FairPoint Communications has ratified a new contract with two unions that had been striking for months, a move that will allow 1,800 members across Maine and two other states to return to work.
The Maine Public Broadcasting Network reported that the contract with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Communications Workers of America includes a cheaper, union-administered health plan. The contract also helps protect jobs from outsourcing, according to Peter McLaughlin, a spokesman for Maine’s IBEW chapter.
FairPoint said the contract also calls for new hires receiving slower wage increases, the elimination of retiree medical benefits and a limitation on the employees’ benefit pension plan.
Source:Â Maine Public Broadcasting Network
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