Communications Workers of America Joins CenturyLink in Opposing Colorado Telecom Bill

The Communications Workers of America (CWA) has announced its opposition to SB-157 that would threaten hundreds of jobs in Colorado. With more 3,700 members in Colorado, the CWA joins CenturyLink in opposing the bill introduced in the State Senate.

In Colorado, CenturyLink employs more than 1,000 CWA members, many of whom serve in rural Colorado. Sponsored by Sen. Mark Scheffel (R – District 4), SB-157 takes a discriminatory approach to regulatory reform by denying all High Cost Fund support to rural CenturyLink customers while guaranteeing ongoing increased support to all other customers of all other providers. CenturyLink agrees with the need for regulatory reform, but stands firm in the approach that high cost support for rural customers should be based on whether the customer lives in a high cost area, not based on which provider sends the customer an invoice. The bill diverts more than $60 million per year with millions going to international long distance carriers, and creates a multi-million dollar fund within the Governor's Office of Information Technology. That fund, which lacks any control mechanisms, would reach more than $300 million over the next ten years.