AT&T Legacy T Bargaining Report #21

We had a very long day at the table today but, we are sorry to say, very little was accomplished that moved us any closer to an agreement.  The Company withdrew their proposal to eliminate “tie back” in the event of a surplus.  This is typical of the way bargaining is going.  They make a bad proposal and then expect us to be thankful when they go back to the original language.  Any proposals that will lead to an actual improvement or will actually solve a problem – they reject.  A good example of this was their rejection today of our “Emergency Conditions” proposal, which would have required the Company to pay if a government (Local, state or federal) declared an emergency.  All they responded to was part of our discussion of the lack of a consistent policy from building to building and business unit to business unit.  They handed us a copy of THE company policy, but it is neither fair nor consistent and doesn’t address any of our real concerns.

They also rejected our proposal to put the “successorship” language back into the contract.  This language, which we are looking for at all four tables, would require the Company to include in their sales agreements with any buyer of any part of the business that they must take the existing CBA.  Though there are some protections under the law, as we hear more and more rumors about AT&T looking to sell off parts of their “wireline” business, it would be good language to have.  Also, with the current anti-union political climate in many states and in congress these days, this contract protection is important.

Finally, after several hours during which we met in a subcommittee on “Subcontracting/off shoring/management doing bargaining unit work” and another on the Medical Plan, we met at the full table again late this afternoon.  In response to a very comprehensive Union proposal on a wellness program which has the potential of lowering overall health care costs, the Company’s response was a small watered-down wellness program reintroducing their original Medical Benefits proposal, which shifts an additional 14% of health care costs to our members.

They also rejected our proposal to increase the company match on the savings plan and to move our members in the Cash Balance Account pension plan into the traditional plans.  Both of these would have brought additional retirement security to our members, though neither of them brought us close to the 116% of active wages that the Company’s phony calculations said we could receive under the current plans.

The strike vote is being counted today and tomorrow for all four contracts.  Also, detailed information was sent to our Locals today on strike preparation.  Finally, make sure you sign up for the call on April 4^th at 8:00 PM EST, where you will get reports from all four tables as we move into the final days before expiration.  Click here to sign up and let us know what questions you would like to have answered during the call: www.cwa-union.org/attcall.

Keep informed.  Keep fighting.  Keep mobilizing.

Your bargaining Team.