About 13,000 unionized CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL) workers in 13 states are working "day-to-day" after the carrier and the CWA District 7 failed to agree on a new deal as the four-year contract expired Saturday.
The two sides did agree to keep talking and not start walking. The carrier also agreed to day-to-day extension and negotiations with IBEW workers in Montana.
"During this extension, negotiations will continue while workers remain on the job," CWA spokesman Al Kogler said in a statement reported by the Denver Post.
The extension is probably better than the alternative. The union had initially authorized a strike of its members, who include customer service agents, network technicians and Internet support workers.
The day-to-day plan, to some extent, makes it business-as-usual in the 13 states where the workers are deployed.
"CenturyLink remains committed to serving our customers and to customer service," Mark Moltzen, a carrier spokesman told KTVB.com. "We are going to continue to negotiate between all parties that are involved."
The negotiations, as usual, are stuck primarily on health care costs and outsourcing.
"We're just trying to make sure that at the end of the day we end up with good wages and good health care," CWA Vice President Mike Frost told the site.
For more:
- the Denver Post reported this story
- and KTVB.com reported this story
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