Employees Tell AT&T: Keep Your Commitment to Employees and Retirees

Contact: Candice Johnson, CWA Communications, 202-434-1168, cjohnson@cwa-union.org

Washington, D.C. – AT&T employees, members of the Communications Workers of America, sent the company a strong message by voting overwhelmingly to authorize a strike if negotiations fail to produce quality contracts.

The vote also sent a strong message of support to CWA bargaining teams. CWA negotiators are pressing AT&T to do its part to help the struggling economy and support the middle class, not cut benefits and jobs.

AT&T employees are very concerned about the company's attempt to cut health care benefits by shifting even more costs to employees and retirees, and about access for employees to the "jobs of the future," the new work created by changing technology. AT&T employees note that the company has been looking out for executives and investors and needs to also look out for the employees who make it successful. 

AT&T is a very successful and profitable company, even in these bad economic times. AT&T posted profits of $12.9 billion last year and AT&T executives have said the company will continue to grow this year. Given this profitability, AT&T should be a leader in helping turn the economy around and in providing good middle class jobs. There's no reason to hurt employees by cutting jobs and benefits.

Contract negotiations currently are continuing for new contracts covering about 125,000 CWA-represented employees at these AT&T operations. AT&T East (formerly SNET), AT&T Southeast (formerly BellSouth), AT&T Midwest (formerly Ameritech), AT&T Southwest, AT&T West (formerly PacBell) in Pleasanton, Calif., and AT&T Legacy, a nationwide unit. The contracts, with the exception of AT&T Southeast, expire Apr. 4. The AT&T Southeast agreement expires Aug. 6 but early negotiations are underway.

CWA reported that, overall, 88 percent of voting AT&T members voted in favor of strike authorization in balloting conducted by CWA local unions whose members are covered by six separate contracts.  A strike at any or all of the AT&T operations would not take place before it is authorized by the union's executive board and a strike date set.

More information is available at ga.cwa-union.org/att.