HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — The following are statements released Sunday by representatives of AT&T and the Communications Workers of America related to strike action that has recently taken place.
CWA Statement
CWA members have reached strong tentative agreements with AT&T Southeast and AT&T West for new union contracts. The contracts were bargained separately.
The agreement in the Southeast ends the 30 day strike – the longest telecommunications strike in the region’s history – with union members across nine states pressuring the company to negotiate in good faith. CWA members will report to work for their scheduled shifts on Monday, September 16.
The agreement at AT&T West comes after members rejected a previous tentative agreement on September 6.
“I believe in the power of unity, and the unity our members and retirees have shown during these contract negotiations has been outstanding and gave our bargaining teams the backing they needed to deliver strong contracts,” said CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. “I’m not just talking about AT&T members in the Southeast and West, although the determination of our striking AT&T Southeast members was remarkable. CWA members and retirees from every region and sector of our union mobilized in support of our bargaining teams, including by distributing flyers with information about the strike at AT&T Wireless stores.”
The new contract in the Southeast covers 17,000 workers 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. Wages and health care costs were key issues at the bargaining table, and the five-year agreement includes across the board wage increases of 19.33%, with additional 3% increases for Wire Technicians and Utility Operations. The health care agreement holds health care premiums steady in the first year and lowers them in the second and third years, with modest monthly increases in the final two years.
Statement from Jeff McElfresh, AT&T Chief Operating Officer:
“We are pleased to announce that we’ve reached 2 tentative agreements with the Communications Workers of America (CWA). The first is in District 9 in the West, which comes within days of getting back to the negotiating table to constructively reach a new deal. The second is in District 3 in the Southeast, bringing the work stoppage to an end Sept. 16. As we’ve said since day 1, our goal has been to reach fair agreements that recognize the hard work our employees do to serve our customers with competitive market-based pay and benefits that are among the best in the nation – and that’s exactly what was accomplished. These agreements also support our competitive position in the broadband industry where we can grow and win against our mostly non-union competitors. We’ll provide more details about the tentative agreements once the CWA shares them with its members, and we expect the ratification votes to happen in the coming weeks.”
