety of telephone service. Separately, a financial analyst working for IBEW urged the Vermont PSB to “defer ruling on this transaction until Consolidated provides much more information about its plans for Vermont.” Similar conditions were proposed at the Maine Public Utilities Commission (see 1703160040). FairPoint expected but was disappointed by the IBEW testimony and looks forward to filing a rebuttal to refute the criticisms, a spokeswoman said. "We appreciate the Department’s recommendation the Board approve the proposal, and we look forward to completing the regulatory process."

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission voted 5-0 to OK Consolidated’s $1.5 billion buy of FairPoint without conditions. Consumer and labor advocates are seeking conditions -- and are expected to get some -- in Maine and possibly in FairPoint’s other two big New England markets earlier acquired from Verizon. There may be a strong case for broadband deployment conditions, especially in rural areas that haven’t seen much investment from FairPoint since the company’s rocky integration of Verizon wireline assets in 2008, said Technology Business Research analyst Chris Antlitz.

Two California mayors said they would support a union strike against AT&T if the contract dispute continues, as 79 elected officials wrote a letter supporting workers. About 17,000 California and Nevada union workers voted to authorize a strike in December, but union leaders have yet to declare one (see 1612160065). “If they did go on strike, then I would support the strike,” Santa Clara Mayor Lisa Gillmor (D) said Tuesday on a Communications Workers of America teleconference. Arvin Mayor Jose Gurrola said, “I would support them because they’re standing up for good-paying jobs and good benefits and providing reliable, quality service throughout the state.” Gillmor said Santa Clara residents complain about AT&T landline phone and internet services, and Gurrola said Arvin residents don’t have reliable mobile or high-speed services. “You would imagine that we wouldn't have any issues in our location" in Silicon Valley, Gillmor said. “But we still experience and I receive many complaints from our residents about the lack of quality and in some cases availability of service.” The mayors joined 77 other California and Nevada elected officials writing a letter to CEO Randall Stephenson about reliability problems and job cuts as the company negotiates with workers in the two states. Mayors, city council members and state legislators signed the letter. A spokesman responded that the telco employs more full-time, union employees than any other company in the U.S., hiring 2,700 union employees in California last year. That's across the business and a combination of new jobs and backfill for attrition, a spokesperson told us. It invested about $7.25 billion in California wireless and wireline networks over the past three years, he said. “Our objective is to reach a fair contract that will allow us to continue to provide solid union-represented careers with excellent wages and benefits, just as we have with 28 of our other bargaining units across the country, including [International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers] IBEW-represented landline employees in California who ratified a very similar agreement to the one we’re proposing with the CWA.”

Two California mayors said they would support a union strike against AT&T if the contract dispute continues, as 79 elected officials wrote a letter supporting workers. About 17,000 California and Nevada union workers voted to authorize a strike in December, but union leaders have yet to declare one (see 1612160065). “If they did go on strike, then I would support the strike,” Santa Clara Mayor Lisa Gillmor (D) said Tuesday on a Communications Workers of America teleconference. Arvin Mayor Jose Gurrola said, “I would support them because they’re standing up for good-paying jobs and good benefits and providing reliable, quality service throughout the state.” Gillmor said Santa Clara residents complain about AT&T landline phone and internet services, and Gurrola said Arvin residents don’t have reliable mobile or high-speed services. “You would imagine that we wouldn't have any issues in our location" in Silicon Valley, Gillmor said. “But we still experience and I receive many complaints from our residents about the lack of quality and in some cases availability of service.” The mayors joined 77 other California and Nevada elected officials writing a letter to CEO Randall Stephenson about reliability problems and job cuts as the company negotiates with workers in the two states. Mayors, city council members and state legislators signed the letter. A spokesman responded that the telco employs more full-time, union employees than any other company in the U.S., hiring 2,700 union employees in California last year. That's across the business and a combination of new jobs and backfill for attrition, a spokesperson told us. It invested about $7.25 billion in California wireless and wireline networks over the past three years, he said. “Our objective is to reach a fair contract that will allow us to continue to provide solid union-represented careers with excellent wages and benefits, just as we have with 28 of our other bargaining units across the country, including [International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers] IBEW-represented landline employees in California who ratified a very similar agreement to the one we’re proposing with the CWA.”