FairPoint offers early retirement deals to Vermont call center workers

FairPoint Communications (Nasdaq: FRP) is giving 270 of its call center employees in Portland and Burlington, Vt. the option to take an early retirement package.

Jeff Nevins, a FairPoint spokesperson, said that the service provider told the Communication Workers of America (CWA) union about the voluntary retirement option it is offering to union workers. Employees have until March 26 to tell the company they want to take a package.

Although the buyouts would go into effect on March 30, Nevins would not say anything more than that the packages give workers financial incentives to retire early. The service provider believes that 30 employees will opt to take a package.

"We expect that some of our employees will take advantage of this offer and others will decide to stay," Nevins said. "It is not a layoff."

That's not to say that FairPoint is afraid of making job cuts. Last September, the service provider announced it would lay off about 400 employees, with the majority of the cuts coming from its New England region.

For more:
- see this Portland Press Herald article

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