Qwest Communications International has reached a tentative four-year agreement with its largest union representing nearly 30,000 of its workers.
The new deal adds a year to the contract. It also would give workers a 12.6 percent pay raise over the life of the contract, according to Reuters. This compares to a 9 percent salary increase that had been offered as part of the proposed three-year agreement in August.
Last month, the Communications Workers of America union rejected a tentative three-year agreement. Union members had authorized a strike when the contract expired in August, but workers continued to work.
The new deal also calls for workers to contribute $75 per month for family health coverage and a choice of different plans. It also will include a 3 percent hike in pension for eligible workers retiring after October 12, 2008, the Reuters story said.
The union, which represents about 57 percent of Qwest's workforce, is expected to vote on the latest proposal by the end of the month.
Union workers at Qwest Communications International rejected a proposed three-year contract on Tuesday. But so far, there doesn't seem to be a threat of a strike.
Representatives of the Communications Workers of America and Qwest said they'd meet again this week to continue talks, according to the Associated Press. CWA represents roughly 29,000 Qwest employees in 13 states. Qwest is the primary phone company in 14 Western states.
Union members had authorized a strike when the contract expired in August, but the workers continued working. The two sides reached a tentative agreement days later.
Qwest representatives told the AP that the contract proposal included raises of more than 9 percent over three years. It also increased pension benefits for new retirees, and it would have increased base pay of sales staff. But it also would have added a monthly premium for health coverage. Previously, employees paid only enrollment fees.
Qwest Communications International has reached a tentative agreement with two labor unions averting a potential strike that could have disrupted service for the Democratic and Republican national conventions to be held in the next few weeks.
On Monday, Qwest and its largest labor union, the Communications Workers of America, said that they had agreed on a three-year deal that will cover some 20,000 Qwest employees in 13 states who are represented by the union.
Qwest also reached a tentative agreement with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which represents employees in Montana.
Qwest's union workers had authorized a strike if a settlement was not reached between the two sides starting when their contracts expired at 11:59 p.m. Saturday. But a deal was reached, averting the strike. Details of the plan were not released, and the general membership of the unions still must approve it.
Qwest, based in Denver, is providing communication services for the Democratic National Convention, which will be held there in a little more than a week. Qwest also is providing service for the Republican National Convention, which begins September 1 in St. Paul, Minn.
Officials had worried that a strike would disrupt the conventions. Now that a tentative agreement has been reached, an organizer for the CWA told the Associated Press that he does not expect any disruptions from his union members during the conventions.
The average download and upload speeds for broadband services across the U.S. have remained relatively unchanged over the past year as the U.S. continues to lag behind other countries in terms of broadband speeds, according to a report published by the Communications Workers of America labor union.
The report, released Tuesday, consists of data from 230,000 online speed tests across the U.S. In its Speed Matters blog announcing the study's results, the group highlighted that the average download speeds increased only 0.4 megabits per second to 2.3Mbps. By contrast, the average download speed in Japan is 63 Mbps and in South Korea the average download speed is 49 Mbps.
As for upload speeds, the average in the U.S. was only 435 kilobits per second.
The CWA is using the report to lobby lawmakers to develop a national broadband policy. Specifically, the union is backing a Senate bill called the Broadband Data Improvement Act (S.1492) that calls for the government to define advanced telecommunications services so that the Federal Communications Commission can more accurately define broadband conditions in the U.S.
The union's president, Larry Cohen, said that improving broadband service is critical for the U.S. to remain competitive in the global market.
"This isn't about how fast someone can download a full-length movie," he said in the blog. "Speed matters to our economy and our ability to remain competitive in a global marketplace. Rural development, telemedicine and distance learning all rely on truly high-speed, universal networks."
Of course, Cohen's union has a vested interest in whether companies such as AT&T and Verizon Communications upgrade their networks to handle faster broadband speeds. The more than 700,000 members of the CWA union are workers who would help build these networks.
That said, there have been other studies that have shown the U.S. lagging behind other countries in terms of broadband penetration and speeds. Other groups have highlighted this research to also push for a national broadband policy.
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