CenturyLink, CWA reach accord on 4-year labor contract

CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL) overcame a major obstacle with its union workforce as the Communications Workers of America (CWA) District 7 approved a new four-year labor contract.

Getting to this point has been a challenge for both sides. In late September, CWA members voted 54 percent to 46 percent to not approve the tentative 5-year agreement they established in late-July.

The new contract covers 11,000 workers in 13 states, including nearly 2,000 in Colorado.

It will provide lump-sum payments and raises and limits the telco's ability to contract out and move call-center work outside its footprint. In addition, the agreement includes a commitment from CenturyLink to bring jobs back to Colorado that had been previously outsourced to offshore locations.

Mark Molzen, a spokesperson for CenturyLink, told FierceTelecom in an e-mail that "Our focus is, and continues to be, serving our business and residential customers by meeting and exceeding their needs as a broadband provider of choice."

Molzen added that "The contract is fair and equitable, given the significant changes in our competitive and operating environment since the current agreement was adopted."

For more:
- The Denver Post has this article

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