Frontier's CWA workers end strike, reach new agreement

Frontier and workers represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) have reached a new contract agreement, ending a three-week strike in West Virginia and Ashburn, Virginia. 

With a new agreement in hand, workers in these two regions will resume regular work by Wednesday.

CWA said that its members look forward to returning to the job and addressing the service issues that have arisen over the past few weeks as soon as possible.

After not being able to reach a new labor agreement, 1,400 of Frontier’s workers in West Virginia and Ashburn, Virginia, went on strike earlier this month. 

RELATED: Frontier’s West Virginia, Virginia workers strike as contract expires

Ed Mooney, VP of CWA District 2-13, praised the labor union’s members for its willingness to fight for a fair contract.

"I could not be more proud of our members," Mooney said in a release. "Going on strike is never easy. But they knew what was at stake for their co-workers and for their communities. Thanks to their strength and unity, our bargaining team has reached an agreement with Frontier that will ensure that they will continue to have good, family-supporting jobs."

Members will be briefed on the agreement and will hold a vote on the proposal in the coming weeks.

Getting to this point was certainly not easy. As seen with other strikes that have taken place at FairPoint and Verizon, the strike drove tension between CWA workers and Frontier.

During the strike, Frontier Communications filed a request for an injunction in Kanawha County Circuit Court to stop the striking workers in West Virginia and Ashburn, Virginia, from engaging in what the company called “rampant unlawful activity,” as well as abuse of other Frontier employees including replacement workers.

In its injunction, Frontier claimed that striking CWA workers blocked access to enter or leave Frontier locations and property, threatened and committed violence against other Frontier employees and contractors, committed dangerous driving tactics on the road to cause collisions or force Frontier contractors off the road, and committed “rampant” vandalism and property destruction.

Unsurprisingly, CWA dismissed Frontier’s injunction request, calling it at the time “an overreaction by the company.”

For Frontier, reaching this agreement with the CWA will end a level of unnecessary uncertainty for the telco, which has been trying to right its financial ship after struggling through consumer and business revenue losses following its acquisition of Verizon’s assets in California, Texas and Florida.