IBEW Local 2320

Yesterday morning FairPoint announced they filed their Plan of Reorganization and Disclosure Statement with the bankruptcy court. The next step in the process is a hearing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, during which the Disclosure Statement will be reviewed to ensure it contains “adequate information” for creditors to vote on the Plan of Reorganization. The settlement agreement which was announced last Tuesday between the IBEW/CWA and the company is our part of the Reorganization Plan. Ratification votes on the settlement agreement are currently underway in all three states.

The company has opened the following job to the bid process:

• BID B313: (3) OPT @74 Bridge Street Lancaster, NH. Initial tour is 7:00AM-3:30PM. This bid closes on 2/9/10
• BID B314: (2) OPT @92 Etna Road Lebanon, NH. Initial tour is 7:00AM-3:30PM. This bid closes on 2/9/10
• BID B315: (2) SST/CXM @108 Kline Drive White River Junction, VT. Initial tour is 7:00AM-3:30PM. This bid closes on 2/9/10

Unit meetings and ratification voting for this week are:
Units 4 & 5 Manchester/Nashua Tuesday, February 9th, 5:30pm
Elks Lodge
Bypass 28, Hooksett, NH

Unit 7 Lancaster Thursday, February 10th, 5:30pm
Lancaster Town Hall
25 Main St. 2nd Floor
Lancaster, NH

There will also be an informational meeting at the union hall for our night shift members. This meeting will be on Tuesday February 9th at 11:00 AM at the union hall. Ratification voting will take place at the conclusion of this meeting.

United We Stand, Divided We Fall

From Mainebiz:

By The Mainebiz News Staff

After two months of delays, FairPoint Communications Inc. filed its bankruptcy reorganization plan today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York, according to the Associated Press.

The North Carolina-based company was originally due to file its plan in December, but delayed the filing three times, citing a need to negotiate with lenders and unions. The restructuring plan would reduce FairPoint's debt load by nearly two-thirds, from nearly $2.8 billion to $1 billion, and would give secured creditors a 92% ownership stake in the restructured company. Unsecured creditors would be paid 17 cents for every dollar they're owed.

FairPoint, which purchased Verizon's northern New England landlines in 2008, filed for bankruptcy in October 2008. Last week, the telecommunications company reached a tentative accord with two unions that represent more than 75% of its employees.

1. Deferred raise for August 2010 until August 2013.
2. Contract Extension till August 2, 2014.
3. Cost Of Living Allowance Annually for the life of the contract
4. Corporate profit sharing--removal of the minimum with a potential for higher pay out.
5. 401k company match will now be made in the form of company stock with no trade restrictions and no cap. Note: we currently have a cap of 16%.
6. Pension Lump sum buy out closed for 2012 and open for all other time periods of the contract.
7. A joint committee of the Union and company will be formed to recommend opportunities for operational savings.
8. All changes are subject to ratification of the membership and subject to approval of the bankruptcy judge.

W-2 statements for 2009 have been issued and mailed for the 2009 tax year.  If you registered for online W-2 delivery with CIC Plus before January 15th, your electronically delivered W-2 was made available on January 20th.

Corrected W-2 Statements for State Wages
If you lived and worked in the same state all year, your State Wages and Federal Wages (boxes 1 and 16) should be the same.   You may receive a corrected W-2 if your State Wages (box 16) are less than your Federal Wages (Box 1).  A correction to State Wages may need to be made for employees who received a Group Term Life Benefit.  This benefit is labeled “Grp Insu Income” on your statement of earnings, pay slip, pay statement or pay stub.  Group Term Life Insurance is a FairPoint provided benefit.   This benefit was not set up properly for State Wages which resulted in under reported State Wage on your W-2. 

You will be notified by February 5th if it’s determined you need a correction of your W-2 due to the Group Term Life Benefit.   Corrected W-2s for State Wages (box 16) will be postmarked or made available electronically by February 5th.  The W-2 will be labeled as “CORRECTED” at the top of each coupon.

If you worked or resided in more than one state in 2009, your State Wages and Federal Wages (boxes 1 and 16) may differ due to State Tax differences.  Please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 207.648.3078 if you have questions about your State Wages.

W-2c Statements for Other Issues
If you have other questions about your W-2, please email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 207.648.3078.  If necessary, a W-2c will be issued to you. 

If you have already spoken with someone in Payroll regarding your W-2 and they confirmed that a W-2c would be issued, you will receive confirmation directly from Payroll either via email or by phone that the form has been completed and the postmark date for the new form or when it will be available to you electronically. The W-2c statement will be labeled “W-2c” and only boxes that have been corrected will be populated on the form. 

Additional Information
You will receive a single W-2 statement from FairPoint for 2009.  This W-2 will include the wages paid through Verizon payroll in January 2009.

Your final 2009 statement of earnings (also called a pay slip, pay statement or pay stub) may not match your W-2.  This is due to how the balances were transferred from Verizon’s payroll system into the FairPoint payroll system.  Some pay items were brought over as a lump sum taxable value, not individual line items.  There were earnings that were not initially brought over, such as Holiday for January 1st.  The missing earnings were identified and adjustments were made to add them to your W-2.  The amount of Social Security and Medicare taxes withheld may be higher on your W-2 than on your last pay statement as a result of these adjustments.  The differences between your last 2009 pay statement and your 2009 W-2 do not affect your 2010 pay check.  The differences were due to the 2009 data conversion.Please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 207.648.3078 if you have questions about your W-2.