FAIRNESS AT FAIRPOINT: Press release, Sept. 9, 2014 For immediate release: September 9, 2014 New York State Comptroller Intervenes In FairPoint Labor Dispute Calls on Major Hedge Fund Owner and FairPoint Investor to Ensure Fair Treatment of Workers Augusta, ME—On September 3rd, Thomas DiNapoli, Comptroller of the State of New York, wrote to John Angelo, CEO of Angelo, Gordon & Co.—owner of almost 20 percent of FairPoint stock—to express his concern about reports that FairPoint has violated federal law in bargaining with representatives of almost 2,000 members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) in northern New England. DiNapoli is sole Trustee of the New York State Common Retirement Fund (CRF), the nation’s third largest public pension fund, which invests the assets of more than one million members, retirees, and beneficiaries of the retirement system in New York State. The CRF is an investor in the AG Super Fund, a hedge fund managed by Angelo, Gordon & Co. In addition to owning almost 20 percent of FairPoint stock, Angelo, Gordon & Co. has a designee on FairPoint’s Board of Directors. According to Mr. DiNapoli’s letter, “In our experience as a long-term institutional investor, where a company has a constructive relationship with its workers and provides sustainable retirement benefits, the company becomes a stronger, more profitable and more enduring enterprise.” He went on to say that, “We are, therefore, concerned by publicly reported allegations that FairPoint has not acted in good faith and has violated federal law; specifically, assertions that FairPoint improperly declared an impasse in collective bargaining and unlawfully imposed” the terms of its final contract proposals. Union leaders welcomed Mr. DiNapoli’s intervention. “Angelo, Gordon is the largest FairPoint stockholder and has tremendous influence over management’s decisions. We hope that Mr. Angelo takes seriously this intervention by Mr. DiNapoli, who represents one of the largest pension funds in the US,” said Peter McLaughlin, Business Manager of IBEW Local 2327 and chair of the unions’ bargaining committee. The Chairman of FairPoint’s Board of Directors, Edward Horowitz, recently informed an advisor to union leaders that members of the Board have been briefed on the company’s bargaining position and that the Board fully endorses that position. “It is disappointing to hear that members of FairPoint’s Board of Directors support the company’s attacks on working families across northern New England,” said Don Trementozzi, President of CWA Local 1400. “We believe that our members are the reason this company emerged from bankruptcy and has begun to recover after its truly ill-advised purchase of Verizon. We will continue to educate investors like the CRF about this company’s decision to put short-term profits above the long-term interests of its workers, customers, and their communities.” View the letter here. ### COPYRIGHT 2014, IBEW SYSTEM COUNCIL T-9 AND CWA LOCAL 1400. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright © 2014 Fairness@FairPoint, All rights reserved. You provided your email to our campaign through your IBEW or CWA local, or you signed up manually. Our mailing address is: Fairness@FairPoint 21 Gabriel DriveAugusta, ME 04330 Add us to your address book unsubscribe from this list | update subscription preferences
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 18:53:01 +0000
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