AFL-CIO Joins Global Effort to Support Fair Union Elections at Atento Mexico
Teresa Casertano in the AFL-CIO Organizing Department’s Global Campaigns section sends us this report.
In a recent rally in Mexico City, representatives of communications and IT unions from around the world demanded the giant communications firm, Telefonica, end its efforts to block workers from gaining an authentic voice at the workplace. Larry Cohen, president of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), a longtime ally and partner of the Mexican telecom union, the Sindicato de Telefonistas de la Republica Mexicana (STRM), was among the global union leaders who led the march and spoke at the rally.
The workers are employed at Atento, which operates eight call center facilities. The company prefers an employer-controlled ghost union that has signed a protection contract containing few, if any, benefits for the workers and prohibits them from representing their interests independently through a worker-led organization.
AT&T/T-Mobile Merger Would Be Major Gain for Workers’ Rights
The proposed merger between AT&T and T-Mobile will not only bring a wide range of benefits to consumers but as important, writes Nathan Newman on the Daily Kos today, it would bring benefits to T-Mobile workers who now “face a complete atmosphere of fear and intimidation.”
On top of the normal threats of being fired if they form a union, T-Mobile workers were told by the company that they would be punished if they said anything negative about the company even on their personal Facebook page.
AT&T is the ONLY unionized wireless company in the country and the merger would ensure that 20,000-plus T-Mobile workers would have the chance to join the 43,000 currently unionized AT&T Mobility employees with decent wages and legal protections on the job.
Newman says the progressive community—some of which have criticized the merger—should focus “on the massive gain for workers’ rights from the merger.” He writes that the most likely alternative if the merger is not approved would be Sprint Nextel- T-Mobile merger and that would be terrible news for T-Mobile workers.
CWA, AT&T Reach Third Tentative Agreement
The Communications Workers of America (CWA) reached another tentative agreement with AT&T. The three-year deal covers nearly 8,000 technicians and service representatives who were part of AT&T Corp., the company acquired by SBC Communications Inc. in 2006. SBC subsequently changed its name to AT&T.
The workers’ main goal in the bargaining was job security. The tentative agreement—the third with AT&T since negotiations began in February—offers the same 8.75 percent hourly wage increases and benefit provisions as those gained for employees at AT&T Midwest and AT&T West. In a statement, CWA Vice President Ralph Maly says:
This agreement achieves our members’ key goal which was to improve employment security and safeguard jobs. It maintains workers’ standard of living and safeguards quality health care. In these extremely difficult economic times, these are tremendous achievements.
