Labor Union Contracts

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2013

Labor Union Contracts

Labor Union Contracts

(6)   Labor Union Contracts

        Approximately 12,000 or 52% of our employees are members of various bargaining units represented by the Communications Workers of America or the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and are subject to collective bargaining agreements that expired October 6, 2012. Since then, we have been negotiating the terms of new agreements. In the meantime, the predecessor agreements have been extended, and the applicable unions have agreed to provide us with at least twenty-four hour advance notice before terminating those predecessor agreements. On July 30, 2013, we reached a tentative agreement in our contract negotiations with the Communication Workers of America for a four-year labor contract covering approximately 12,000 of our employees. The new contract must be approved by the union's membership. The union has advised us that it plans to seek this approval before the end of September 2013.