PacTel Talks Continue; Other Strikes Averted

A threatened midnight strike was averted for three regional telephone companies late Saturday, while in California, Pacific Telesis continued to negotiate with workers.

The Communication Workers of America and Ameritech and BellSouth agreed to extend their contracts on a day-to-day basis, said Jeffrey Miller, a national spokesman for the CWA, which represents the bulk of the non-management jobs at the companies.

In Washington, D.C., Bell Atlantic and the CWA broke off talks but agreed to resume negotiations today.

The strikes at the three companies would have involved 129,000 workers and disrupted customer service, repairs and installations for about 50 million lines in 20 states.

A midnight strike was possible at Pacific Telesis, the parent company of Pacific Bell. Informal talks continued late Saturday in Oakland. PacTel serves about 15 million lines and employs some 35,000 CWA members in California and Nevada. The company has 4 million customers in Southern California.