MONTPELIER, Vt. — Vermont’s congressional delegation has joined the governor in calling for FairPoint Communications to negotiate an end to the two-month strike by about 1,700 workers after a rash of Internet and phone outages on the network of the state’s dominant carrier.

U.S. Sens. Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders and Rep. Peter Welch sent a letter to FairPoint CEO Paul Sunu on Tuesday saying failure to reach a fair agreement with workers is not only hurting them but is negatively affecting customers and the services the company is required to provide.

“It is becoming increasingly clear to Vermonters that management is more concerned with the interests of corporate owners of FairPoint than negotiating a reasonable agreement that is fair to your workers and customers,” the delegation wrote.

FairPoint did not immediately respond to a phone call seeking comment. Spokeswoman Angelynne Beaudry said last week that the company had made its last proposal on Aug. 28.

Gov. Peter Shumlin sent a letter to Sunu on Friday. It came a day after the company’s broadband Internet service was knocked offline for customers throughout Vermont and parts of New Hampshire and a Nov. 28 outage in which Vermont’s 911 emergency calling system was out of service for large parts of the state.

No life-or-death situations were missed when 83 calls to 911 failed to connect, Vermont officials said.

The delegation called FairPoint’s response to the outage “completely unacceptable.”

They said they’re now questioning the company’s ability to fulfill an $11 million contract to build the state’s next generation emergency calling system.

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