FairPoint layoffs to hit 219 in northern New England
By Darren Fishell
BDN Staff
PORTLAND — FairPoint Communications plans to lay off 219 people in northern New England, as it closes a call center in South Burlington, Vermont, and makes cuts elsewhere.
The two unions for the company announced the extent of the northern New England layoffs Friday morning in response to the company’s announcement of 260 total layoffs across 17 states in which it operates.
The company statement did not detail the distribution of those job cuts by state. The unions said 219 positions would be cut in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire.
The group Fairness at FairPoint, a coalition of chapters of the Communications Workers of America and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers organized during a protracted contract fight and 131-day strike, said Friday the cuts represent about 10 percent of FairPoint’s work force in the region.
“This announcement is deeply disappointing and illustrates yet again that FairPoint executives are beholden to the greedy Wall Street hedge funds who own the company, not to our customers,” said Don Trementozzi, President of CWA Local 1400.
FairPoint said that the cuts come in response to a decline in the number of landlines the company serves.
“Faced with the realities of the industry and the competitive landscape in which we operate, we must be keenly focused on managing costs and enhancing productivity,” said CEO Paul Sunu in a news release. “These steps, while difficult, help solidify our future.”
The company most recently posted a net loss of $45.2 million for the first three months of 2015. Sunu said that the company’s long-term strategy includes a general shift away from the decline in landline service demand and could include a merger in which FairPoint is either the buyer or the seller.
