AT&T Legacy T Mobilization Report #6

As the contract expired April 7, members around the country prepared for a Midnight Strike.  When the word came down from the bargaining team that we will continue to work without a contract while negotiations continue, MOBILIZATION PHASE 3 kicked into action.  

AT&T remains one of the greediest companies which has proven with its continued mass layoffs, and by sending good middle class jobs off shore to other countries, that they don’t care about workers, our families, our communities or the economic stability of this country.  

We are fighting for the American Dream, and AT&T, with its $20 billion in profits last year, is trying to increase those profit margins with retrogressions, setting employees back decades and reneging on the promise of retiree protections.

Vice President Ralph Maly is holding a conference call this week with Local Officers & Executive Board members only.  He will discuss the conditions at the bargaining table & strategy moving forward through Mobilization Phase 3.  

Thousands of us joined the National call last Wednesday and heard how we are all standing up to the Company across the country, fighting against AT&T’s corporate greed and its attack on us, the workers that help make them the most profitable telecommunications company.

As we continue MOBILIZATION PHASE 3, we will continue to bring our message forward to the public.  If you haven’t had a chance to read the report, check out www.cwa-union.org/lowroadreport which outlines many of the low road options AT&T has already taken, including not paying their fair share of taxes.  Locals should prepare to take that message into our communities on tax day April 17^th.

Locals continue to send members and activists to the 99Spring training to help build coalitions of the 99% across the country with other organizations and in our communities.  Our struggles are not just against AT&T, but against all corporations like them that make up the greedy 1%.  If you haven’t signed up for training, you can do so on www.cwa-union.org/springtraining or www.the99spring.com.  This is 99SPRING week so make sure you sign up right away before it’s too late!

Retirees have been a big part of our actions around the country and are ready to help us move forward as we ramp up our actions against AT&T in the public arena.  Don’t forget to contact Retirees in your area. 

Here are some of the reports from Locals around the country:

Local 1051 members are making noise at their desks every 2 hours, and have consistently reached over 85% of members wearing RED Thursdays.  Managers were upset about the requests to view personnel records.  Hopefully those that didn’t originally request their files are doing so now, since it got such a great response from the Management!  

Local 1150 sent requests for information to several agencies under the Freedom of Information Act.  Members remain active both inside & outside including wearing Red Thursdays and at the weekly Wednesday demonstration.  Many members packed personal belongings up on Friday to take them home.

Local 1152 continues to be united wearing RED Thursdays & BLACK Fridays.  Members hold public rallies each week on Wednesday.  Standing in support of the bargaining team and a fair contract for workers continues; the last stand before expiration drew attention of the management.  The silent stand ended with a single Union Clap.

Local 1153 members stand daily, and continue their demonstrations outside every Wednesday.  The Company tries to ignore the activities, but just about every manager comes to check the actions out; even the Director has been outside.  Retirees have been supportive of actions as well.  Members refused to provide passwords for system access when approached by managers, reminding management that sharing passwords is a COBC violation.

Local 2204 members continue to hold a weekly public demonstration.

Local 2252 members handed out flyers stating “mark your territory and hang your CWA shirt on the back of your chair".  High Road Flyers and Stickers were also distributed.  Mobilizers passed out a “What is a scab?” flyer & “My 5 minute Notification Bag is Packed”.  Members and Activists held a candlelight vigil on Saturday to mark contract expiration & held several membership meetings throughout the week.  Local leadership is addressing management for removing CWA information from occupational desks.

Local 3108 had a public demonstration, and a picture from the rally was featured in the Wall Street Journal Story on April 4, 2012, in which managers talk about the contingency training on Facebook and other social media.  Click this link to read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304072004577323690274379410.html.  If our members talked about AT&T like that on Social Media, we would be filing grievances to get their jobs back.

