In a post on Facebook, CWA announced the following:
CWA members at AT&T Southeast are on strike to protest unfair labor practices committed by management during negotiations for a new union contract.
CWA has filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board against AT&T for not bargaining in good faith, engaging in surface bargaining, and not sending representatives to the bargaining table with the authority to make decisions. The charges also address the company’s refusal to bargain over mandatory subjects of bargaining and reneging on agreements made in bargaining.
“Our union entered into negotiations in a good faith effort to reach a fair contract, but we have been met at the table by company representatives who were unable to explain their own bargaining proposals and did not seem to have the actual bargaining authority required by the legal obligation to bargain in good faith,” said CWA District 3 Vice President Richard Honeycutt. “Our members want to be on the job, providing the quality service that our customers deserve. It’s time for AT&T to start negotiating in good faith so that we can move forward towards a fair contract.”
The strike will involve over 17,000 technicians, customer service representatives, and others who install, maintain, and support AT&T’s residential and business wireline telecommunications network in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
Below is taken from AT&T Southeast Bargaining Report #43
Today, our bargaining team met with the company and passed another comprehensive package proposal, outlining what it will take to reach an agreement. Our comprehensive package included several major improvements for members in many different job titles: members who work in call center environments and office settings, along with Core Technicians and Wire Technicians. The company responded to our proposal by expressing their frustrations, claiming that the Union is asking for too many improvements for Wire Technicians. Obviously, none of the company’s bargaining representatives have ever worked as a Wire Technician, otherwise they would understand the drastic need for vast contract improvements for Wire Technicians. It’s evident that there is a major disconnect between what the company’s bargaining representatives know and the reality that our members face everyday on the job working for AT&T.
We continue to bargain with the company on the important issues of wages, benefits, and pensions. Our bargaining team has continuously stressed to the company that AT&T’s CEO recently touted the company’s large increase in profits and “strong financial performance”. Taking this into account, our members deserve a substantial wage increase.
As expressed in previous bargaining reports, due to the company’s bad faith bargaining tactics, CWA was left with no choice but to file an unfair labor practice (ULP) charge against AT&T. This ULP charge involves several issues, all of which clearly establish that AT&T is not bargaining in good faith with our bargaining team. AT&T agreed to bargain with us over healthcare on a regional basis to lower costs for our members in District 3. The very same day this agreement was made, the company went back on their word, and continues to make proposals asking our members to pay more for their healthcare than it actually costs. The company is engaged in “surface bargaining”, going through the motions but apparently with no real intention of reaching an agreement. At times, the company has been unable to explain their own bargaining problems or answer any questions about their own proposals. On two separate occasions, our team has requested to return to the bargaining table to pass proposals, only to have AT&T’s bargaining representatives brush them off, refuse to meet, and push us off until the next day. To make things worse, the company outright refuses to discuss a mandatory subject of bargaining.
The bargaining team continues to work hard, searching for an answer to how we make AT&T bargain with us in good faith so we can reach an agreement. Our bargaining team knows that whatever it will take, CWA members in District 3 are up for the fight.
District 9 is asking that our Call Centers, both Core and Mobility, as much as possible, not take the calls that may be routed to D9 during the ULP.
