Avaya workers may strike over job security

LITTLETON, Colo. — Union employees at Avaya Inc. set up informational pickets this week at the Avaya-Lucent corporate complex here, warning that a strike could come as soon as Memorial Day weekend.

The Communications Workers of America Local 7777 is charging that negotiators at Avaya corporate headquarters in Basking Ridge, N.J., are taking a hard line on such issues of international distribution of employees.

Negotiations hit a snag over a job-security clause that would put limits on the number of design and manufacturing jobs Avaya could shift overseas. Workers noted that telecommunication companies such as regional carrier Qwest Communications International Inc. have agreed to such clauses.

Avaya’s role as an OEM, however, makes such a clause trickier since large numbers of design and manufacturing jobs are shifting to Asia throughout the network equipment industry.