CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Negotiations took more than a year to get a new deal the last time Frontier Communications and the Communications Workers of America were involved in contract talks. The first round of negotiating a new contract began Monday.
CWA members ratified a four-year contract in August 2014. The negotiations had started more than a year earlier. Once ratified, the deal was retroactive to August 2013. That contract runs out in three months, Aug. 5.
In a news release from the union Monday, the CWA said it was mobilizing at worksites across West Virginia and Virginia to let Frontier know “we’re standing together for a fair contract.”
“Frontier workers serve our customers on a daily basis and are the backbone and the face of this company. We all want to be treated with dignity and respect in the work place. That’s what these negotiations are all about,” CWA Local 2009 President Local 2009 Shannon Fink said.
In a statement to MetroNews, Frontier Communications Manager Andy Malinoski said the company was ready for the negotiations.
“Frontier looks forward to engaging in constructive contract negotiations with CWA that will position the Company and its workforce to provide competitive, best-in-class service to the Citizens of West Virginia,” Malinoski said.
The contract covers some 1,600 workers in West Virginia and Ashburn, Va.
Health care benefits were believed to be the sticking point in the last negotiations although neither the union nor the company released specifics about the deal. CWA representative Elaine Harris told MetroNews at the time there was give and take in the contract.
“That’s why they call it negotiations because it is the parties sitting down, the union coming to the table and the company,” Harris said.