Bargaining for AT&T Southeast employees continues following Aug. 8 contract expiration
Some 28,000 AT&T Southeast union employees, represented by the Communications Workers of America, have joined nearly 40,000 of their counterparts from Verizon in working without a collectively bargained employment agreement.
The AT&T Southeast worker contract expired at midnight on Aug. 8.
“We’re going to keep our fight for a fair contract going while we stay on the job,” CWA District 3 VP Richard Honeycutt said. “For weeks we have pressed AT&T Southeast to get serious about bargaining and to get off its outrageous demands that will hurt workers, their families and communities. We’re ready to bargain for a fair agreement, but we need AT&T Southeast to be ready to do the same.”
A CWA representative said the “negotiations are about respect, a better quality of family life and keeping good jobs in our communities. Right now, AT&T forces employees to work an unlimited amount of overtime hours. That’s excessive and keeps parents from spending time with their children and balancing their work and family lives. AT&T workers serve our customers on a daily basis and are the backbone and the face of this company. We all want to be treated with dignity and respect in the workplace. That’s what these negotiations are all about.”
According to the union, AT&T Southeast earned $6.5 billion in profits last year. The union has already voted to strike if necessary.
“Our members showed their determination to get a fair contract with 96% voting to authorize a strike if necessary. That remains an option. For now, we’ll be on the job, without our contract, but providing the quality service customers deserve,” Honeycutt said.
These negotiations specifically cover AT&T Southeast workers as well as employees for AT&T Utility Operations and BellSouth Billing.
Over at Verizon, some 38,000 unionized employees did not move forward with a strike following the midnight, Aug. 1, expiration of their contract.
Verizon and representatives from CWA and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers left the bargaining table with the union considering a new proposal from Verizon.
In case of a work stoppage, Verizon trained thousands of nonunion employees to potentially cover the jobs of striking unionized employees. Verizon also distributed an app designed to let employees report bad behavior on the part of other employees.
Union leadership, in a prepared statement, said the carrier “refuses to engage in serious bargaining towards a fair contract.”
