5 Bell Phone Companies, Union Continue Talks as Strike Looms

Negotiators for five of the regional Bell telephone companies and their unions continued talks on higher pay and job security in the face of midnight contract deadlines.

At stake for Bell Atlantic Corp., Ameritech Corp., BellSouth Corp., Pacific Telesis and Southwestern Bell is getting more flexibility in personnel and payroll decisions.

For the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, employment security is the big issue, followed by preserving health care benefits.

The unions represent about 219,000 workers, including operators, cable installers, switching equipment operators and Yellow Pages advertising salespeople.

Negotiations were under way in Washington, Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis and Oakland, and both sides in most of these discussions say they are willing to keep giving and taking up until midnight Saturday to avoid a strike.

Last week, the unions authorized a strike if new agreements weren’t reached before their three-year contracts expire.

The phone companies have said managers are prepared to step in to provide telephone service if employees walk off the job.