PORTLAND, Maine — New York state’s chief financial officer is throwing his weight behind workers at FairPoint Communications, who are putting pressure on the company to return to bargaining to avert a strike.
Thomas DiNapoli, comptroller for the state of New York, wrote a letter last week to John Angelo, CEO of Angelo, Gordon & Co., asking the hedge fund manager and 20-percent investor in FairPoint for assurance that the company is treating its workers fairly.
“I ask that you take all actions appropriate to your role as a substantial shareholder in FairPoint to assure [New York’s public pension fund] and other Angelo Gordon investors that FairPoint is treating its workers fairly and in compliance with law,” DiNapoli said.
DiNapoli said that his office is “concerned by publicly reported allegations that FairPoint has not acted in good faith and has violated federal law; specifically, assertions that FairPoint improperly declared an impasse in collective bargaining and unlawfully imposed a plan to freeze the company pension plan, eliminate retiree health insurance benefits for current employees and make other changes to health care benefits.”
Angelynne Amores Beaudry, a spokeswoman for FairPoint, said that the company maintains it bargained in good faith with workers before declaring an impasse and that moves by the two unions fighting for a new contract to put financial pressure on the company are expected.
“We are at an impasse because the unions did not agree to our proposal and we did not agree to theirs, and there is a wide gulf between them,” Beaudry said.
Union officials argued they continued to make additional concessions in their last offer, prompting their complaint with the National Labor Relations Board that the company violated federal law in declaring an impasse.
Peter McLaughlin, a lead negotiator for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, said in a statement that the company hopes the support from DiNapoli will help influence the decisions of company management. Last week, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and Communications Workers of America unions fighting for a new contract for about 2,000 of its members in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont also got a promise of support from the AFL-CIO, which said it would put pressure on FairPoint through its pension funds.
The unions together represent about 800 of FairPoint’s workers in Maine. Members of the union have authorized a strike and remain on high alert in that event. Company officials said they’ve hired replacement workers and made other arrangements if a strike is called.