The timiing was brilliant. The company once again sold off cash flow positive wireline properties in order to pump more money into losing operations like go90 and their plans to shift from a telecom company into an advertising company.
The company laid off something like 8.000 managers last year, many who had both an understanding and more indepth training in OSP operations. The company stole/froze the management pensions in 2006 and then cut-off retiree health benefits for any manager that did not have a certain number of years by that point. For those managers who were retired and those who were retiring, they ramped the health benefit costs to the point where it was much cheaper to go on obama care.
Now they want to do this to the unions, and it was not uncommon to hear around Basking Ridge how lowell and his minions hoped to "break the unions" and how much distaste lowell has for the unions.
Many managers sensing what is happening to this once great company therefore support the unions in their efforts to protect the company, customers and employee benefits from these 'Madmen' carpet baggers who hope to undo decades of good profits, good products, good service and good jobs.