Jan 10, 2019 - Congress Should Investigate AT&Ts Jobs Promises

A new report released by CWA this week shows that despite receiving a $20 billion tax break from the Republican corporate tax cut bill, AT&T has eliminated more than 10,700 union jobs in 2018 alone. The company recently announced that they plan to close three more call centers in the Midwest, as well as a call center in Syracuse, N.Y.

AT&T's continued job cuts and CWA's fight for fair contracts have been getting attention on Capitol Hill and in the media. CWA is calling on Congress to investigate how AT&T and other major corporations are spending the enormous tax cut benefits they received from the 2018 tax bill. CWA President Chris Shelton sent a letter in December to Congressman Richard Neal (D-Mass.), Chair of the Ways and Means Committee, urging him to hold hearings on why companies like AT&T are continuing to cut jobs despite the promises they made in order to get the tax bill passed.

"AT&T is breaking its promise to workers, customers, and communities across the country," said CWA District 4 Vice President Linda L. Hinton. "The company pledged to invest in U.S. workers if the tax bill passed, but they've done just the opposite. Companies like AT&T must renew their commitment to working people and the towns that depend on these jobs."

As their first piece of legislation in the new session of Congress, House Democrats are introducing a comprehensive bill to restore our democracy and end corruption. H.R.1, sponsored by Representative John Sarbanes (D-Md.), contains reforms essential to fixing our political system, including voting rights, money-in-politics, redistricting, and government ethics reforms.

CWA president Chris Shelton joined Rep. Sarbanes and other pro-democracy allies at a press conference this week to speak about why H.R.1 is so important for CWA members and for all working people.

"Our democracy is broken and in crisis," Shelton said. "CWA members know it. They know that Washington is rigged against the interest of ordinary working Americans like them. That's why we are so excited that this is the first major piece of legislation introduced by House Democrats and why we will work with our friends and allies to get it passed."

Tell Congress: It's time for a fair and functioning democracy by clicking here.

CWA president Chris Shelton joined Rep. Sarbanes and other pro-democracy allies at a press conference this week to speak about why H.R.1 is so important for CWA members and for all working people.

MX1

Thirty workers at MX1, a digital media communications company located in Hawley, Pa., have voted to join CWA Local 13000. The workers joined together to fight back against stagnant wages that are below industry standards and an aggressive, discipline-centered management style.

Members of CWA Local 9510 in Orange, Calif., are working to organize and mobilize at AT&T Mobility, and their hard work is paying off!

Over the course of 2018, Local 9510's membership density at AT&T Mobility went from 83% to 96%, with a growing group of stewards and member activists. The local has developed a strong crew of leaders in the stores – there is now at least one member activist in 20 of the 29 stores that the local represents.

Yesenia Gonzalez, a Mobility member for 13 years, is leading efforts to organize workers along with a team of fellow Mobility leaders including Enrique Ramirez, Yvette Heredia, Matthew Kutz, and Enrique Lopez, with support from CWA Local President Domonique Thomas, CWA Executive Board Member Kenny Williams, and local officers.
 
Gonzalez has used her personal experiences to be an effective and inspiring leader for her coworkers. "We have a lot of young people in Mobility, people who don't know anything about unions," said Gonzalez. "I used to be just like that, so we can relate to each other. The first thing I tell new members when I meet them is that I'm a full-time RSC just like them, and I know their issues because they're my issues too."

Together, AT&T Mobility members are stepping up to grow the union and make Local 9510 CWA STRONG!

Members of CWA Local 9510 in Orange, Calif., are working to organize and mobilize at AT&T Mobility.

Wireless workers including CWAers from AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless, and T-Mobile gathered in Miami for the 2019 CWA Wireless Workers Leadership Conference. The mission of Wireless Workers United is simple: to build worker power across the entire wireless industry. 

"When we improve one contract, we set the bar higher for the next contract," Vice President of CWA District 1 Dennis Trainor said in opening remarks at the conference. "When our contracts are strong, when we protect our work, we can show our sisters and brothers in the wireless industry who are non-union that the union fights for you. We fight to save jobs, to keep jobs, and to make your work life and your workplace better every day." 

The conference also included workshops on health and safety on the job, organizing work with Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile, preparing and pursuing grievances, online tools and best practices, and how to build worker power and reverse Runaway Inequality. CWA District 3 Vice President Richard Honeycutt spoke about the importance of mobilizing for upcoming bargaining of the Green contract at AT&T Mobility in Puerto Rico. Workers from the Filipino call center union, Bien, addressed the conference to talk about global solidarity in the call center industry. 

As concerns mount about potential job loss from the proposed T-Mobile/Sprint merger, conference participants rallied outside of a T-Mobile store to support workers and inform customers that a merger would mean store closings, fewer jobs, and higher prices.

Conference participants rallied outside of a T-Mobile store to support workers and inform customers that a merger would mean store closings, fewer jobs, and higher prices.

In the wake of public hearings held last year by the Minnesota Public Utility Commission (PUC), the Minnesota Commerce Department issued a new investigative report this week finding that Frontier Communications has failed to provide adequate, reliable phone and internet service to its Minnesota customers.

The Commerce Department's report is a big win for CWAers, who have been raising concerns about Frontier's practices. CWA Local 7270 President Mark Doffing spoke at a MN PUC hearing in October, highlighting how Frontier has left the community behind through a lack of investment in their local workforce. More than 100 CWA members work at Frontier as technicians and in call centers in the southern Minnesota area.

The Commerce Department is recommending that Frontier be required "to refund or credit customers for service outages and unauthorized charges; add staffing to improve customer service; and increase investments in infrastructure and equipment."

Two years after Wells Fargo's massive fraudulent account scandal, frontline bank workers say that the big bank has yet to clean up its act on how it treats workers. 

Members of the Committee for Better Banks (CBB), a CWA project, continue to put public pressure on Wells Fargo to address the serious issues that bank workers have raised. Bank workers are still under intense pressure from managers to meet sales goals, harming both workers and consumers alike.

"It doesn't feel like they've changed much of anything, to be honest," Meggan Halvorson, a Wells Fargo employee for six years, told the Guardian. "Things put in place don't seem to be doing much of anything and we still hear complaints from customers."

It's time to put patients over profits! Last week, CWA Local 13000 members in Philadelphia rallied with members of the PA Association of Staff Nurses & Allied Professionals (PASNAP) to show support for the nurses' fight for safe staffing grids that save lives and protect patients, and for fair contracts at Hahnemann and St. Christopher's hospitals.