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.
Locals Use Golf Event to Expose AT&T's Outsourcing
Determined to try to save American jobs, about 40 CWA members and their families braved cold, rainy California weather Feb. 13 to leaflet and demonstrate against outsourcer AT&T at the Pebble Beach golf tournament, which Ma Bell sponsors.
Members of CWA locals including 9423, 9415, 9407 and 9490 passed out an "open letter to AT&T's business customers" to spectators entering the event. An activist also managed to slip the letters into programs people received inside, said Ralph Maly, CWA vice president for communications and technologies.
"It went extremely well," Maly said. "The focus was bringing attention to AT&T's continued outsourcing and subcontracting of our work, and we got a lot of moral support there for our position."
The letter explained that more than 1,700 AT&T workers in the United States have lost their jobs recently and another 3,000 could be unemployed by the end of 2005.
Even though AT&T is limiting its residential phone business and is being bought out by SBC, Maly said the company easily could have kept its workers employed until the end. Instead, it is outsourcing call center work to India and the Philippines and continues to subcontract technical work in the United States.
"Not only are they being disloyal to their employees by doing the work overseas, but they're disloyal to their country," Maly said. "We have people who would eventually lose their jobs. But - take the Mesa (Arizona) call center for instance - they could have kept that center open another four to five months. It would have benefited the employees who have been loyal to them and it would have benefited the country by saving American jobs for now."
Nearly 500 workers are losing their jobs now in Mesa. Last year, more than 200 lost their jobs at an AT&T call center in Charleston, W.Va.
The Pebble Beach letter tried to impress on business customers that the company's decisions hurt them as well as employees. "You pay for the skill and knowledge of the technicians who support the communications services relied upon by your businesses," the letter stated. "The replacement of AT&T's technicians with outside contractors, inexperienced managers and automated test systems could jeopardize your service."
The CWA members made some noise at the end of the tournament when AT&T CEO Dave Dorman presented the winner's trophy to Phil Mickelson at the 18th hole.
"We began yelling 'Hey Dave, we're your fan club," Local 9423 President Louis Rocha said in an e-mail. "He looked and waved, then we started yelling 'Bring our jobs back from India and stop cutting jobs,' as did many in the gallery. Dorman was clearly flustered and we had our union shirts visible along with a sign that read "UNION!" Dorman then scampered off the green."
Maly credited Rocha, Local 9415 President Val Reyna and Local 9490 Secretary-Treasurer Al Espindola, along with District 9 Vice President Tony Bixler, with coordinating the successful Pebble Beach demonstration. "They seized the opportunity to make direct contact with business customers, and those are the people who have the most power to influence AT&T and ultimately SBC," he said.
Members of CWA locals including 9423, 9415, 9407 and 9490 passed out an "open letter to AT&T's business customers" to spectators entering the event. An activist also managed to slip the letters into programs people received inside, said Ralph Maly, CWA vice president for communications and technologies.
"It went extremely well," Maly said. "The focus was bringing attention to AT&T's continued outsourcing and subcontracting of our work, and we got a lot of moral support there for our position."
The letter explained that more than 1,700 AT&T workers in the United States have lost their jobs recently and another 3,000 could be unemployed by the end of 2005.
Even though AT&T is limiting its residential phone business and is being bought out by SBC, Maly said the company easily could have kept its workers employed until the end. Instead, it is outsourcing call center work to India and the Philippines and continues to subcontract technical work in the United States.
"Not only are they being disloyal to their employees by doing the work overseas, but they're disloyal to their country," Maly said. "We have people who would eventually lose their jobs. But - take the Mesa (Arizona) call center for instance - they could have kept that center open another four to five months. It would have benefited the employees who have been loyal to them and it would have benefited the country by saving American jobs for now."
Nearly 500 workers are losing their jobs now in Mesa. Last year, more than 200 lost their jobs at an AT&T call center in Charleston, W.Va.
The Pebble Beach letter tried to impress on business customers that the company's decisions hurt them as well as employees. "You pay for the skill and knowledge of the technicians who support the communications services relied upon by your businesses," the letter stated. "The replacement of AT&T's technicians with outside contractors, inexperienced managers and automated test systems could jeopardize your service."
The CWA members made some noise at the end of the tournament when AT&T CEO Dave Dorman presented the winner's trophy to Phil Mickelson at the 18th hole.
"We began yelling 'Hey Dave, we're your fan club," Local 9423 President Louis Rocha said in an e-mail. "He looked and waved, then we started yelling 'Bring our jobs back from India and stop cutting jobs,' as did many in the gallery. Dorman was clearly flustered and we had our union shirts visible along with a sign that read "UNION!" Dorman then scampered off the green."
Maly credited Rocha, Local 9415 President Val Reyna and Local 9490 Secretary-Treasurer Al Espindola, along with District 9 Vice President Tony Bixler, with coordinating the successful Pebble Beach demonstration. "They seized the opportunity to make direct contact with business customers, and those are the people who have the most power to influence AT&T and ultimately SBC," he said.