FairPoint loses appeal over union pact violation
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit of Boston last week upheld an arbitrator’s ruling that FairPoint Communications violated a collective bargaining agreement with its union by hiring out-of-state contractors in New York and Canada.
The ruling is the second by a federal court in favor of the union. In January, the U.S. District Court of Maine found the company did not present grounds to vacate the arbitrator’s initial ruling.
Peter McLaughlin, chairman of System Council T-9 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which represents 1,700 FairPoint workers in northern New England, said in a prepared statement that the union is pleased with the decision. The union says that it views the court battle over the outsourcing issue to indicate the tenor of upcoming renegotiation of a contract that expires on Aug. 2, 2014.
Jeffrey Nevins, a spokesman for FairPoint in Maine and New Hampshire, said in an email to Mainebiz the company is disappointed with the decision but intends to comply with the ruling.
“We are now in the process of reviewing how best to carry out the decision,” Nevins wrote.
According to the court ruling, affirmation of the arbitrator’s decision means the company is obligated to end contracting out the disputed work and to rehire any employees wrongfully laid off in 2009 and 2010.
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