Nynex Breaks Off Phone Strike Talks
Hopes for an end to a bitter 14-week-old phone strike were dashed Saturday when Nynex Corp. broke off negotiations with one of two striking unions.
No further talks were scheduled with the Communications Workers of America, said John Bonomo, spokesman for Nynex, which serves 10.5 million customers in New York and New England.
The CWA represents 40,000 workers at New York Telephone, the Nynex subsidiary that serves New York state. About 20,000 workers represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers work for New England Telephone, the other subsidiary.
In Boston, negotiators for the electrical workers and New England Telephone said they had reached a tentative agreement on local issues just before a midnight deadline Friday. Officials said union members would vote today on that proposed agreement.
It was unclear if the CWA and the electrical workers could settle independently of each other.
The strike has delayed directory assistance, repairs and installation for Nynex customers in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine.
