AT&T "Legacy T" Bargaining Report #2

There was no exchange of demands today.  AT&T gave us a presentation on Health Care:  Health Care in the United States and Health Care at AT&T.

They want us to understand that health care costs are rising in the United States.  They want us to understand that Health Care costs are rising for many employers.  They want us to understand these issues through THEIR eyes to lay the basis for the proposal on health care they will present at the end of the week. 

We have one thing WE want AT&T to understand.  If AT&T was really interested in dealing with this nation's health care problems, they would be working with us for legislative health care reform.  If they were really interested in holding down the cost of health care and leveling the playing field with their competitors, they should be taking the lead in lobbying for a comprehensive solution to this nation's health care problems.

What became clear through the presentation is that AT&T is really not at all seriously interested in those issues.  Every point in their presentation showed that, in fact, many of the things the CWA has done in the past in Legacy T have already lowered costs.  AT&T's only concern is lowering their OWN costs by shifting those costs to us.

This will clearly be the key issue in this round of bargaining.  We will keep you informed as their proposal becomes clearer.