Hamden, CT — Yesterday, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) issued a final decision rejecting a petition by the Communication Workers of America Local 1298 (CWA) challenging PURA decisions that compelled the violation of CWA’s collective bargaining agreement. As a result of PURA’s rulings, Connecticut employers are compelled to outsource work long done by skilled CWA members to contractors. On top of this, PURA asserted its decisions were above the law and immune from the review of courts.
For decades, CWA Local 1298 members have repaired damaged utility poles under its collective bargaining agreement with Frontier. Union members have maintained Connecticut’s communications infrastructure after major storms, during emergencies, and through the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring that Connecticut families remain connected even in times of crisis. In spite of this, starting in 2021, PURA issued a series of decisions to mandate the use of third-party contractors for work on damaged utility poles. And it did so even after the General Assembly declined to approve this requirement with new legislation. PURA’s mandate goes so far as to prevent CWA Local 1298 members from working on damaged poles in entire towns for months at a time, and instead grants third-party contractors exclusive rights to perform the work.
CWA filed its petition for a declaratory ruling on April 23, 2024. CWA’s petition sought to invalidate these PURA decisions which jeopardize high-paying union jobs in Connecticut and interfere in CWA’s hard-fought collective bargaining agreement in violation of state and federal law. On October 23, 2024, PURA rejected CWA’s petition, asserting that their unlawful actions were permissible and unreviewable.
“For decades, CWA’s collective bargaining agreement has committed Frontier to use union members, not contractors, to the greatest extent possible in traditional work. Now, PURA has decided to ignore the petition CWA Local 1298 filed on behalf of 1,400 members whose jobs have been put in jeopardy by this mandate,” said CWA Local 1298 President David E. Weidlich, Jr. “PURA’s decisions have violated state law and resulted in dangerous, poor-quality pole attachment work across the state. CWA Local 1298 will continue to do everything in our power to make telecommunications infrastructure safe and protect union jobs in Connecticut.”
PURA’s decision is a threat to democratic accountability and essential workers across the state. Not only does PURA unlawfully interfere in CWA Local 1298’s union contract, but it asserts that their unlawful decisions are immune from objection or oversight by Connecticut courts.
Camilo Duran, a law student intern in the Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic at Yale Law School, which represents CWA Local 1298 in its petition, stated, “The state legislature put important constraints on PURA’s authority, including that it must not interfere with union contracts in the state. This decision defies those legislative limits and the public will. Even worse, PURA insists that its actions are unreviewable by any court. Fortunately, that decision is not up to PURA itself. PURA has refused to recognize its error, and now CWA Local 1298 must fight even harder to protect union jobs in Connecticut.”
A copy of PURA’s final decision on CWA Local 1298’s petition is here.
