1 Bell Company Reaches Pact as Talks Continue
Southwestern Bell reached agreement with union workers early today, and negotiators for unions and four other regional telephone companies across the nation were continuing talks beyond Saturday’s midnight strike deadline.
Higher pay and job security were the main issues in the negotiations affecting 219,000 workers at the five phone companies.
Both sides said they wanted to continue talking and that strikes were unlikely.
The new three-year agreement between Southwestern Bell and the Communications Workers of America includes a basic wage increase of about 12% over three years and improvements in group health insurance, pension benefits and job classifications, CWA spokesman Jennings Wooldridge said in St. Louis.
Southwestern Bell had an agreement with the union barring a strike or lockout, but company and union spokesmen in other cities said strikes also appeared unlikely.
Similar negotiations were under way in Washington, Atlanta, Chicago and Oakland between four other so-called Baby Bell companies and the CWA on new contracts. Those four Baby Bells are Bell Atlantic, Ameritech, BellSouth and Pacific Telesis.
The unions represent workers that include operators, cable installers, switching equipment operators and Yellow Pages advertising salespeople.
The companies have said managers are prepared to step in to provide telephone service if employees walk off the job.
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