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US West back to work
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August 31, 1998: 3:02 p.m. ET
Telecom firm agrees to boost pay and pensions; SNET talks still stalled
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - U.S. West workers started heading back to work Monday after a bitter 15-day standoff between the telephone company and 34,000 telecommunications workers ended, but labor negotiations at Southern New England Telecom remain stalled.
U.S. West late Sunday reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract with the Communications Workers of America that calls for a nearly 11-percent pay raise over three years, a 21-percent increase in pensions and a voluntary pay-for-performance plan for all eligible employees.
"Workers are going to be coming back over the course of the next few days," a company spokesman said.
He said union workers will be working side-by-side with management employees for several days, as the company tries to catch up on backlogged work.
Like most other contract negotiations at telecommunications firms, the CWA sought to eliminate forced overtime and improve health-care benefits.
The CWA represents 35,000 field technicians, operators and service representatives in 13 of the 14 states, from Minneapolis to Seattle, that U.S. West serves.
The agreed-upon plan includes a provision that will limit mandatory overtime to 16 hours a week beginning next year, dropping to eight hours a week by 2001. The health-benefits package also increases dental and vision care.
It also includes a $500 ratification bonus for each worker.
U.S. West has about 25 million customers in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
Union members plan to vote on the agreement sometime after Labor Day.
SNET talks stalled
No new talks are scheduled between SNET and the CWA, after negotiations broke down Friday despite the involvement of a federal mediator.
The New Haven, Ct.-based company has hired hundreds of temporary workers to help fill in for the 6,300 union workers who walked out Aug. 23.
"We'll hire more workers if necessary, and they will be with us for as long as we need them," SNET Network Services President Fred Page said.
Page said the 3,700 management employees, who have been deployed as operators, technicians and customer service representatives since the strike began, have been putting in 60-hour weeks.
Union workers rejected a tentative pact Aug. 7 because it didn't address the two-tier pay system in which some workers earn less than others for the same job.
The tentative agreement had offered wage increases of 11 percent and a pension-benefits increase of 12 percent.
SNET is the largest phone company in Connecticut, with more than 2 million customers.
The company's stock (SNG) fell 1/8 to 68-1/4 on the New York Stock Exchange Monday afternoon.
Shares of US West (USW) gained 3/4 to 52-7/8 in Monday afternoon trading on the NYSE. 
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US West
CWA
SNET
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