Vermont Giving Fairpoint Strikers Jobless Benefits, Unlike Maine, N.h.

AUGUSTA — Hundreds of FairPoint workers in Vermont who have been on strike for weeks are getting unemployment benefits, but officials in Maine and New Hampshire have denied requests for such assistance. Vermont Department of Labor Commissioner Annie Noonan says her office has processed more than 250 unemployment claims for the striking workers. But union officials in Maine and New Hampshire, who represent more than 1,400 FairPoint workers, say those states denied initial applications for jobless benefits.