May 30, 2019 - Fighting AT&T's Job Cuts Across the Country

University of California

The University of California has asked the UPTE-CWA bargaining committee to come back to the table for additional Healthcare Professionals (HX) negotiations on June 6 and Research (RX) and Technical (TX) Professionals negotiations on June 17-18.

These sessions are the product of the mobilizing, hard work, and sacrifice from thousands of UPTE-CWA members over the past two years. UC has signaled that they are prepared to come with a serious offer, but such an offer needs to acknowledge UPTE-CWA members' sacrifices and contributions to the University.

UPTE is still prepared to fight and strike – if necessary – for a fair contract, against UC's unfair labor practices, or in solidarity with other unions.

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AT&T

AT&T workers across the country are showing that they are ready to fight for fair contracts! At AT&T Midwest and AT&T Legacy T, CWA members who have been working for more than a year without a contract are standing strong and rallying to push Congress to hold corporations accountable for their broken tax cut promises. In Puerto Rico, AT&T Mobility workers are showing their support for their bargaining team. At AT&T Southeast, CWA members are gearing up for the start of negotiations later this year.

CWAers are mobilizing to protect call center jobs from offshoring! Here are the new updates on CWA members' hard work to pass state legislation to keep these jobs in our communities:

Colorado

This week, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed the Monitoring Colorado Call Center Job Losses Act, HB19-1306, into law. The bill will require the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment to keep a list of Colorado call center jobs, including those which have been replaced by overseas call centers, and require the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment to issue an annual report to state lawmakers on those call center job losses.

"I've seen first-hand how companies harm working families in Colorado by laying off call center jobs and moving operations overseas. Corporations shouldn't be able to pit call center workers across the world against each other in a global race to the bottom," said Sandra Parker-Murray, Customer Service Coordinator and member of CWA Local 7777 in Denver.

CWA members joined Colorado Governor Jared Polis as he signed the Monitoring Colorado Call Center Job Losses Act, HB19-1306, into law.

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Alabama

The Alabama Senate voted 32-0 to pass SB110, which contains strong notification requirements for companies that offshore 30% or more call volume at an Alabama call center, required repayment of unearned taxpayer dollars received to create call center jobs, and a five-year restriction on state benefits for employers who act in bad faith. Next, the bill will go to the governor's desk.

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CWA members continue to make progress in other states – bills to protect call center jobs were also passed by the State Assemblies in Nevada and California this week!

A new report from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service reveals the ugly truth about the Republican corporate tax cut bill – that in the time it's been in effect, it has only enriched the wealthiest executives while doing nothing to raise wages for working people.

Instead of providing the benefits that Republicans promised to workers, the bill has triggered a record-breaking amount of stock buybacks – $1 trillion announced by the end of 2018 – maneuvers that only benefited shareholders.

CWA members have seen this firsthand at companies like AT&T, where thousands of workers in the Midwest, Puerto Rico, and in the national AT&T Legacy T unit have been fighting for fair contracts with good benefits that keep good jobs in their communities. AT&T promised to create jobs if Congress passed the Tax Cut and Jobs Act. However, since this tax cut was passed, AT&T has cut more than 23,000 employees and sent thousands of union jobs to low-wage contractors and overseas. 

Read more about the effects of the tax bill here.