Nearly 2,000 Frontier Communications workers have ended their strike in California protesting the company’s reported continued subcontracting of work.

The Frontier workers on strike for the past several days are members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA). They said the subcontracting is in violation of the collective bargaining agreement between CWA and Frontier.

The workers also went on strike to raise awareness about the risks of using low-road contracting companies for critical telecommunications services.

Subcontracting Agreement

After days of striking, the CWA members obtained an agreement in which Frontier has committed to take significant steps to adhere to the limits of subcontracting set in the collective bargaining agreement.

That agreement includes:

The employees are now back at work.

Chrissy Murray is Frontier’s vice president of external communications.

“We are happy to have our California employees back to work so we can continue to build the critical fiber infrastructure that the state needs and deserves,” she said. “Frontier is delivering a critical communications service to communities across the country and we are creating jobs along the way. As we move from town to town, we must supplement our incredible workforce with external partners to fill temporary staffing needs in order to quickly deliver on the growing demand for our service. To meet the high demand, we must use an ‘all of the above’ strategy, with employees as well as external partners who have a workforce with the expertise and equipment to do this in a timely manner.”

Issues Still Unresolved

Kenny Williams is CWA Local 9510 executive vice president.

CWA’s Kenny Williams

“I am grateful for all of the members of the community who have been persistently supporting CWA members at Frontier and fighting alongside us to protect good jobs and the quality of service our customers receive,” he said. “Although the issues relating to this grievance are resolved, we are still fighting for a new contract. I have no doubt in my mind that our members are ready, able and willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that Frontier provides quality service and good jobs for Californians.”

The workers have been without a contract since April 16, when the extension of the previous agreement expired. In March, CWA members rejected a proposed tentative agreement. They said it did not reflect the value they bring to the company and consumers.

Shortly after, CWA and Frontier entered into federal mediation and are in negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement.