Hundreds of people gathered for a rally in downtown Portland Monday morning to support unionized Fairpoint employees who are working under a contract imposed late last week by the company which declared that contract talks are deadlocked. The employees are now working under terms of a new contract with major concessions. Speaking at the rally, First District Democratic Congresswoman ChelliePingree says the union has put three offers on the table.
She says, "They've recognized that there has to be a compromise here, but this company just walks away. It's true. I was here 7 years ago when many of us said, 'hey, FairPoint is not the company that you want to be taking over our telephones, our communications system, the vital core of our infrastructure here in Maine,' and they're in over their heads and now they want to bully their way out of it. That's just wrong."
FairPoint escalated a months-long contract dispute by declaring last Thursday that talks are deadlocked. That allows FairPoint to implement terms of its final contract offer. The plan freezes the existing pension plan, allows the company to hire contractors, eliminates retiree health care benefits and requires workers to share health care costs.
The Unions say there is no impasse and have filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, saying FairPoint has been bargaining in bad faith.
Last week a FairPoint spokesperson said that the company is still open to talking with the union but doesn't see the likelihood of an agreement.
