U S West struggles to connect customers after strike's end

But it may improve since Sunday night's resolution of the 15-day-old U S West strike that idled about 34,000 employees of the telecommunications giant and left many returning UA students without phone service.

Ben Boldt, a 22-year-old recent UA graduate, has been without a phone line since he moved more than two weeks ago.

"I've been requesting service since the 13th of August," Boldt said. "They told me they'd have it fixed, but gave no commitment. They said it could be a while."

Boldt said he has called U S West about 10 times in the past three weeks, but has had a tough time getting an operator on the line.

"I haven't talked with a human at the main number yet. I keep getting recordings or busy signals," he said.

A settlement between U S West management and the Communications Workers of America ended the walkout, which was peppered with heated accusations and advertising campaigns.

Operators, customer service representatives and technicians walked off the job in 13 states, and their jobs were taken over by an estimated 15,000 managers.

According to Jerry Brown, a U S West spokesman based in Denver, the contract is a positive resolution to a divisive strike.

"I think it's a good contract," Brown said yesterday. "The union asked members to come back. My hope is employees will be back in a couple of days. They are going to return when they can. A lot returned today."

In the tentative contract, which still must be approved by a full union vote, U S West officials agreed to a wage hike of 10.9 percent over three years, a 21 percent increase in pension benefits and a $500 contract ratification bonus. The company also scrapped a plan to shift some health care costs to employees and a plan to reduce overtime pay.

The two sides will iron out details of the plan before it takes effect in July.

Louise Rebholz, a U S West spokeswoman in Tucson, said customers who have already called for service don't need to call again.

"If they have already called us, they don't need to call again. We already have the order," Rebholz said. U S West plans on prioritizing service so that the oldest requests are taken care of first. Handicapped individuals will also receive priority service.

"In Arizona, we are approximately 12,000 to 13,000 orders behind," she added, urging customers to place orders using the U S West Web site at www.uswest.com.

Rebholz was confident U S West workers will get started on back orders as soon as possible, but she said service still may be delayed a month or more.

"Orders who already have a phone line installed in the home will be placed much faster. Ones with no lines at all will take a while," Rebholz said. "Give us a month."