Fighting the Attack on GOOD JOBS : New CWA ‘Cyber Reps’ Win Back Lost Business

When AT&T Yellow Pages in St. Louis created a new job title to sell Internet advertising, CWA Representative Mike Franken saw an opportunity. The company was required to bargain over wages for 100 newly-minted "Cyber Reps." But why not expand the talks in an effort to bring lost work — and jobs — back into the bargaining unit?

Local 6320 customer service reps last fall already had their hands full selling Yellow Pages advertising to new customers. That's why the company had earlier contracted out the work of chasing down past customers and getting their business back.

Then, to attract customers to advertise in its newly-launched online Yellow Pages, the company created the new job title: "cyber rep." 

"Per the contract, they have a right to restructure job titles," Franken said. "But we have a right to request bargaining on jobs they restructure."

The new title opened up 100 new positions to be filled by CWA members, but Franken hoped to get more.

"In the course of these negotiations, the position I took is that we want all the work back that they contracted out."

He was able to persuade management that represented employees have a vested interest in the company's growth and therefore a greater incentive than contract employees to bring back lost business.

AT&T agreed to expand the cyber rep title to include the work of re-signing past Yellow Pages customers and expanded its hiring target from 100 to 200 positions.

Said Michelle Kornhardt, a newly hired cyber rep and now CWA member, "Thanks to the union, I've got a much better job with good benefits that I otherwise would not have."

Local 6320 member Michelle Kornhardt recently filled a newly created job — cyber rep — at AT&T Yellow pages.