A local union that represents Tampa Frontier workers confirmed last Friday night that the Connecticut-based company, Frontier Communications, agreed to extend a labor contract they have with their unionized workers for an additional week.
This announcement, posted publicly to the union’s Facebook page, came just hours before the union’s contract with Frontier Communications was set to expire.
“The committees have concluded bargaining for the evening and have agreed to a short extension,” the IBEW Local 824 union shared Friday night. “We have gotten closer to an agreement on many of the proposals still on the table.”
In the hours before the extension, members authorized the union to call for a strike through a vote-by-mail process that was initiated earlier this month
According to IBEW Local 824 president, Keith LaPlant, the union is fighting to retain both their workers’ 401k plan and retirement healthcare coverage for long-time workers—both of which are benefits afforded to workers in their soon-to-expire contract.
“A lifetime of going into attics, digging holes, climbing ladders. Your body gets worn out,” LePlant told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay on Saturday. “We’re not asking for more, we’re just not asking for less.”
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 824 represents about 1,300 workers with Frontier Communications in Tampa, including technicians, customer service representatives, dispatchers, and sales agents. Frontier Communications is a telecommunications company based in Norwalk, Connecticut that employs roughly 17,400 workers nationwide.
Despite filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year, the telecommunications company managed to secure $63 million in bonuses for Frontier executives, through approval by U.S. bankruptcy judge Robert Drain of New York. This hasn’t sat well with the local union, nor workers who are at risk of losing benefits they argue they’ve earned through years, sometimes decades, of hard work.
“Frontier has been dragging out negotiations while making unfair demands,” Norwood Orrick, a Frontier field technician and IBEW Local 824 union member, told CL on Saturday. “Florida is very profitable for Frontier,” he said. “Frontier can afford to continue to pay essential workers living wages and benefits which allow for some of us to maybe retire before falling dead on the job.”
Nonetheless, the company has used their precarious financial situation and loss of customers nationwide in recent years to explain the changes they’ve proposed for local workers’ new contract.
According to a recent report from the company, Frontier Communications has lost over one million customers nationally since their acquisition of Verizon in Florida, California, and Texas in 2016—from 5.4 million to 4.1 million customers, nearly a 25% decrease.
With its bankruptcy, Frontier is currently in the process of executing a company-wide reorganization in order to eliminate their $18 billion debt and $1 billion in interest payments. They’re working with state governments to develop and approve restructuring plans, which they’ve promised will not affect the employment status of their workers.
As it stands, the local union’s bargaining committee has an extra week to fight to protect workers’ retirement benefits and 401k. Should Frontier fail to negotiate a proposal that the union deems agreeable workers have authorized the union to call for a strike.
“I’m proud of my Brothers and Sisters for their solidarity in fighting for the best interests of the working class,” Kim Smith, another Frontier technician and IBEW Local 824 member told CL over text when asked about the strike authorization vote. “We stand together to secure our future health and retirement security in exchange for our many years of dedicated service to our employer.”
According to the union, 90% of workers who participated in the voting process voted in support of the strike authorization—a rare occurrence that union president LaPlant says has happened less than a handful of times since he came to the local union in 1997.
While voting to authorize a workers’ strike is not the same as actually moving to stage a strike, this could place greater pressure on Frontier to negotiate a contract that’s agreeable to the union—lest workers join together in solidarity to withhold their labor.
Only one strike has ever materialized with the IBEW Local 824—and that was in 1963. While striking isn’t an ideal outcome, according to LePlant, workers with the union are prepared to advocate for themselves and their colleagues through bold, collective action if necessary.
Both parties—the union and Frontier—will continue their negotiations starting Monday. By Friday, the union expects to get what’s known as a “last, best, and final offer” from Frontier. The union will present this to workers, who will then vote on whether they find the final offer agreeable.
Senior Vice President of the Frontier South Region Melanie Williams told CL last week that Frontier remained committed to a resolution that would be mutually beneficial for both the company and the unionized workers. Still, she confirmed that Frontier was “proposing changes” to worker benefits to “better manage escalating benefits costs”.
“We value our relationship with the Union and appreciate the work our employees do to serve our customers,” Williams said.
According to local workers, this is exactly what they’re looking to see, materially, from the telecommunications giant. Kim Smith, of the local IBEW, says she has “complete, unwavering confidence and faith” that her union will fight for her and her fellow union members. “It’s in the company’s hands at this time.”
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This article appears in Apr 15-22, 2021.