Business: Sprint workers threaten strike

Unionized workers in the local-phone division of Sprint Corp. are scheduled to go on strike at 1 p.m. today if the two sides fail to reach an agreement on a new contract.

Sprint is best known as the nation's third-largest long-distance company in terms of sales, but it is also a provider of local-phone services in Florida and 17 other states. Sprint provides local-phone services in 37 Florida counties, including parts of Citrus, Hernando and Pasco counties.

The company has been preparing for the possibility of a strike and has contingency plans in place to prevent any disruption in service, according to Sprint spokesman Jason Duff.

Tuesday's possible labor action would affect about 2,700 workers in Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, Indiana and Oregon. The unionized employees are represented by the Communications Workers of America. Unresolved issues vary from one group to another, but they include pay raises and the company's use of contractors. Tentative contract agreements were reached over the weekend for Sprint workers in the Pittsburgh area and in Hickory, N.C. Sprint's 540 unionized workers in Florida, mostly technicians along with some call-center employees, have been working without a contract since the last one expired Sept. 30, Duff said. Sprint's total statewide headcount stands at around 7,800, of which 6,300 work in local-phone services.

The strike deadline comes amid a flurry of cost-cutting layoffs at Sprint. The struggling Overland Park, Kan., company said Dec. 11 that it would cut 2,100 positions nationwide to save $145-million a year. Those reductions were on top of 1,600 job cuts the company announced in November.

-Information from Bloomberg News was used in this report. Louis Hau can be reached at hau@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3404

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