Statement to the New York State Public Service Commission
Hearing on the Proposals of SBC and AT&T to Merge
July 26, 2005
New York City
My name is Laura Unger. I started working for AT&T in 1979 as a Communications Technician and currently work at 33 Thomas St. in New York City. I am also President of Communications Workers of America, Local 1150 whose offices are at 6 Harrison St., New York, NY 10013. I have been President of Local 1150 since 1986. When I was elected my Local had 2,600 members. Approximately 1,700 of them worked in New York. My members were all well-paid, highly skilled Technicians and customer care professionals. Local 1150 now has only 260 members spread over New York City, Long Island, and New Jersey. Only about 130 of them work in New York.
AT&T used to be a large employer in New York—tens of thousands of technicians, sales people, operators, clerical workers worked here. AT&T's headquarters were at 195 Broadway and then 550 Madison Ave. After AT&T fled to Basking Ridge and Bedminister, New Jersey, that building was sold to SONY. The landmarked AT&T Long Lines headquarters at 32 Avenue of the Americas—which once housed thousands of AT&T workers—is now owed by a Real Estate developer, and AT&T has only a handful of workers left there. At one time everyone knew someone who worked for AT&T. Now, I am sorry to say, everyone knows someone who was laid-off or retired from AT&T.
Despite the fact that a large portion of AT&T's revenues come from New York City businesses and financial institutions, AT&T has abandoned New York City. In the beginning, work was moved to Atlanta or Denver. Now the work is either eliminated, sent to contractors, or in the case of some customer services work, shipped overseas. Since the announcement of the acquisition, the downsizing has actually escalated. Despite AT&T's claims that employees are an important asset of the company, AT&T is shedding those assets prior to finalizing the acquisition. SBC will be getting a shell of what they bargained for.
I am here to say I support this merger. I support it because AT&T is too important to be trusted to AT&T. There have been nothing but bad business decisions, bad purchases, bad sales... one bad decision after another that has led to a loss of jobs and a loss of shareholder value. Of course the industry has changed and presented difficult challenges, but AT&T's management has not been up to that challenge. Maybe under the leadership of SBC we will have a future. Maybe as part of SBC, AT&T will create jobs instead of destroying them. Maybe our pensions and the livelihood of our retirees will be safer. Maybe, AT&T Labs will again be able to continue to make the contributions to science and knowledge that once made us so proud.
SBC says they are buying AT&T to grow and offer new services. Clearly it makes sense to have AT&T be part of a company that can offer a myriad of options to its customers. If jobs are part of that equation, I say welcome. If SBC understands the importance of building a strong presence in the New York area instead of abandoning it, like AT&T has done, then our Union will do everything in its power to make this merger work. If SBC is buying AT&T to use us as spare parts and continue its destruction, then we will all have a fight on our hands. But, the truth is, it's hard to imagine things being much worse for employees and investors than they are under AT&T's current leadership.
I know in this case, when so many parties are in support of this merger, that it will probably get your approval. But just as I blame AT&T for destroying the jobs and lives of so many New Yorkers, I also blame you, the body charged with oversight of this crucial utility. Where was the monitoring when AT&T network is left with so few technicians that it creates a danger to reliable service? Where was the scrutiny when long-term employees were replaced by contractors and occasional workers?
I urge you to approve this merger, with the proviso that the New York State Public Service Commission vigilantly polices the performance of SBC in terms of its impact on jobs, service quality, and price. New York telecommunications' needs should be taken care of by New Yorkers, not by employees working remotely from San Antonio or anywhere else. I wish we could trust AT&T with AT&T—but we can't. Secure jobs, superb service, and groundbreaking research—we have no choice now but to entrust them to SBC, and this Commission.
Laura Unger
President
CWA Local 1150
6 Harrison St. 4th floor
New York, NY 10013 212-925-6650
Residence:
4 Lansing Place
Upper Montclair, NJ 07043
