CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – A new contract between the company Frontier Communications and Communications Workers Association Local Union 2001 workers is on the negotiation table.

The company provides services that people in their coverage area rely on and union workers answer the call whenever an issue arises.

About 1,400 workers in West Virginia and a small part of Virginia are represented by the union. They’re all affected by this new contract and some hit the picket line in Rock Branch pushing for changes to be made.

Union Vice President J.D. Thompson says they’re fighting for job security and paid healthcare benefits, which they say is not included in the new contract the company presented them.

One of their main goals is to limit Frontier Communications from using subcontractors to work on West Virginia’s Broadband Project, stating those workers often don’t have the same training or experience as them.

Thompson provided an update on negotiations Friday evening saying “They’re still bargaining, which is positive… they’re still fairly far apart on some key issues.”

As of 7 p.m. Friday, they have not reached an agreement.

While there’s still some time to bargain before the current contract expires, the union is considering going on strike if they can’t reach a suitable agreement.

“It’s always a possibility, that would be up to the union leadership to determine if it’s deemed necessary at that point or not, but we’ll all be waiting at 11:59 p.m. tomorrow night to see what the word is,” Thompson said Friday night as representatives continued to negotiate.

13 News has reached out to Frontier Communications for a comment on the status of the negotiations and how this will affect customers if workers were to strike. They have not responded yet.

This is a developing story.