Local 3207 members are still fighting and doing something every day.  Thursday all of the lockers were cleaned, left open & tied with red ribbons.  Stand-ups were held at 11 am and 2 pm for 5 minutes.  Member Sharon Wellman came in early to paint "CWA" across members’ foreheads.  Management took pictures of the locker room and called Union Leaders into a meeting to discuss the safety issue of leaving the lockers open.  (WOW, we got their attention!)  The Company threatened the Union with responsibility if anyone was injured.  Friday red balloons were tied to all of the lockers.

Local 3250 received press coverage which you can view by clicking the following link: http://www.cbsatlanta.com/story/17358438/union-workers-could-strike-at-the-stroke-of-midnight.  In addition, members continue to apply the pressure through other actions including Thursday’s Rally in the atrium of the Alpharetta building, causing building security to make phone calls regarding the noise level.

Local 3902 members are standing every even-numbered hour & making noise.  They wear RED Thursdays.  Members attended a contract countdown rally Saturday.

Local 4050/4090 was joined by other CWA Locals and activists as over 300 people held a candlelight vigil in downtown Detroit at midnight Saturday as the contract expired.

Local 4250 recently held a demonstration and handbilled the public at the 10 S. Canal location in Chicago.  Many actions have been centered at that location.  Members are wearing RED Thursdays & wearing "Fighting for the American Dream” buttons.

Local 6150 members continue inside actions including wearing RED Thursdays; they are STANDING and making noise in support of the bargaining team.

Local 6201 begins every day with a moment of silence in support of the bargaining team.  People online inside stand and tap on the even-numbered hours.  A rally was held in front of the building on Texas Rangers opening day due to the high level of traffic outside the office, and received support from the public, community & the Arlington Police Department.  Members proudly wear the "Impeach Stephenson" t-shirts that President Georgia Day-Thomas designed.  Management keeps a close eye on actions.  Leaders posted the Wall Street Journal Story “Inside AT&T’s Strike Boot Camp” and encouraged our members to share it on all social media.  (See link under Local 3108.)  Members packed their desks and took personal items home so the dirty scabs wouldn’t be pawing through any of it.

Local 6350 had a very noisy week in St. Louis.  Members are working safely & following AT&T's policies, but making sure to click, blow horns, squeal balloons, and make whatever noise we can EVERY HOUR, mixing up the times to catch management off guard.  Several managers in the building are about to implode!  A public demonstration was held Thursday at lunch.  Thursday evening members stood at the door waving goodbye to managers, telling them to get a good night's sleep.  Strike bags were passed out & personal belongings were packed up.  Members are still wearing RED Thursday, BLACK Friday, and WTF buttons.  Members attended a candlelight vigil Saturday to count down to contract expiration.

Local 6450 mobilizers passed out bags with flyers that said "pack up and get ready to picket", stickers, bracelets and CWA pins.  A strike watch gathering was held on Saturday night until 11:30pm at the Local union hall.  Members were busy making picket signs and copying future mobilization handouts.  On-the-job members continue to make noise every hour by shaking pill bottles and clapping.  98% of the membership wears RED Thursdays and BLACK Fridays.  99%Spring training plans & coalition building is well underway as we reinforce connections with our communities.  Members are MAD and we will SHOW it.  6450 is thankful the bargaining team has our best interest in mind.

Local 7050 technicians continue to use the Ask Yourself policy with every interaction and are working with the highest level of safety.  The branded apparel boycott continues & things are getting hairy (like they are in California) with the ban on razors, both in response to AT&T’s proposed changes to its appearance policy.  

Local 7250 members started packing up personal items, and strike preparedness packets were handed out to everyone.  Cell phone alarms were set to go off as a reminder to stand up and hold up signs!  The walk around the office is a popular action!  Today a coughing jag caught everyone by surprise.  A Rally was held at lunchtime on Thursday, receiving much support from members and the public.  Saturday Members & Activists of Locals 7200 & 7250 mourned the passing of the 2009 contact as it expired.  Members made picket signs and prepared Picket Captains for a midnight strike.  Across 5 states Technicians were prepared to leave computers, phones, keys & vehicles on Friday… but the Company never asked for those things.  Good thing, because many of the Techs forgot their chargers.  The techs were also worried about the quantity of time it would have taken to inventory each vehicle before it was removed from their control for the weekend or duration of a strike, but knew it would be important for them to stay as long as it took to ensure everything was accurately accounted for when they left, and upon their return.

