CWA Wins Big Back-Pay Award for AT&T Customer Service Representatives

In 2013, CWA District 6 took a grievance all the way to arbitration where we got a ruling that two dozen CWA-represented AT&T customer service representatives in St. Louis were entitled to higher-classification differential pay under their contract for performing duties of a higher-paid job for a lengthy period of time as a temporary assignment.

When CWA attempted to calculate the back-pay with the company, AT&T offered a ridiculously low-ball figure and then went to federal court to attempt to avoid having to pay. The court ruled in CWA's favor, and AT&T was forced to participate in a round of remedy hearings before the arbitrator.

Now, four years after the initial arbitration award, 22 workers have finally received a total of more than $228,000 – more than four times what AT&T initially offered. Fifteen received amounts in the $11,000 to $14,500 range.

"This is a big victory not only for the workers finally receiving the back-pay they deserved, but it's also a win for all workers at AT&T," said CWA District 6 Vice President Claude Cummings. "The company tried every avenue in the court system to try to skirt their legal duty to negotiate job duty changes with the Union, and we won at every level of their appeal. This win sends a strong message to AT&T that we will fight them for what is right no matter how long it takes."