Today Hot Report

Members of the Communications Workers for America here in the Twin Cities are preparing for a possible strike against Qwest Communications.

The two parties have been negotiating a new contract for six weeks leading up to the Sunday 1:01 a.m. deadline.

“They have a long way to go in this eleventh hour,” said Dawn Schnickels-Johnson of the CWA Local 7200. “We hope that our bargaining team can sit down with the company bargaining team and come up with a good contract.”

The main sticking points remain wages, job security and health care. The contract affects 20 thousand Qwest workers in 13 states, including four thousand in Minnesota.

Company officials say they too are pulling for a last-hour agreement, especially given the timing. The company will be providing the telecommunications services for both the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, and the Republican National Convention in St. Paul.

Officials say they’re confident the company will be ready for the convention. But they’ve also been fine-tuning a back-up plan, just in case a strike does happen. The plan calls for managers to work the positions of technicians, customer sales representatives and other roles.

“Our goal is to fulfill our commitment to the RNC,” said Bob Toes, a Qwest Communications Spokesman.

A spokeswoman for the RNC agrees that the company will still deliver the agreed-upon services.

“Qwest has been a great partner, and it’s employees are working arduously to make this year’s convention a success and the most tech-savvy convention in history,” said Melissa Subbotin with the RNC. “We’re absolutely confident that our great partnership will continue.”

Still, union members say it will be difficult for managers alone to complete the convention work.