Sub-zero temperatures can't – and won't – break FairPoint strikers across Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire. As mediation continued in Washington, D.C., last week, workers and their supporters stood strong on picket lines in solidarity with their bargaining teams working for a fair contract. CWA's Members' Relief Fund covers 215 striking CWAers, but the 1,500 striking IBEW members have no strike fund. To support the strike, contribute to the IBEW-CWA Solidarity Fund.
The workers walked out last October after FairPoint Communications unilaterally declared an impasse in negotiations and enforced its final offer. That deal included freezing pensions, cutting retiree health care, raising health care costs for active workers, implementing a two-tier wage plan with big pay cuts for new hires, and ending restrictions on subcontracting and outsourcing.