CWA Seeks Limits on Adelphia Top Pay

CWA has filed objections with the federal court overseeing
the bankruptcy filing of Adelphia Communications Corp.,
over the company's proposal to provide compensation
of $45 million to two top executives while it seeks
to freeze wages and cut health care benefits for frontline
workers.

CWA, which represents about 500 Adelphia cable workers,
reminded the court that the company is unwilling to
bargain for fair contracts for frontline workers but
is anxious to provide a windfall for the top two executive
officers. Adelphia is "not even willing to pay the
industry standard of a 3.5 percent wage increase to
hourly employees," CWA said.

Adelphia "should be striving to preserve employee morale
and to depart from the corporate excesses of its past
rather than seeking to enrich new executives with inordinate
sums," CWA said. These multi-million dollar agreements
"appear far more generous than the industry standard"
and have not been shown to be necessary to preserve
the value of the estate, CWA said.

Adelphia's failure to consult with frontline employees
who are essential to the reorganization effort in proposing
this executive pay plan demonstrates a failure to exercise
sound business judgment, CWA added.

In a separate filing, CWA urged the Vermont Public
Service Board to reject Aelphia's bid to delay the
upgrading of services and equipment for cable and broadband
customers.

In a letter, CWA called on board members to consider
Adelphia's past record in the state, as well as it
financial status, and require the company to keep its
commitments to Vermont residents.

Despite filing for bankruptcy protection, Adelphia
has the financial resources to fund the required line
extensions and upgrades in Vermont, the union pointed
out. "Adelphia's customers in Vermont should not pay
the price of Adelphia's mismanagement and misspending."

"We are very concerned that if Adelphia is allowed
to continue on its present course, the company will
deteriorate as a provider of communications services,"
CWA said.

CWA represents Adelphia workers in Vermont and eight
other states.