CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The three-week strike by 1,400 Frontier Communications workers ended late Sunday, the Communications Workers of America announced.
A news release from the CWA said a contract agreement had been reached and the union’s members would return to work Wednesday. The release said the agreement protects jobs in West Virginia and Ashburn, Va.
“I could not be more proud of our members,” CWA District 2-13 Vice President Ed Mooney said. “Going on strike is never easy. But they knew what was at stake for their co-workers and for their communities. Thanks to their strength and unity, our bargaining team has reached an agreement with Frontier that will ensure that they will continue to have good, family supporting jobs.”
Workers will be briefed on the agreement with a vote in the coming weeks, the CWA said.
A large rally was held Saturday in front of Frontier’s state headquarters in Charleston.
Union members feared there would be further cuts in office jobs including shifting the positions to another part of the country or another part of the world.
Roz Williams, of St. Albans, has 15-years with the company but as a consultant express concerns about her future when she spoke with MetroNews at the rally.
“They want to come in and be able to cut 15 percent of our jobs. Job security is about being able to wake up, come to work and know that you really have a job and that they’re not just going to come in and send you home,” Williams said.
Most strikes tend to be about pay and benefits but that wasn’t on the mind of 20-year line worker Shawn Lacy of Huntington.
“We don’t need the money, we’re comfortable with what we make. We’ve got pretty decent insurance in today’s environment—we’re after job security that’s all we’re caring about. If you pay me $300 an hour but you don’t guarantee me a job—that $300 an hour is useless,” Lacy said.
The CWA thanked the community and legislators for their support during the work stoppage. The union said its members look forward to getting back to work to take care of issues that have occurred during the last three weeks.