CWA Filing Prompts Job Guarantees at Commonwealth Tel

Citizens Frontier this week agreed to job protections for CWA workers in its bid to buy Commonwealth Telephone operations in Pennsylvania, settling objections raised by CWA and others with the Public Utility Commission over the impact of the deal on jobs and service.

Citizens Frontier agreed to keep open the Commonwealth call center in Wilkes-Barre and to retain at least 95 percent of the union workforce through the end of the current contract in November 2008, reported District 13 Vice President Jim Short and Telecommunications Vice President Jimmy Gurganus.

CWA represents 440 Commonwealth Tel workers and another 1,200 at Citizens Frontier units nationwide. 

CWA's earlier filing with the PUC, opposing the sale in the absence of job and service guarantees, was backed by Pennsylvania Consumer Advocate Sonny Popowsky, who stated: "Our concern is quality of service and you can't maintain service without people."

The company also agreed to cap its basic telephone rates for three years in the settlement agreement, which is expected to clear the way for the PUC's approval of the deal.

"As we see more and more mergers and consolidations in rural telecommunications, our strategy of intervening in PUC proceedings, and linking quality service with jobs, has proven successful in protecting our jobs and contracts," Gurganus said. He noted that such interventions also give CWA legal standing in the event of later proceedings to enforce PUC orders to the companies.