Qwest’s union employees are working without a contract today after labor negotiations with the Denver-based phone provider stalled just before midnight Sunday on health-care, pension and wages. No word was available on when talks would resume.
Earlier in the day, company negotiators raised concerns about recent acts of vandalism against the Qwest network, which prompted the Communications Workers of America to address the issue in a bargaining update.
“We also remind everyone that our argument is not with our customers; it is with our employer,” read the update. “Illegal acts such as vandalizing (the) Qwest communication system is not something that CWA members do or condone.”
After taking a break for most of the day, negotiators had resumed talks at 6 p.m. Sunday A union update shortly before 10 p.m. listed some key demands, including:
Extending health care to Qwest kiosk workers and outside sales representatives.
Guaranteeing recent retiree health benefits for another three years.
Increasing wages by a “fair and equitable amount.” No numbers were released but union officials said the industry average was 2 to 3 percent per year.
Extending job protections for Qwest’s 2,000-plus U.S. call center workers through 2008. Qwest has roughly 200 workers at its Denver call center at Arapahoe and 17th streets.
Ensuring that worker contracts and their job protections transfer if Qwest sells off any of its business units.
Clarifying the definition of incidental overtime to prevent abuse.
A later union update decried the company’s proposal for “massive amounts of health care cost shifting.” It also reported that Qwest wants to create a two-tiered pension plan by eliminating defined-benefit pension plans for new employees.
While progress was made in recent days when Qwest backed away from a demand to increase mandatory overtime, negotiators remain stuck on the other issues.
“Qwest is adamant that they need changes in benefits, not only from the aspect of actual costs but also from the outstanding liabilities that are an inherent part of any benefit program,” said the union update.
Qwest union workers pay no health care premiums, but the company wants to change that. Two weeks ago, the company proposed that workers shoulder 30 percent of their health care costs by 2008.
On Saturday, Qwest also proposed its first wage increases, which union officials said were offset by the proposed increases in worker health care costs.
The two sides came close to an agreement late Saturday and agreed to continue talking beyond the expiration of the contract at midnight Saturday.
But by 4 a.m. Sunday, “that progress had slowed to a trickle” and negotiators took a break.
The lack of a contract means Qwest’s union employees, mainly call center and repair workers, could strike at any time as directed by the union’s national president. The CWA represents 25,000 Qwest workers in 13 of the 14 states where Qwest provides local phone service.
A Qwest spokesman said Sunday that chief executive Richard Notebaert was keeping in close touch with negotiators.
Much is riding on the talks.
Qwest, the weakest of the four regional Bell operating systems, is burdened with $17 billion in debt. Its phone customers are being whittled away by wireless carriers, cable companies and Internet phone providers.
A strike would risk angering customers with delays in repairs and new services and a long time on hold for customer service.
Denver resident Shane Seitz and his wife, Meagan, are already seeking alternatives.
“The strike doesn’t worry me. Our service is already disrupted,” said Seitz, who canceled Qwest phone service recently at his home after billing problems.
The Seitzes now use Qwest only for high-speed Internet service. They use T-Mobile cellphones for calls.
“We decided to go down to the bare minimum with Qwest,” Meagan Seitz said.
