FairPoint strikes new deal with unions

FairPoint Communications' acquisition of former Verizon Communications landline properties in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont is scheduled to close at the end of this month, but even as the deal earned the regulatory support it needed earlier this year, some union members still questioned the deal and their future dealings with the new owner. This week, however, FairPoint announced tentative agreements with the two major unions, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Communications Workers of America, to provide increased in wages and pensions, as well as healthcare benefits.

The agreements, which still need to be approved by union membership, would affect about 2,500 employees. The long embattled acquisition finally appears to be in the home stretch.

For more:
- see this story at The Charlotte Business Journal

Related article:
- FairPoint got its final regulatory approval from New Hampshire last month