Union opposes Qwest bids for U S West, Frontier

    NEW YORK, June 16 (Reuters) - The Communications Workers of
America union on Wednesday said it supported Global Crossing
Ltd.'s (NASDAQ:GBLX) proposed acquisitions of Frontier Corp. (NYSE:FRO)
and U S West Inc. (NYSE:USW), and opposed rival bids by Qwest
Communications International Inc. (NASDAQ:QWST)
    The CWA, the largest union at U S West and Frontier, said
the Qwest bids would result in cost cuts, capital spending
reductions, possible layoffs and reduced competition.
    The union contends that Qwest's acquisition of the local
and long distance phone company Frontier would hurt competition
since the two companies have overlapping communications
networks.
    The CWA said the acquisition of U S West and Frontier by
Global Crossing, on the other hand, would promote competition
by adding a stronger company to the U.S. long distance market.
    Global Crossing also aims for bolder revenue growth targets
than Qwest, the union said.
    "Quite clearly, Qwest stands for an old-style
slash-and-burn merger strategy, while Global Crossing stands
for growth," the union said in a prepared statement. [Like I
said - distasteful!]
    Qwest did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
Global Crossing could not be reached for comment.
    Qwest, the No. 4 U.S. long distance company, on Sunday
announced surprise bids to buy Frontier and the local phone
company U S West for about $43 billion, attempting to woo them
away from Global Crossing.
    Qwest said it expects the deals to result in operating cost
savings of between $6.7 billion and $7.1 billion.

 Copyright 1999, Reuters News Service