Verizon employees don't want sale to go through

http://www.boston.com/news/local/maine/articles/2007/10/07/verizon_employees_dont_want_sale_to_go_through/

October 7, 2007

DOVER, N.H. --Theresa Brady has been a Verizon operator for more than 20 years -- but she never thought she'd be so against the proposed sale of Verizon's land telephone lines in northern New England to FairPoint Communications.

Brady, a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 2320 in Manchester, said she's one of nearly 2,400 members of the two unions who are doing all they can to convince consumers to urge utility regulators in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont to reject the deal. The unions represent Verizon employees in the three states.

Brady, one of 85 operators who work at Verizon's Dover office, said she's concerned FairPoint would have to lay off Verizon employees because the company may be biting off more than it can financially chew. She said she's also concerned the company may not pay pension benefits once current union contracts expire in August 2008.

Operators in the Dover office coordinate local, long distance and international calls. FairPoint won't need as many people if they serve three states and don't handle long distance or international calls, Brady said.

If approved, Verizon would sell 1.6 million landlines in northern New England to FairPoint for $2.7 billion. FairPoint officials have pledged to invest $200 million to offer DSL broadband service to hundreds of communities in northern and western New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont. The communities now primarily rely on dial-up phone modems or get broadband service from cable television companies, according to FairPoint.

FULL story at link.

He has to try to sell services as well as troubleshoot and he hates the sales portion.

They pressure him to sell at the gym too but at least he's good at that.

So it must be bad if Verizon is the preferred option.