Search News
For the Media
For media inquiries, call CWA Communications at 202-434-1168 or email comms@cwa-union.org. To read about CWA Members, Leadership or Industries, visit our About page.
CWA Members Gear Up for AT&T Bargaining
AT&T 2002 bargaining and the proposed sell-off of Lucent Technologies operations led the agenda of January’s Communications and Technologies national leadership conference in Orlando, Fla.
Nearly 300 officers from CWA locals with members at AT&T, Lucent Technologies, Avaya Communications and Agere Systems met for three days of strategy sessions and skill-building workshops.
“No matter what, we will survive,” Ralph Maly, CWA vice president for communications and technologies told delegates. “The companies we are dealing with may not in the future be named AT&T or Lucent or Avaya, but we will outlast them and their corporate executives. CWA will be there — and that’s my commitment to you.”
Maly reviewed the status of Lucent, Avaya and Agere operations, as well as on-going discussions with AT&T.
At the conference, AT&T local officers adopted bargaining goals for the 2002 negotiations that start March 11, then moved into mobilization mode, with training on carrying out a successful strike. The contract covering 25,000 CWA members at AT&T expires May 11.
This round of bargaining comes at a time when consumer services and business services may be the remaining core of AT&T, as AT&T Wireless was spun off as a separate company in July and Comcast Communications has made a bid for AT&T’s broadband operations.
Despite faulty management strategies, and the abandonment of the company’s strategy to provide the integrated communications services that customers want, top executives continue to reward themselves with multimillion-dollar compensation packages. In the case of AT&T’s chief executive C. Michael Armstrong, the loss of nearly $50 billion that resulted from the purchase and subsequent sale of AT&T’s Broadband operations is being rewarded with the offer of a top job at the newly merged AT&T Comcast.
Secure jobs and access for members to the jobs in the growth areas of the company are among CWA’s top goals for 2002 bargaining, along with protecting members from layoffs, continued outsourcing and other cutbacks as AT&T attempts to “take the cost out of doing business,” the bargaining council said.
Growth areas in data and local services have been “walled off” from CWA members, a strategy that is a disservice to employees and customers. The council said CWA will fight for real, enforceable limits on subcontracting and to regain the jobs that have been wrongly moved out of the unit.
CWA also will press for organizing rights for the work in the growth areas of the company, to enable workers to have a fair choice about union representation and to signal that management accepts and respects CWA as a full partner that brings value to the company.
In customer service, bargaining goals include a reversal of the contracting out that has hurt quality service in customer care, as well as provisions to reduce stress, provide greater flexibility in scheduling, and strengthen safeguards against abusive monitoring, time measurement and adherence and unreasonable sales objectives. Other bargaining goals include improvements in retirement security, a fair wage increase, maintaining and improving health benefits, and ongoing opportunities for training and education to help workers upgrade skills.
CWA Executive Vice President Larry Cohen noted that this round of AT&T bargaining will have all of CWA on the front lines, starting with every member at every worksite, in the fight to make a difference for workers at AT&T.
Cohen said CWA leaders at all levels of the union must keep members and communities informed about AT&T’s plans, making it clear that workers are fighting for secure jobs and the ability to provide quality service.
“Working together and with our union and community allies, we will remind city councils that must endorse the AT&T Broadband merger that workers’ rights and quality service must be a part of this equation,” Cohen said, adding that the same message will be delivered to regulators at the Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission.
At the same time, “We need to be determined for our own families, to let these companies know that we live in these communities and we’ll stand up and fight,” he said. “We have the opportunity to let our country know that workers have the right to speak out, to have a union, to real democracy. Bargaining isn’t just for CEOs.”
He noted that CWA President Morton Bahr has called AT&T negotiations CWA’s main priority until a fair contract is won. “We need to make sure that AT&T knows we will fight as long as it takes,” Cohen said.
As the communications industry diversified into wireless, cable and high-speed Internet access, CWA moved into these areas too, Cohen said, citing organizing efforts by some 50 CWA locals that have brought nearly 3,000 broadband workers into the union. All these companies must realize that wherever the work goes, CWA will be there and that “we and future CWA members are going to do this work,” Cohen said.
CWA Secretary-Treasurer Barbara Easterling said CWA has worked hard to use the industry’s technological changes to create fulfilling, rewarding and lifelong careers for members. “That strategy is what will enable us to continue to stand up for our members and stay ahead of the curve,” she said.
In contrast, management at AT&T has fallen behind the curve, yet executives are being rewarded for “running the company into the ground,” Easterling said. “We must drive home the need for a new direction at AT&T,” she said.
Maly also recognized Vice Presidents Larry Mancino, District 1; Jeff Rechenbach, District 4; Andy Milburn, District 6; John Thompson, District 7; and Vince Maisano, District 13, who joined participants at the leadership conference.
A mobilization workshop highlighted the extensive campaigns by CWA locals in San Antonio, Texas, and North Andover, Mass., to save jobs in their communities. Local 6143 built a strong community coalition to press AT&T to keep open a Spanish-language customer call center employing 600 people. The local organized a media campaign, gained the backing of state and local elected officials, and held several public events that put AT&T on the spot about the facility closing.
CWA Locals 1365 and 1366 in Andover, Mass., have been fighting to save jobs at Lucent’s Merrimack Valley Works as the company moves to contract manufacturing. Working with community, religious and labor partners through the “Crisis in the Valley” committee, workers have built broad support for keeping quality jobs in the valley. Activities included a public forum, attended by Lucent officials, rallies and other public actions directed at Lucent.