Local 7750 members take their American Flags on their daily hallway walks as they chant “What do we want?  A CONTRACT.  When do we want it?  NOW.”  Thursday of last week Security called local police, fearing there was going to be a strike and a riot.  The Local continues to distribute flyers created by both the Local and National mobilization teams.  Members attended a contract countdown Saturday.

Local 13000 members participated in a rally on Thursday at the AT&T building in downtown Pittsburgh.

Local 13500 members continued to wear RED Tuesday and Thursday and STAND each hour on these days for inside mobilization. They participated in a Rally Thursday Downtown Pittsburgh & members took group health breaks on Friday.

Local 13550 mobilizers handed out the Flyers for Customer awareness along with stickers on Wednesday; they also gave members picket duty assignments, striker certification forms & Pack It and Picket Bags for them to take personal items home on Thursday.  Members are still standing 3X a day and making noise for inside mobilization.  A rally was held Thursday jointly with the other PA Locals, participants from coalitions and Allegheny Labor Council.  This event was covered by local news media.  Members wore Black Wednesday and Red Thursday for the rally.  The focus for the rally was “Fighting for the American Dream” and putting American workers back into the American Telephone and Telegraph.

Local 13552 members are wearing RED Thursdays and BLACK Fridays.

Members in several locations are refusing on-call until we get a contract, so the Company has implemented a 24x7 rotation in all areas.  The Local anticipates the rotation will cause a burden on management with the low number of technicians and great distance they cover due to Company downsizing.

The “Ban the Razor” campaign is spreading around the company, and members continue to turn in branded apparel and other items marked with the AT&T logo. 

While our bargaining team is negotiating our contract, it is important that our members at home are doing a Quality Job Safely every time.  Customers and safety are our number one priorities.  We are the network, for both Wireline and wireless.

Many Locals are either holding or planning break/lunchroom chats where members can come in and talk to Officers, Stewards, or Mobilizers about mobilization and bargaining.

The AT&T Shareholder meeting will be held April 27, 2012 at 9:00 AM in Salt Lake City.  Request your paper proxy and Annual Report by calling 888-756-2632; leave your name and address where the information should be sent.  Hold on to your proxies for further instructions from your Local.

If you haven’t signed up for text message reports yet, you can get them by texting ATT to 49484.  Bargaining reports and pictures for all 4 contracts can be found at www.cwaatatt.com.

Report all violations of our right to concerted actions to bbates@cwa-union.org and your District or Sector Staff.  You will likely be directed to file charges against the Company for violating our right to participate in concerted activities.

Mobilization reports and pictures should be sent to your District Mobilization Coordinator.  If your Local President and Local Mobilization Coordinator have not been receiving flyers or information, please let us know.

Send pictures and mobilization reports to your mobilization coordinators:
D1 Chris Wise christopherjwise1@gmail.com
D2/13 Mary Lou Schaffer marylouschaffer@msn.com
D3 Glenda Poindexter gotorganize@gmail.com
D4 Dave Skotarczyk davecwa@sbcglobal.net
D6 Sarah Harreus sharreus@sbcglobal.net
D7/D9 Shari Wojtowicz whatawitch@hotmail.com
Staff Rep Jim Cosgrove jcosgrove@cwa-union.org 

Mobilization Coordinators: If you are unsure what to do during Mobilization Phase 3, please contact your Local officers after their call with VP Maly on Tuesday. 

If you have any problems or questions, call your District Staff person or the National T&T Office.

Stand Strong.  Stay Mobilized.