Action at AT&T Shareholders' Meeting

Last week Vice President Ralph Maly attended the AT&T Shareholders’ meeting in Salt Lake City, UT, along with Officers and activists from around the country.  We would like to thank the Utah Local 7704, both active and Retirees; UT AFL-CIO State Federation; and American Income Life (AIL) for their support with the demonstration and handing out flyers before the meeting.   A CWA ad ran in the Salt Lake Tribune as well as 5 other newspapers nationally congratulating “AT&T shareholders on another prosperous year” and stating that “AT&T should be helping America – helping lead our economic recovery by continuing to provide good, middle class jobs.  We are the network.  We deserve a fair contract.”

At the shareholder meeting, that message continued.  VP Ralph Maly brought up issues we are facing and asked AT&T to do the right thing by continuing to provide good middle-class jobs in the United States.  He spoke to shareholders about the importance of investing in our communities by stopping work from being sent overseas, bringing it back to the bargaining units where it belongs, and continuing to provide affordable healthcare to both active and retired workers.  T Santora, Local 9003 President, spoke about the politically sensitive positions CWA has taken to support AT&T in the legislative arena, like the T-Mobile merger and net neutrality rules that have put us at odds with some of our natural community allies, pointing out that the concessionary demands at the table right now are not how a good partner should be treated.  

Others addressed the Shareholders as well on topics like the promise of healthcare and pensions to retirees and stopping AT&T’s participation in ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council).  CEO Stephenson danced around the ALEC issue, stating that ALEC helps AT&T legislatively with regulatory and other issues, though ALEC’s social issues are “not in line with many of AT&T’s corporate policies”.  (No commitment was received to withdraw from ALEC or to step down from ALEC’s Board of Directors).  

Those that attended the meeting wore 99% & WTF stickers and buttons on their CWA shirts.  The entire hotel was surrounded and the parking lot was filled with Police cars from Utah State Troopers, Salt Lake City PD, and reinforcements from surrounding areas.  One Officer told a CWAer that they were “worried about all of the people from the Occupy movement that have been traveling the country to attend shareholder meetings”.

Thursday evening, those attending the shareholder meeting got together to provide mobilization reports from around the country.  We are all proud of the Unity our members are showing in the field, even though the Company is not making progress on our issues at the bargaining table.

- written by Shari Wojtowicz, Local 7250, National Mobilization Coordinator