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Wireless Workers 'Very Receptive'
The notion that workers in the South view unions suspiciously turned out to be a myth in the case of the Ridgeland call center group.
"We were very receptive to getting a union," said Kelvin Banks, a customer service representative and a lead organizer within the call center. He phoned CWA's District 3 office in Decatur, Ga., the same day the Cingular-AT&T Wireless merger was announced last fall. Banks, who grew up in a union household, has worked at the call center since 2000.
Having lived through years of management hostility toward union supporters at AT&T Wireless, Banks and his co-workers welcomed the merger and when it was finalized they immediately circulated a petition supporting CWA representation. Within three weeks, they had gathered signatures from 207 employees.
Union representation is "the only way employees have the right and ability to ensure that they get their fair share in the company's growth and success," Banks said.
He views labor activism as "the civil rights movement of today."
And he sees unionization of Cingular's remaining 20,000 unrepresented workers at the former AT&T Wireless as a potential turning point for workers in the United States.
"With over 40,000 union workers at Cingular, we would plant seeds of hope for workers not only in wireless but in other high-tech industries, too."
"We were very receptive to getting a union," said Kelvin Banks, a customer service representative and a lead organizer within the call center. He phoned CWA's District 3 office in Decatur, Ga., the same day the Cingular-AT&T Wireless merger was announced last fall. Banks, who grew up in a union household, has worked at the call center since 2000.
Having lived through years of management hostility toward union supporters at AT&T Wireless, Banks and his co-workers welcomed the merger and when it was finalized they immediately circulated a petition supporting CWA representation. Within three weeks, they had gathered signatures from 207 employees.
Union representation is "the only way employees have the right and ability to ensure that they get their fair share in the company's growth and success," Banks said.
He views labor activism as "the civil rights movement of today."
And he sees unionization of Cingular's remaining 20,000 unrepresented workers at the former AT&T Wireless as a potential turning point for workers in the United States.
"With over 40,000 union workers at Cingular, we would plant seeds of hope for workers not only in wireless but in other high-tech industries, too."