Qwest Land-Line Workers Offered Buyouts

[Omaha Steve]

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20080318/D8VG0BC00.html

My wife Marta was CWA for 18 years at the former US West, now Qwest She took a buy out years ago.

Mar 18, 2:08 PM (ET)

By P. SOLOMON BANDA

DENVER (AP) - Up to 700 technicians and other Qwest Communications employees who work on traditional land telephone lines have been offered voluntary buyouts, the company announced Tuesday.

Qwest Communications International Inc. (Q) announced the job cuts as it sees thousands of customers abandon traditional phone lines in favor of other services, including those offered through wireless and cable companies.

The buyouts are being offered to less than 2 percent of Qwest's total work force of 36,843.

Based in Denver, Qwest is the primary telephone service provider in 14 mostly Western states and operates a fiber optic network. It has 12.78 million land lines, a number that dropped 7.3 percent last year from the total in 2006.

"That's an industrywide trend," said Qwest spokesman Bob Toevs. "Everybody in the business has been facing that in light of competition."

The offer is expected to be completed March 27.

FULL story at link.