XO Communications promotes Jim Delis to pres.- indirect sales… CSTV names John Duff, ex-AOL, exec. vp- distribution… New board members at Global Crossing U.K.: John Hughes, Intec Telecom Systems, and Richard Atkins, ex-IBM… Ed Kozel, ex-Cisco, joins Dilithium Networks board… Air Force Lt. Gen. (Ret.) William Donahue joins Blue Ridge Networks board… Alaska Communications Systems names Melinda Taylor, ex-IBEW, and Meghan Stapleton ex- KTUU-TV Anchorage, dirs.-corp. communications.

Opponents of a proposed Sprint-Nextel merger warned the FCC the companies tried to divert its attention from key issues in a reply to oppositions last week (CD April 13 p4). Sprint and Nextel said most objections didn’t relate to their merger review and should be addressed elsewhere, if at all. But opponents strongly disagreed, citing excessive market concentration, roaming agreements, spectrum aggregation and spin-off of the Sprint local wireline business as major concerns.

The last CRTs rolled off production lines at MT Picture Display’s Horseheads, N.Y., factory last week, as unions representing 800 workers negotiated the final details of severance packages. MT -- a joint CRT venture between Matsushita and Toshiba -- moved to close the former Toshiba plant in Oct., consolidating production at a Troy, O., factory.

Lucent reached a 7-year, 7-month tentative agreement with CWA and IBEW, which represent 10% of the company’s workforce. CWA said the agreement “achieves the union’s goals of strengthening employment security while also greatly reducing the company’s earlier demands for heavy health care cost-shifting of premiums to active employees and retirees.” The settlement increases wages by a compounded 16.28% over the contract term and pensions by 12% in the first year, provides a $1,000 ratification bonus and includes a cost-of-living adjustment beginning in 2008. The agreement is subject to member ratification.

Lucent said it agreed with CWA and IBEW to extend negotiations over their collective bargaining agreements by a week to midnight Nov. 7. It said negotiators had been meeting since Oct. 7, but they still had “several critical issues open and agreed that continuing their negotiations will provide additional time to more fully explore alternatives.” The contracts expire midnight Oct. 31.

Hawaii opponents of the Carlyle Group’s planned purchase of Verizon’s landline telephone operations in that state told the Hawaii PUC they feared the buyer’s real goal is to quickly resell the property for profit rather than making a long-term commitment to operate the business. But the IBEW, which represents many Verizon Hawaii employees, said it supported the $1.65 billion deal that would rename the company Hawaiian Telecom. Consumer and competitor interests at the PUC hearings on the sale said the Washington, D.C.-based investment group had a reputation for buying lackluster companies, overhauling them and selling them for a profit. Carlyle managing dir. William Kennard said he couldn’t rule out the possibility. He said that if Carlyle’s planned improvements made the company attractive enough to interest would-be purchasers, “that’s a good thing.” He stressed that his firm planned major investments to upgrade the aged network and planned to honor Verizon’s labor agreements through expiration in 2007. The IBEW said it supported the sale because Carlyle’s business plans would create as many as 100 new jobs. But IBEW officials said they were concerned about what would happen to the roughly $200 million surplus in Verizon Hawaii’s pension fund. The fund and pension obligations will transfer to Carlyle in the deal. The IBEW said the pension surplus should be returned to Hawaii phone customers since they've been contributing to it through phone rates. But Carlyle officials said such a major change to the pension fund would require renegotiation of the sale.

The investment group buying Verizon’s Hawaii telephone operation told the state PUC it has no near-term plans to seek new rates. The Carlyle Group, filing in the PUC’s investigation of the pending sale, said it intends to keep retail service rates unchanged until 2014. Carlyle said it expects long-term increases in sales and profits will allow it to cover operating expenses and system improvements without a rate increase. The group also said it had no plans for layoffs and post-sale employee benefits would be comparable to what employees have now. Meanwhile, the Hawaii PUC set a Sept. 30 deadline for comments on the proposed sale (Case 04-0140). The PUC also ruled that representatives of the U.S. Dept. of Defense and other federal agencies can be official intervenors, along with CLECs Pacific LigntNet and Time Warner Telecom, the IBEW, and Verizon Hawaii retirees.

SBC said over the weekend it reached a tentative 5-year labor agreement with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) covering 11,000 of its employees in Ill. and northwest Ind. SBC Midwest CEO Joe Walkoviak said the agreement gave the company “greater control over our cost structure and flexibility to meet our competitive challenges, while continuing to provide the outstanding wages and benefits.” He said the agreement -- subject to ratification by the union members -- contained “strong wage, health care and employment security provisions.” The agreement is separate from the one SBC reached with CWA earlier this year (CD May 26 p).

Labor organizations urged Comcast shareholders Wed. to withhold support from CEO Brian Roberts and dir. Decker Anstrom, former NCTA pres., at Comcast’s upcoming May 26 annual meeting. Roberts controls 1/3 of Comcast’s voting power despite holding about 1% of shares, said the AFL-CIO, CWA and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). Also, Roberts has been chmn. of the nominating committee, which failed to nominate any additional independent directors for elections at this year’s annual meeting, the groups said. “Not surprisingly, when you have an executive picking directors, a lack of board independence results,” said AFL-CIO Secy.-Treas. Richard Trumka. The groups allege Anstrom’s firm, The Weather Channel, collected “tens of millions of dollars” in programming fees from Comcast when he chaired the compensation committee. Shareholders are to vote on a proposal, sponsored by the AFL- CIO, urging the board to adopt a policy of maintaining 2/3 membership by independent directors. Another proposal, backed by CWA, requests that the board restructure Comcast’s stock to provide one vote per share. A Comcast spokeswoman said all the issues raised by the group are addressed in the company’s proxy statement, available on the Comcast’s Web site.

CWA and IBEW said they will hold a rally before Verizon’s annual meeting in Richmond, Va., today (Wed.) in support of 2 shareholder resolutions that represent “good corporate governance” and would safeguard jobs and quality service. The proposals include: (1) One submitted by the AFL-CIO calling for separation of the jobs of CEO and chmn., with the chmn. to be an independent dir. (2) A CWA proposal to prohibit awards of stock options to executives in the event of an asset spinoff.