Cincinnati Bell, CWA reach terms on tentative labor agreement

Cincinnati Bell and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) have put together a tentative agreement on a new 27-month labor contract representing 850 wireline workers in the union's District 4 region.

The new agreement, which will be valid through Nov. 12, 2016, replaces the current three-year agreement that expires at 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 9, 2014.

Linda Hinton, vice president of CWA District 4, said in a release that "I am pleased that we were able to reach a tentative agreement with Cincinnati Bell Telephone."

Among the many new elements of the agreement are raises and an enhancement of 401(k) benefits. Each employee will be sent a summary of the new agreement and details will be posted on the CWA's website in the coming days.

Union members of CWA Local 4400 will vote to ratify the agreement. CWA said it expects the ratification vote to be completed sometime in September and will be by mail ballot.

It's been a busy week for telcos and their union workers, with fellow ILECs FairPoint and Frontier working out the details of new labor agreements with the CWA and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) in their regions.

Earlier this week, FairPoint said it wasn't able to come to terms on a new labor agreement for about 1,700 workers represented by IBEW and the CWA, while Frontier put together a tentative labor contract with the CWA in West Virginia.

For more:
- see the release

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