Bargaining Begins May 1 for New Contract at Avaya

Washington, D.C -- The Communications Workers of America will open contract negotiations with Avaya on May 1 for a new agreement covering 2,900 workers. The current contract expires May 27; negotiations will be held in Washington, D.C.

Larger locations include customer service workers in Atlanta, Oklahoma City and the Denver area, and other Avaya workers in Anaheim, Calif., Dallas and Houston, Tex., Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio, and the New York City metro area.

CWA Vice President Ralph Maly, Communications and Technologies, expressed concern that the good relationship that CWA and Avaya had built from the earliest days of the company has all but disappeared.

"CWA wants that good working relationship to be restored. We want Avaya to be a successful business and our members, of course, have a huge interest in continuing Avaya's success. Our members deserve to be full partners in the business that they helped create. They don't deserve to be marginalized or their livelihoods eliminated by mismanagement," he said.

Maly cited job cuts, Avaya's outsourcing of work and the ability of Avaya's business partners to manipulate customers who prefer to use Avaya services and maintenance as examples of the company's flawed business strategy.

CWA and union workers bring added value to the business, evidenced by the number of Avaya customers that already partner with CWA in many areas, Maly said, urging Avaya management to drop its anti-union philosophy and take steps to restore a positive working relationship.

Avaya workers adopted bargaining goals at the communications and technologies leadership conference earlier this year. Employment security, including "jobs with a future" and an end to outsourcing of work, is among the key goals.