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Arbitrator Restores AT&T Jobs to CWA
CWA has won back 16 positions at AT&T through an expedited arbitration process that union leaders expect to yield more union jobs that have been misclassified as “management.” The arbitration procedure resulted from settlement of a CWA lawsuit last April.
“We are pleased with the results of this first arbitration and confident that the process, as it is completed, will restore many more jobs to CWA’s jurisdiction,” said Ralph Maly, Communications and Technologies vice president.
The arbitration of low-level positions previously classified as management was the first of several required under terms of an April 10 memorandum of understanding, wherein CWA and the company agreed to negotiate a process to address “the union’s concerns about movement of work outside the bargaining unit.”
In a June 28 addendum, the parties agreed “to expedite the consideration of the issue of management performing bargaining unit work into an accelerated fact based process.” Future arbitrations will affect so-called “managers” performing the technical work of top-grade CWA technicians, Maly said.
The first arbitration concerned jobs classified “A-1,” the lowest management level at AT&T. Under terms of the April 10 memorandum, AT&T reevaluated the positions of 14 executive chauffeurs based in New York City and at Basking Ridge, N.J., two audiovisual specialists, five site coordinators and one administrative assistant.
Management tried to make a case that the positions should continue to be classified as management because the employees in question work closely with company executives and are privileged, as in the case of the chauffeurs, to “sensitive information of the very highest level.”
CWA Representative Gerald Souder and Research Economist Patrick Hunt accompanied Maly to hearings at Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service headquarters in Washington, D.C, where they contested the evaluations, listing a range of similar positions that are part of the bargaining unit.
Arbitrator Daniel Feinstein, of Montgomery, Ala., found that the chauffeur and audiovisual specialist positions, “were inappropriately classified as management.” He directed the company to include those positions “in the appropriate bargaining unit.”
“We are pleased with the results of this first arbitration and confident that the process, as it is completed, will restore many more jobs to CWA’s jurisdiction,” said Ralph Maly, Communications and Technologies vice president.
The arbitration of low-level positions previously classified as management was the first of several required under terms of an April 10 memorandum of understanding, wherein CWA and the company agreed to negotiate a process to address “the union’s concerns about movement of work outside the bargaining unit.”
In a June 28 addendum, the parties agreed “to expedite the consideration of the issue of management performing bargaining unit work into an accelerated fact based process.” Future arbitrations will affect so-called “managers” performing the technical work of top-grade CWA technicians, Maly said.
The first arbitration concerned jobs classified “A-1,” the lowest management level at AT&T. Under terms of the April 10 memorandum, AT&T reevaluated the positions of 14 executive chauffeurs based in New York City and at Basking Ridge, N.J., two audiovisual specialists, five site coordinators and one administrative assistant.
Management tried to make a case that the positions should continue to be classified as management because the employees in question work closely with company executives and are privileged, as in the case of the chauffeurs, to “sensitive information of the very highest level.”
CWA Representative Gerald Souder and Research Economist Patrick Hunt accompanied Maly to hearings at Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service headquarters in Washington, D.C, where they contested the evaluations, listing a range of similar positions that are part of the bargaining unit.
Arbitrator Daniel Feinstein, of Montgomery, Ala., found that the chauffeur and audiovisual specialist positions, “were inappropriately classified as management.” He directed the company to include those positions “in the appropriate bargaining unit.”