Workers mourn 'death' of service >BY LARRY LUXNER, special to Telephony

Under somber, drizzly skies, about 30 Communications Workers of America union members-all dressed in black-recently staged a mock funeral outside a Bell Atlantic residential service center in Calverton, Md., to protest what they deem deteriorating working conditions.

"Here lies Bell Atlantic service. You've served us well. Rest in peace," intoned Katie Mazzi, president of CWA Local 2108, as colleagues lowered a casket into the rear of a waiting Cadillac hearse while "Amazing Grace" blared from a loudspeaker.

Customer service representatives, now called sales consultants, are pressed by their bosses to sell additional services such as call waiting and call forwarding to customers who call in for repairs-to the point where it interferes with solving customers' problems, claimed Mazzi, a 26-year Bell Atlantic veteran and full-time union activist. "This company failed to forecast the growth it's now experiencing," she said.

A company spokeswoman, who called the charges nonsense, watched from a distance as the funeral played out. Other mock funerals took place throughout the telco's six-state territory.

About 85% of customers who call Bell Atlantic reach a live operator within 20 seconds, the spokeswoman said. And the telco is bringing in 800 service representatives, including 200 in Maryland, to deal with the demand.