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Frontier imposes mandated overtime to address Verizon line issues
Frontier's (NYSE: FTR) mandate that union employees in its West Virginia have to work an average 70 hours work week to resolve lingering network and service issues is likely a move by the service provider to avoid the pitfalls that both Fairpoint (Other OTC: FRCMQ.PK) and Hawaiian Telecom faced after they purchased Verizon's (NYSE:VZ) lines.
West Virginia has been a major focus of attention for Frontier since it closed its acquisition of Verizon's lines at the beginning of this month. FiberNet, a Charleston, West Va.-based competitive service provider that purchases wholesale services from Frontier, said it's frustrated with Frontier's slow response to a number of trouble tickets. The competitive provider even went so far as to tell the West Virginia Public Service Commission to reconsider its decision to let Frontier purchase Verizon's lines. Neither Frontier nor the West Va. PSC have responded or taken action on FiberNet's claims.
At this point, the majority of reported issues with the cutover from Verizon's systems are in West Virgina. The cutover of the Verizon lines in other states such as Oregon has met little, if any, issues.
To be fair, the problems Frontier is encountering in West Virginia are the result of years of Verizon's neglect of the state's network infrastructure. In response, Frontier declared "emergency and long term service difficulty" in West Virginia, a provision in the union agreement it has with the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union employees that allows them to impose a 70-hour workweek.
Of course, this overtime mandate is not sitting well with some union workers as reported in a Charleston Daily Mail article. An anonymous e-mailer wrote the Daily Mail to say that some employees are overstressed, including some older workers "who are having a very difficult time coping with 70-hour weeks, especially those who work outside in this unbearable heat." Frontier employees are willing to help the company succeed, but this is not the way to proceed," the e-mailer wrote. "It is alienating employees and showing a total lack of respect for their mental and physical well-being. Their family lives are suffering and the company doesn't seem to care at all."
What's interesting about the union workers' complaints about mandated overtime--for which they are paid--were the same union employees who protested Frontier's acquisition of Verizon's lines over fears they would lose their jobs and poor service.
For more:
- Charleston Daily Mail has this article
Related articles:
Frontier's West Va. transition hits snags
Frontier Communications charts a new course
Frontier wraps up acquisition of Verizon's rural lines
Frontier says West Va. Verizon's phone line cutover is on track
Union members held protest of Frontier/Verizon deal at FCC headquarters
Verizon-Frontier deal gets FCC approval
More stories about Wholesale Services Network Infrastructure Fairpoint Communications Workers Of America
Comments
Posted by Anonymous | September 5, 2010 - 3:39pm
Heard that Frontier found a loophole in the contract and is laying off former VZ folks well in advance of the 12 month timeframe.
Posted by telcoCWA | August 3, 2010 - 8:46pm
As a matter of fact August is a cooldown for WV, it actually never gets too unbearable, and the PSC up there is closely monitoring the network, there is at least $375 million I know of going into broadband expansion. The WV PSC was the last to approve Frontier acquisition, and it was based on several agreements concerning service quality and broadband expansion. And as far as those CWA union workers, they are extremely talented and always glad to see overtime, I know because I am one of them with a telco in Virginia, and I used to work plenty in WV on telephone lines, I even grew up there under Ma Bell.
Posted by Anonymous | July 30, 2010 - 5:04pm
The service was BAD when VZ owned/operated the land lines... these are the same workers (craft and management) that provided poor service then... do you really believe they can change their stripes with overtime???? bet not!!!
Posted by Anonymous | July 30, 2010 - 4:50pm
Don't worry, give them a year or two at most and all these WVa people will be unemployed. I worked for what was a modern well run phone company that Frontier bought & destroyed a few years ago. They took us back to the 80's and then made it our fault things didn't work right. We've all since been laid off while the company farmed our jobs out of state or hired subcontractors to do our work which is doing nothing but causing major backups in servicing, major billing issues, and overall chaos. Well sad to see it happening but the Frontier people are giving the same lies almost word for word to the WVa employees and customers that we got when they were going through purchasing our company. In another year or two the call centers will be closed and work moved to another center out of state where they pay people $8 an hour and your internet tech support will be done by college kids in Texas working on their computer degrees and also making $8-9 an hour. Don't look for the "local level" techs like they claim they want to have either. All those will slowly be combined and eliminated in favor of sub contractors. Be warned now if you live in an area affected by this sale. It may seem bad now but this is just the beginning. Wait till your bills double, your troubles with the services and the company quadruples, and you're stuck with it. You'll wish you could go back to how it is now.
Posted by Anonymous | July 30, 2010 - 9:05am
CWA = Not enough hours...complain. Overtime hours making great money...complain. No matter what is implemented by the company...complain.
Easy solution: Stop whining while millions are out of work.
Posted by AAAAmerican.Com | July 30, 2010 - 2:15am
Frontier FTR :NYSE has a great Dividend payout.
Verizon VZ :NYSE may have left there hardlines and hardware in less than perfect order.
Union workers are great workers usually.
Now just a few weeks before they wanted jobs hours and guarantee of those.
Luckily they now have more hours they a few want. Are they being paid?
I bet they are and very well. It is just now becoming August 2010 a.d.
I wonder why they think the temperatures will be cooler now..somehow..eh..
Be glad the workers have jobs and are paid.. Imagine if the company never wanted West Virgina...
Would your treat a new employer that way?
Would a Union allow the firm to hire other people since they want to complain about being paid overtime?
Please send some of that work and PAY to us..
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