Bell Atlantic Pact With CWA Ends Strike

Bell Atlantic Corp. and the Communications Workers of America reached agreement on a two-year contract that would increase job security and limit forced overtime, ending a two-day strike by 73,000 workers in 13 Eastern states and the District of Columbia. CWA President Morton Bahr touted the access the deal granted union workers to subsidiaries developing fast-growing technologies. Many of those units are staffed by nonunion contract workers. “This settlement guarantees that the growth jobs of the future will be done by CWA members,” Bahr said. Don Sacco, Bell Atlantic’s executive vice president for human resources, said the agreement would give the company flexibility while being fair to both sides and to customers. Union officials predicted members would ratify the pact within a month.