Hub & Router Installers Organize at AT&T Contractor

A unit of 25 contract employees who install hubs, routers and video equipment at AT&T central offices in Reno, Nevada, won representation last week with CWA Local 9413. The vote in the NLRB-sponsored election was 14-8. The workers are employed by NorthStar Communications Group, a contractor performing installations at AT&T central offices that are part of "Project Lightspeed" and support the rollout of U-Verse, AT&T's high-speed, fiber optic video, internet, data and communications service.

The workers, technicians and others with engineering job titles are believed to be the first to organize at NorthStar or other AT&T contractors involved in the installation of hubs, routers and video equipment.

CWA has been pressing AT&T to give CWA members training and full access to the company's "jobs of the future," of which U-verse is the leading component. "We prefer that these installations be done by our members, but we're not going to pass up the opportunity to help organize contract employees who want a union too," said CWA Executive Vice President Jeff Rechenbach, head of CWA's new Telecom Office.

The workers reached out to CWA Local 9413 President Chuck Benway who works at AT&T's central office in Reno. "Besides wanting a union and a fair grievance procedure, the workers wanted to get reimbursed fairly for their travel expenses," said Benway who assisted the workers in their campaign. The workers were having a hard time making ends meet on a per diem of just $70 a day that is supposed to cover not only meals but also hotel expenses if they had to stay overnight. Some workers share rooms to make the per diem go further, but the company cuts their per diem in half if it finds out, Benway said.

Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., NorthStar, the telecommunications subsidiary of BE&K, Inc., provides infrastructure, network, and outsourcing services to telecommunications companies nationwide.