
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, August 10, 1995                   TAG: 9508100038
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                 LENGTH: Medium

CWA, 2 BELLS STILL TALKING

Wanting to avert a strike, Bell Atlantic and Ameritech returned to bargaining Wednesday with a union representing most of their employees. They are the only two regional phone companies that have yet to resolve contract disputes.

``There's been no real progress,'' said Bell Atlantic spokesman Eric Rabe. ``Here we sit.''

Jeffrey Miller, spokesman for the Communications Workers of America, agreed that contract talks with Bell Atlantic and Ameritech have not advanced.

But Miller said he did not know of any plans for CWA workers to go on strike at either company.

``We're assessing it as we go along here,'' Miller said. Negotiations are taking place in Washington for Bell Atlantic and in Chicago for Ameritech.

At issue in all the talks were wages, union members' access to new jobs within the companies, guarantees that those new jobs would be covered by the union, the use of subcontractors, and the shifting of health care costs.

``We're cautiously optimistic we can reach an agreement without work stoppage,'' Ameritech spokesman Mike Brand said.

The phone companies said they would use managers to maintain service in the event of a strike.

Bell Atlantic has 37,000 workers who are CWA members. It operates in Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware and Washington, D.C. It serves about 12 million customers.

Ameritech has 28,800 CWA workers in Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana. It serves about 13 million customers.

The company also is holding contract talks with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Those talks cover 11,500 Ameritech workers. Ameritech is operating under its third contact extension with the IBEW, Brand said. That extension was expiring at 1 a.m. today.

CWA officials have said they would not want to go on strike against Ameritech without the IBEW's support.

Company and CWA negotiators extended their talks after strike deadlines passed Saturday night.

Since then, three of the five regional Bell companies with expired contracts have agreed to new pacts.

They are BellSouth Corp., Pacific Telesis and Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. Each of the agreements is subject to final approval by CWA members.

The BellSouth and Pacific Telesis agreements, negotiated separately with the CWA, include a 10.5 percent wage increase over three years.

Southwestern Bell's agreement covers 37,000 CWA workers in Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas and provides for an 11 percent wage increase over three years.

There are seven regional Bell companies in the United States. The CWA reached a new contract agreement with Nynex last year, and talks are under way to renew a contract that expires Saturday with US West.

by CNB