CWA Members Fight COVID Outbreak at AT&T Call Center

Earlier this week, CWA members at AT&T's call center in San Diego, Calif., refused to enter the building due to a dangerous COVID-19 outbreak. Nearly 40% of the workers on the center's fifth floor have become infected with the coronavirus or developed symptoms since mid-November. Worksite mapping done by CWA Local 9509 shows a high probability that infected workers were exposed at the center.

CWA has requested that Cal/OSHA investigate AT&T's handling of the outbreak. Under California's strong standards, AT&T is required to have effective policies to address unhealthy conditions and to provide free COVID-19 testing when there are multiple infections at a worksite.

The outbreak in San Diego follows an outbreak in an AT&T center in Tustin, Calif., in late October. AT&T has been slow to implement systems to allow call center workers to work from home, even though it's clear that the call center environment puts workers at risk for COVID-19 exposure.