DENVER (AP) -- Qwest Communications and union representatives headed back to the bargaining table Monday for about six hours of talks after a day in which little progress was reported in reaching a new contract for nearly 25,000 employees.þþThe union in a statement reported some progress after the talks wrapped up for the night and said negotiations were to continue Tuesday. Neither side released details.þþThe employees across a 13-state region remained on the job two days after their contract with the telephone provider expired, hoping to avoid a strike.þþNegotiations were announced by the Communications Workers of America, which earlier in the day had characterized the talks as stalled after a weekend of intense negotiations.þþKey unresolved issues included health care, wages and mandatory overtime for employees in a 13-state region and many Qwest retirees.þþ''We're still very far apart on big issues,'' union spokeswoman Candice Johnson said. ''Stalled is a good word.''þþ''We were seeing some real progress over the weekend,'' she said. ''For whatever reason, that forward movement isn't there now.''þþUnion officials did not immediately return phone messages after the talks wrapped up for the night.þþQwest spokesman Bob Toevs declined to comment on the specifics of negotiations. ''We look forward to a successful resolution of the negotiations,'' he said late Monday.þþEmployees were growing impatient, Dale Feller of CWA Local 7777 said. ''They want a fair contract,'' he said.þþThe union's contract with Qwest expired at midnight Saturday but the two sides agreed to continue to talk. The union's executive board has authorized the president to set a strike date if merited, which could happen at any time, CWA spokeswoman Candice Johnson said.þþThe teams negotiated for at least 20 hours through Saturday and returned for several additional hours on Sunday before recessing.þþAlthough the company has declined to comment on specifics in the contract proposal, union officials say several issues remain open including what it said was a proposal from Qwest Communications International Inc. to increase mandatory overtime from eight hours a week to 13 hours a week.þþThe phone company also has proposed a two-tiered pension system where new employees would not have access to a defined pension plan, according to the union.þþThe union has requested to add an extra nonpaid personal day.þþUnion officials said Saturday that Qwest offered a wage proposal linked to increases in health-care deductibles and copayments and said retirees and active employees could retain their current health care plan if they agreed to start paying a monthly premium.þþ''Qwest is adamant that they need changes in benefits, not only from the aspect of actual costs but also from the outstanding liabilities that are an inherent part of any benefit program,'' the union bargaining team wrote in an e-mail Sunday afternoon.þþBoth Qwest and the union have made contingency preparations if there is a walkout. The company has set up a schedule to deploy managers across its region for such duties as installation and customer service. Toevs has said operations would remain normal if there is a strike.þþThe company is working to reduce its current overall debt of about $17 billion after losing out this year to Verizon Communications Inc. in a bidding war for MCI Inc.þþThe 13 states are Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, South Dakota, North Dakota, New Mexico, Arizona, Wyoming, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa and Utah.þþQwest is negotiating separately with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which represents about 300 workers in Montana.þþ
Source: NY Times
