Hawaiian Telcom cleared of union's unfair labor charges by the NLRB

Hawaiian Telcom Holdco (Nasdaq: HCOM) on Tuesday overcame another challenge in its ongoing negotiations with its union workforce as the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) "conclusively" dismissed the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers' (IBEW) unfair labor practices charge.

This charge was related to the company's implementation of "Last, Best and Final Offer" employment terms by its Hawaiian Telcom, Inc. subsidiary.

In a letter dated Aug. 17, the NLRB said that the collective bargaining process with the union reached "an impasse and that the company appropriately imposed the terms of employment."

With this dismissal, Hawaiian Telcom's current employment terms will stand for its union employees.

At the same time, Hawaiian Telcom and the IBEW have been holding informal talks about entering into a future collective bargaining agreement.

Last December, the IBEW, which rejected Hawaiian Telcom's previously updated collective bargaining agreement, told the telco that it will be filing a legal challenge of the bargaining process.

Later in June, the NLRB dismissed the IBEW Local Union 1357 unfair labor practices charge filed against Hawaiian Telcom.

Battles between wireline union workers and the telcos have been an ongoing theme at larger telcos, including AT&T (NYSE: T), Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and, more recently, CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL). Earlier this month, CenturyLink and the CWA union, representing about 12,000 former Qwest workers in a number of Midwest and Western states, began negotiations for a new labor contract.

For more:
- see the release

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