Other workshops covered labor law and legal concerns, political action media and benefits issues.
Nearly 300 officers from CWA locals with members at AT&T, Lucent Technologies, Avaya Communications and Agere Systems met for three days of strategy sessions and skill-building workshops.
“No matter what, we will survive,” Ralph Maly, CWA vice president for communications and technologies told delegates. “The companies we are dealing with may not in the future be named AT&T or Lucent or Avaya, but we will outlast them and their corporate executives. CWA will be there — and that’s my commitment to you.”
Maly reviewed the status of Lucent, Avaya and Agere operations, as well as on-going discussions with AT&T.
At the conference, AT&T local officers adopted bargaining goals for the 2002 negotiations that start March 11, then moved into mobilization mode, with training on carrying out a successful strike. The contract covering 25,000 CWA members at AT&T expires May 11.
This round of bargaining comes at a time when consumer services and business services may be the remaining core of AT&T, as AT&T Wireless was spun off as a separate company in July and Comcast Communications has made a bid for AT&T’s broadband operations.
Despite faulty management strategies, and the abandonment of the company’s strategy to provide the integrated communications services that customers want, top executives continue to reward themselves with multimillion-dollar compensation packages. In the case of AT&T’s chief executive C. Michael Armstrong, the loss of nearly $50 billion that resulted from the purchase and subsequent sale of AT&T’s Broadband operations is being rewarded with the offer of a top job at the newly merged AT&T Comcast.
Secure jobs and access for members to the jobs in the growth areas of the company are among CWA’s top goals for 2002 bargaining, along with protecting members from layoffs, continued outsourcing and other cutbacks as AT&T attempts to “take the cost out of doing business,” the bargaining council said.
Growth areas in data and local services have been “walled off” from CWA members, a strategy that is a disservice to employees and customers. The council said CWA will fight for real, enforceable limits on subcontracting and to regain the jobs that have been wrongly moved out of the unit.
CWA also will press for organizing rights for the work in the growth areas of the company, to enable workers to have a fair choice about union representation and to signal that management accepts and respects CWA as a full partner that brings value to the company.
In customer service, bargaining goals include a reversal of the contracting out that has hurt quality service in customer care, as well as provisions to reduce stress, provide greater flexibility in scheduling, and strengthen safeguards against abusive monitoring, time measurement and adherence and unreasonable sales objectives. Other bargaining goals include improvements in retirement security, a fair wage increase, maintaining and improving health benefits, and ongoing opportunities for training and education to help workers upgrade skills.
CWA Executive Vice President Larry Cohen noted that this round of AT&T bargaining will have all of CWA on the front lines, starting with every member at every worksite, in the fight to make a difference for workers at AT&T.
Cohen said CWA leaders at all levels of the union must keep members and communities informed about AT&T’s plans, making it clear that workers are fighting for secure jobs and the ability to provide quality service.
“Working together and with our union and community allies, we will remind city councils that must endorse the AT&T Broadband merger that workers’ rights and quality service must be a part of this equation,” Cohen said, adding that the same message will be delivered to regulators at the Justice Department and Federal Communications Commission.
At the same time, “We need to be determined for our own families, to let these companies know that we live in these communities and we’ll stand up and fight,” he said. “We have the opportunity to let our country know that workers have the right to speak out, to have a union, to real democracy. Bargaining isn’t just for CEOs.”
He noted that CWA President Morton Bahr has called AT&T negotiations CWA’s main priority until a fair contract is won. “We need to make sure that AT&T knows we will fight as long as it takes,” Cohen said.
As the communications industry diversified into wireless, cable and high-speed Internet access, CWA moved into these areas too, Cohen said, citing organizing efforts by some 50 CWA locals that have brought nearly 3,000 broadband workers into the union. All these companies must realize that wherever the work goes, CWA will be there and that “we and future CWA members are going to do this work,” Cohen said.
CWA Secretary-Treasurer Barbara Easterling said CWA has worked hard to use the industry’s technological changes to create fulfilling, rewarding and lifelong careers for members. “That strategy is what will enable us to continue to stand up for our members and stay ahead of the curve,” she said.
In contrast, management at AT&T has fallen behind the curve, yet executives are being rewarded for “running the company into the ground,” Easterling said. “We must drive home the need for a new direction at AT&T,” she said.
Maly also recognized Vice Presidents Larry Mancino, District 1; Jeff Rechenbach, District 4; Andy Milburn, District 6; John Thompson, District 7; and Vince Maisano, District 13, who joined participants at the leadership conference.
A mobilization workshop highlighted the extensive campaigns by CWA locals in San Antonio, Texas, and North Andover, Mass., to save jobs in their communities. Local 6143 built a strong community coalition to press AT&T to keep open a Spanish-language customer call center employing 600 people. The local organized a media campaign, gained the backing of state and local elected officials, and held several public events that put AT&T on the spot about the facility closing.
CWA Locals 1365 and 1366 in Andover, Mass., have been fighting to save jobs at Lucent’s Merrimack Valley Works as the company moves to contract manufacturing. Working with community, religious and labor partners through the “Crisis in the Valley” committee, workers have built broad support for keeping quality jobs in the valley. Activities included a public forum, attended by Lucent officials, rallies and other public actions directed at Lucent.
Other workshops covered labor law and legal concerns, political action media and benefits issues.