Us West Contract Extended Labor Negotiations Continue

About 35,000 Communications Workers of America members stayed on the job at U S West Communications Inc. Monday as negotiators continued closed-door talks on a new contract.

Neither the company nor the union would discuss specifics about the talks, but CWA spokesman Bill Frazee said a number of issues need to be resolved.

“They’re still engaged in conversation at this point,” he said. “I don’t think they’ve changed that much since Saturday evening. … We are not deadlocked at this point.”

The company and CWA agreed Sunday to work under a contract that expired at midnight Saturday so long as negotiators make progress. Either side must give 72 hours’ notice if it no longer wants to honor the pact.

“There has been progress,” U S West spokesman Jeff Garrett said Monday. “We’re still optimistic, but there are still a lot of issues that need to be discussed.”

The CWA and U S West have been in negotiations on a new contract since mid-June.

The union is seeking wage and pension benefit increases, and guarantees about job security and the amount of subcontracting the company does. U S West wants the flexibility to be competitive in the developing marketplace.

Both sides have said customer service is a key issue.

The union is asking for an 11 percent pay raise over the next three years as well as improved job security and benefits.

U S West provides telecommunications service to 25 million customers in 14-states. The last time the CWA ordered a strike against the company was in 1983. The walkout lasted three weeks.

Most of the other regional telephone companies, the so-called “Baby Bells,” have already reached tentative agreements with the CWA. Their contracts expired earlier this month.