Strikes: Phones Back in Service

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The word victory was scrawled across a chalkboard last week in the headquarters of the Communications Workers of America. Whose victory, however, was open to question, as President Morton Bahr announced that a tentative agreement had been reached after a strike of more than two weeks by 155,000 C.W.A. members against American Telephone & Telegraph.

The contract did not seem much different from AT&T's original offer. After slashing some 56,000 jobs since 1984, the company is still offering an 8% pay increase over three years. Entry-level pay for new systems technicians--a key AT&T job--was cut in half, to $240 a week. In return, the company has agreed to provide a $21 million job-retraining program for laid-off workers. Strikers should vote on the package next month.