Sprint Told To Rehire 177 Telemarketers

The government has ordered Sprint Corp. to rehire and pay full back wages to 177 Spanish-speaking telemarketers - mostly Hispanic women - who were abruptly dismissed in 1994 during a union drive at a subsidiary here.

“I feel so happy. Everybody said there is no justice, so this is great, great news,” said Fernanda Recio, a worker who was laid off two years ago from the subsidiary, a long-distance service called La Conexion Familiar.

The Communications Workers of America also hailed the decision by a three-member panel of the National Labor Relations Board. The panel found that Sprint violated federal labor laws when it shut down its San Francisco business July 14, 1994, one week before a CWA union vote.

The dispute isn’t over, though.

Sprint immediately filed an appeal of the NLRB’s order in federal court in Washington, D.C., according to Sprint spokesman Bill White.