AT&T "Legacy T" Bargaining Report #30

Yesterday's session again focused on trying to make sense of their benefit plan proposals. With the two tiers (one for new hires and one for current employees), all the new rules, the new premiums, deductibles and co-pays we needed to schedule another session with AT&T benefits experts just to figure out exactly what they are proposing.  One thing is clear – understanding their proposal does NOT make it any better.  It makes it worse. Many of our members will simply not be able to afford health care with this proposal and there is no way we can accept it. Especially with all the other take-aways that are still on the table and their complete disregard of issue of concern to us – like job security and retiree benefits.

It is an especially despicable proposal considering how well AT&T is doing.  The Fortune 500 list just came out.  AT&T has moved from #27 to #10 this year.  It is also #1 in the Telecommunications Industry, beating out #2 Verizon with over $25 BILLION more revenues than them and three times the revenues of #3 Sprint.  The AT&T Bargainers are always comparing us to non-Union Comcast because it doesn't have the health care costs AT&T does.  Comcast is #4 with a QUARTER of the revenues of AT&T.

With all this, AT&T's proposals for its employees will leave a good number of our members with the potential of hundreds of dollars a month in benefit costs.  They put on such a benevolent face with their purchase of "green" cars from Ford, all their charities, their logo on Tiger's golf bag and free give-aways at ball parks.  We must expose that this emperor has no clothes.  Underneath their finery is naked greed.

The best place to do that this week is at Friday's Shareholders meeting.  We cannot let ATAT put on a phony show while they try to kill us at the bargaining table.  Bargaining at our table will be recessed until Monday.  VP Ralph Maly and other VPs, some members of the bargaining teams and CWA members from all over the country will be in Dallas on Friday.  Other members of our team are getting to return to their homes (and their home Locals) for the first time since February 19th.

Bargaining will continue on Monday, April 27.  Keep up the pressure. It is more important every day!