IBEW Local 2326 Fights For Laid-off Telephone Worker--NLRB Rules Reinstatement

Article published Dec 17, 2005
VTel, union will appeal NLRB's recent rulings

SPRINGFIELD — The Vermont Telephone Company and the union for its workers plan to appeal recent rulings issued by the National Labor Relations Board.

VTel and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers have been trading charges through NLRB over the past four months.

Neither side is happy with the board's decisions against them. Both sides say the goal is to return to the negotiating table.

VTel President Michel Guite said he has been waiting 14 months to get the contracts in place for his company's Internet technicians.

"Pick any day and we'll be back to the table," he said.

The charges with the NLRB date back to contract negotiations in October 2004. The union has declined to sign the final draft of the contract because they said VTel changed the wording on the insurance coverage after the negotiations.

Alfred Gordon, attorney for the IBEW, said the language change lifted responsibility off VTel's shoulders should health providers decide to drop coverage.

"We can't afford to give the company the out for a plan that could be watered down," he said.

Region 1 of the NLRB in Boston, which has only remedial powers, has issued a complaint against the union for not signing the contract.

The union plans to appeal the case.

VTel is also in hot water with the NLRB over the layoff of Internet technician Donna Monahan of Chester on Sept. 23. The NLRB said VTel should not have laid off Monahan while she and two other members of the Internet group were in contract negotiations.

Guite said the company does not need as many Internet technicians because of an increase in DSL customers who require less technical support.

Guite said this was the reason for the layoff and it is not against the law.

"If you spend a year bargaining and you have to decrease your work group you have a right. You have to be fair to your customers, you have to be fair to the other employees," he said.

Guite plans to appeal on a national level because he has been told that "the Boston office is ideological on this topic."

Gordon said the appeals will be brought to the administrative law judge of the NLRB in March, but could take years to process.

Monahan said she loved her job at VTel, but cannot wait that long.

Caring for her elderly parents while on unemployment has been a challenge, she said. "We won't be celebrating Christmas."

VTel did offer Monahan a part-time job without benefits, but Monahan said she needs to find a job with more hours.

Guite said if the union does not fulfill its promise to come back to the table, he will appeal the NLRB's dismissal of the bad-faith bargaining charge against them.

Gordon said he is waiting to hear back from VTel about the possibility of a mediation session.

Meanwhile, Monahan continues her search for a new job.

Contact Johanna Sorrentino at johanna.sorrentino@rutlandherald.com.