Frontier, CWA union strike labor deal in Connecticut

Frontier Communications said it has hammered out a new labor contract with the Communications Workers of America District 1 (CWA) union that represents employees in the Connecticut region where it will expand its presence via its pending acquisition of AT&T's (NYSE: T) wireline operations.

The agreement is an "important step forward in the process to complete Frontier's planned acquisition of AT&T's wireline business and statewide fiber network and U-verse video and satellite TV customers in Connecticut," Frontier said in a press release.

The new agreement includes a number of new provisions: the addition of 85 new union jobs; employee job security; a new service center for dispatch and U-verse technician support. All union employees will get 100 shares of Frontier stock when the AT&T deal closes.

After the acquisition is completed, which is expected in the fourth quarter, Frontier's Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania, as well as its state operations, will be located in Connecticut.

The agreement between Frontier and CWA is contingent upon the approval of the proposed transaction by the FCC and the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, plus the consummation of the proposed transaction.

Reaching this accord with the CWA wasn't easy.

In April, the CWA filed a protest with the FCC claiming the service provider had not provided enough information to the regulator to review it. A key issue the CWA had was how Frontier would maintain and expand AT&T's U-verse broadband and video service. When the deal closes, Frontier will immediately gain 900,000 voice customers, 415,000 broadband customers and 180,000 U-verse video subscribers.

Outside of Connecticut, Frontier also reached an agreement with the CWA union covering over 1,100 employees in five Midwest states after seven months of negotiations and another with the CWA union representing 200 of the carrier's employees in Pennsylvania.

For more:
- see the release

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