Frontier union threatens strike

Head of local unit: Stoppage unlikely, move spurred by lack of urgency on company’s part

A union representing Frontier Communications workers in Connecticut wants authorization to call a strike to win better terms for its members — a procedural step common in such negotiations, but still a consideration for a company fresh off a $5.3 billion quarterly loss struggling to rekindle growth in its home state.

The Hamden-based Local 1298 of the Communications Workers of America represents more than 2,100 workers at Frontier, which has its corporate headquarters in Norwalk and the locus of its Connecticut operations in New Haven. The sides are negotiating a new contract to replace a pact that expires in mid-October.

David Weidlich Jr., president of CWA 1298, downplayed any possibility of a strike in response to a Hearst Connecticut Media query, saying he is hopeful for a positive outcome but frustrated by Frontier’s stance during early negotiations.

“There doesn’t seem to be any sense of urgency on the company’s part,” Weidlich said. “We’ll weigh every option.”

Frontier has approached the union about a new round of buyouts for members. Weidlich declined to say how many buyouts Frontier is aiming for. In 2017, more than 100 Frontier workers took buyouts under a similar program.

A Frontier spokesman gave no specifics on any plans for field service, repairs and other needs if there is a strike.

“Frontier always maintains contingency plans for continuing its operations in the event of a work stoppage or other exigencies, assuring that critical, quality services to residential and commercial customers, including access to emergency services, continue to be provided,” spokesman Javier Mendoza wrote in an email response to a Hearst Connecticut Media query.

Frontier continues to absorb declines in its telephone and TV businesses in Connecticut, according to Allison Ellis, the company’s head of regulatory affairs, part of a company contingent to speak Monday in New Britain at the request of the state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority. PURA is seeking information on whether Frontier is considering the sale of Connecticut assets, including the pole system that dates back to the days of Southern New England Telephone.

“As all companies do, Frontier looks for opportunities to reduce our costs and run the business more efficiently,” Ellis told PURA staff on Monday.

Ellis noted SNET revenue dropped 18 percent over a four-year span through 2018, when it totaled just over $800 million. Frontier lost $642 million on its Connecticut operations over that span.

“They told a story yesterday that we have been complaining about for three or four years, about how their Connecticut business has been in decline,” Weidlich said. “Now they are putting out evidence — front and center — that what we have been saying all along is true.”

Ellis said the company had a little more than 100,000 video subscribers in Connecticut as of August, and about 300,000 broadband connections in service. Frontier recently began offering Vantage Fiber internet service in Connecticut with speeds as high as 200 megabits per second. Ellis said more than 4,000 customers have signed on.

A company attorney successfully won a PURA concession to have most of the Monday proceeding held behind closed doors, on grounds that even being posed questions it cannot answer could put it in peril of violating Securities & Exchange Commission rules intended to prevent selective disclosure of the information disclosed by publicly traded companies.

Hearst Connecticut Media file photo A Frontier Communications crew at work in 2016 in Norwalk, where the company has its headquarters. A Frontier union has asked its Connecticut members for authorization to strike in October if the sides are unable to reach agreement on terms for a new labor contract.