Telecom News - 1,500 More AT&T Mobility Workers Vote Union

AT&T Mobility's retail sales workers in Florida and North Carolina showed why card check is an effective way for workers to organize in the United States, with a majority of the 1,510 choosing CWA representation in September and October.

The sales associates work at more than 170 of the formerly Cingular stores across the state. Many of them are college-age, making them among the youngest group of workers CWA has organized.

"What attracted them to CWA was how our contract with AT&T met some of their chief needs as younger workers — tuition aid, premium pay, and lower health care costs," said District 3 Vice President Noah Savant.

Union recognition for 344 of the company's retail workers in North Carolina came two weeks later. Two AT&T Mobility workers in Winston- Salem took the lead in the early stages of the campaign by creating a web presence, networking with retail workers across the state and holding meetings online. Their website is www.cwa4nc.blogspot.com.

CWA locals throughout Florida and North Carolina helped make the card-check campaigns a success, offering help wherever needed. Now leaders in District 3 are focusing on organizing 1,900 of the remaining unrepresented sales employees at the company in Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi. In August, a unit of 22 AT&T Mobility network technicians in Mississippi also gained representation.