The Nation - News from Oct. 8, 1989

Unemployment benefits have been revoked for 12,000 New England Telephone workers in Massachusetts on strike since Aug. 6. Employment and Training Commissioner James F. French ruled the strike has had a substantial impact on the company’s operations, and overturned a decision he made Sept. 13 to grant jobless benefits to the strikers. French said Massachusetts law requires companies to prove a substantial curtailment of activities before strikers can be denied jobless benefits, and that information provided him by the company showed service curtailment in areas such as installations, repairs, cabling, maintenance, construction and network services.