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Bell Atlantic pickets march
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August 10, 1998: 2:51 p.m. ET
Unions seek job security but analysts say workers may have to compromise
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - With contract negotiations still hung up at the bargaining table, thousands of Bell Atlantic workers headed for the picket lines Monday to protest what they perceive as a loss of job security.
Nearly 73,000 Bell Atlantic telephone workers in 13 Northeastern states went on strike at one minute past midnight Sunday morning after negotiations between the company and the union, the Communications Workers of America, fell through.
Hundreds of striking workers already were picketing Sunday afternoon. But the bulk of the rank and file union members picked up their protest signs Monday morning.
"We're talking informally," said CWA spokesman Jeff Miller. "We've been talking all night and we are still talking. Both sides want very much to reach a settlement, which is obvious from our bargaining around the clock."
The two sides remain at odds on a host of issues. A principal sticking point is the union's contention that the company is threatening the security of union jobs through the use of temporary workers and outsourcing.
The union also believes the company is denying union members' access to new high-paying, high-skill jobs at the company's nonunion subsidiaries.
"This is about keeping good-quality jobs and keeping access for our members to these good-quality jobs," CWA spokeswoman Candice Johnson said. "That's really the biggest issue."
Bell Atlantic, which has criticized the strike as unnecessary, said its negotiators are working to address union concerns.
"We have put an offer on the table that we believe is comprehensive and fair," Bell Atlantic's David Frail said. The proposal addresses union concerns about the use of temporary workers, outsourcing, job availability, excessive overtime, and vacation time, and also includes "substantial wage and benefit increases," Frail said.
Management fields calls
Bell Atlantic management staffed the nation's largest regional phone company Sunday and Monday.
"We have 23,000 managers out doing directory assistance, maintenance, installing new lines," Frail said. "We are focused on making sure everyone has a dial tone."
Company operations are "going fine" despite the strike. "A strike by phone workers won't affect basic dial tone service," he said.
Callers seeking directory assistance, however, are answered with either long delays or the following operator message: "We're sorry, due to the work stoppage we are not able to provide an operator at this time. Please call again later. We apologize for the inconvenience."
Bell Atlantic says it has 40.8 million customer lines, of which approximately 25 million are residential.
The strike comes less than two weeks after Bell Atlantic announced it would merge with GTE Corp. in an all-stock deal valued at $52.8 billion, bringing together Bell Atlantic's local and wireless phone service with GTE's local, long-distance, wireless and Internet businesses.
Investors, however, reacted coolly to the deal, sending GTE (GTE) shares down 3-13/16 to 51-15/16 and Bell Atlantic's shares down 1-1/4 to 43-3/4.
By midday Monday, Bell Atlantic stock was trading at 42-3/16, up 1/16, and GTE was at 50-1/16, up 1/2.
Those following the company say Wall Street likely won't stand for any contract negotiation that further undercuts Bell Atlantic's (BEL) stock price.
But analysts say they do not expect the strike to significantly affect the company's shares.
"This is something that will not affect the stock price ... the stock and other Baby Bells are all good buying opportunities," said Jeffrey Kagan, a telecom analyst for Kagan Telecom Associates. "There is a lot of volatility associated with these companies, but if you want to ride it out they are good buys."
Kagen maintains his buy rating on Bell Atlantic stock.
He added the union must be willing to compromise if it hopes to get anything out of Bell Atlantic at all.
"This is a clear illustration of the clasp between the old and the new...the Baby Bells need to be competitive against small companies who do not have union problems," Kagen said.
"The unions have to realize they need to change their expectations and cannot expect the phone companies to ante up on all their demands or there will not be a Bell Atlantic for them to complain about."
BellSouth strikes a deal
Separately, Baby Bell sibling BellSouth reached an agreement Monday with its workers that will increase their pay and pensions.
The deal, which averted a pending strike, was reached just before the midnight deadline Saturday.
Like Bell Atlantic workers, the BellSouth (BLS) employees were focusing their fight on creating better job opportunities and training within the company. 
-- from staff and wire reports
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Bell Atlantic
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