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AT&T Contracts Expire; Workers Still on Job
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Nearly 100,000 members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) are still on the job at AT&T across the nation, even though their contracts with the telecommunications giant expired over the weekend with many key issues not resolved.
The union says the contracts will not be extended. Workers are keeping open their option to strike. The AT&T workers recently voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike if a fair contract isn’t reached.
While CWA has made it clear that its members are ready to bargain at any time to resolve the issues and negotiate quality contracts, AT&T has shown little willingness to move forward and reach settlements. There has been little progress on health care, retirement security and employment security, among other issues, according to the union.
You can send a message to AT&T to bargain and reach a fair contract with its employees by clicking here.
CWA Executive Vice President Annie Hill says:
The CWA bargaining teams are very frustrated by AT&T’s slow pace in negotiations. Instead of working toward quality settlements that will benefit workers and the company, AT&T negotiators chose to drag out negotiations without a plan for settlement.
Several CWA districts have filed unfair labor practices charges with the National Labor Relations Board, saying AT&T has refused to provide information necessary to resolve many outstanding issues.
AT&T employees are concerned about the company’s attempt to cut health care benefits by shifting even more costs to workers and to retirees on fixed incomes, and about access for workers to the “jobs of the future,” the new work created by changing technology.
Hill adds:
AT&T is very successful and profitable, even in these bad economic times. That makes it all the more difficult to understand why AT&T is demanding that workers take on even more health care costs than they already pay. This company takes care of executives and investors. It needs to set the right priorities and maintain quality jobs and quality benefits for workers.
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2 Comments
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I signed a CWA petition to show solidarity with AT&T employees. AT&T is my long-distance carrier, and high-speed internet provider.
To those that read this article, I would like for you to consider the following. I am a member of the CWA for the mobility side, and the same “concerns” were voiced, the union claimed frustration that AT&T would not bargain with them, the company made an offer to us before we decided do threaten them with the possibility of striking, only to end up with LESS than the first offer and now the uncertainty of what would happen to our jobs since AT&T has outsource our work in the event that we would strike.
Will landline employees be treated better, I believe so, but we didnt, we were betrayed and we were told that we didn’t have a choice, that this was the best that could be done for the employees and their families.
Keep this in mind, within the next 4 years, our health care dues and Union dues will go up totaling 21.9% of our income but within the next 4 years if you qualify, a mobility employee may get a 8.5% raise with no job security… How did the CWA help us?
Before there was no CWA involvement, AT&T took care of its employees, I remember because I was there, it was a place that you felt valued and appreciated.
Oh and by the way, because I have more than 5 yrs tenure I don’t get a raise thanks to the CWA but I still have to play the increase in health care and union dues.
This is a cautionary tale, sometimes its better to stay with what you know, make decisions when you are well informed, because mobility employees were tricked into accepting this union.
And this contract….