AUGUSTA — More than 30 FairPoint Communications union workers protested on Tuesday outside the Senator Inn and Spa because FairPoint co-sponsored a Maine State Chamber of Commerce forum on health insurance.

The striking workers said they wanted to send a message that the company has taken away their health insurance while sponsoring a forum to help businesses understand how to manage health insurance for their employees.

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Bundled up against single-digit temperatures, strikers picket Tuesday outside a health care forum sponsored in part by FairPoint Communications. Union workers across New England went on strike against the telecommunications firm on Oct. 17 after the company imposed higher health insurance premiums and made other changes, union officials have said. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal

Krista MacKay, of South Gardiner, right, holds a sign while picketing Tuesday outside a health care conference in Augusta sponsored in part by FairPoint Communications. Andy Molloy/Kennebec Journal

“We find it kind of ironic they’re sponsoring a health care seminar when at the end of October, even though they didn’t have to, they took away all of our health care for 2,000 members,” said Diane Winton, president of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 2327.

Angelynne Beaudry, a spokeswoman for FairPoint, said that even though the workers lost their health insurance when they walked off the job, they still have other options for coverage. The workers can return to work, seek health insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace or seek health insurance through COBRA, a federal program that allows some employees to receive health insurance after leaving employment, she said.

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