Unions reach deal with FairPoint

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FairPoint Communications has reached tentative agreements with two unions representing 2,500 Verizon employees.

The North Carolina-based company, which is buying Verizon’s landline phone and Internet service in northern New England, now has agreements with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Communications Workers of America on wage and pension increases for active employees, health care benefits for active employees and retirees, and 401(k) improvements.

The unions still have to vote on the deals, however.

Both had opposed the $2.35 billion purchase, which has since been approved by the Federal Communications Commission and regulators in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. The deal is scheduled to close at the end of this month.

Peter McLaughlin, business manager of IBEW Local 2327, says the agreements are a big step in easing workers’ fears about changing companies. The union had fought against the sale, saying FairPoint wouldn’t be able to maintain the service Verizon provides and that union members’ jobs might be at risk.

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