AT&T Southeast Strike Ends

ATLANTA, Ga. and SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) have reached strong tentative agreements with AT&T Southeast and AT&T West for new union contracts. The contracts were bargained separately.

The agreement in the Southeast ends the 30 day strike – the longest telecommunications strike in the region’s history – with union members across nine states pressuring the company to negotiate in good faith. CWA members will report to work for their scheduled shifts on Monday, September 16.

The agreement at AT&T West comes after members rejected a previous tentative agreement on September 6.

“I believe in the power of unity, and the unity our members and retirees have shown during these contract negotiations has been outstanding and gave our bargaining teams the backing they needed to deliver strong contracts,” said CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. “I’m not just talking about AT&T members in the Southeast and West, although the determination of our striking AT&T Southeast members was remarkable. CWA members and retirees from every region and sector of our union mobilized in support of our bargaining teams, including by distributing flyers with information about the strike at AT&T Wireless stores.”

The new contract in the Southeast covers 17,000 workers technicians, customer service representatives and others who install, maintain and support AT&T’s residential and business wireline telecommunications network in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Wages and health care costs were key issues at the bargaining table, and the five-year agreement includes across the board wage increases of 19.33%, with additional 3% increases for Wire Technicians and Utility Operations. The health care agreement holds health care premiums steady in the first year and lowers them in the second and third years, with modest monthly increases in the final two years.

CWA District 3 Vice President Richard Honeycutt released the following statement:

We are incredibly proud of our members and thank CWA members, retirees and allies across the country for the solidarity that has sustained us through these difficult negotiations. Their willingness to make sacrifices in order to win major improvements in their contract not just for themselves, but for future members is truly inspiring.

We know that our customers have faced hardship during the strike as well. We are happy to be getting back to work keeping our communities safe and connected.

Our bargaining team has worked tirelessly to negotiate a contract that provides significant wage increases that reflect the hard work and dedication of our union members and a medical plan that ensures that our members and their families have affordable, comprehensive healthcare services. For every member who has walked a picket line, spoken out for the contract they deserved, or joined their coworkers for a union action, you built this.

The four-year agreement at AT&T West covers 8,500 workers in California and Nevada. It improves on the historic achievements negotiated in the prior agreement. The wage boost will now be retroactive to the contract expiration date, bringing the compounded increase to 15.01%. The revamped agreement also includes improvements to overtime and scheduling.

CWA District 9 Vice President Frank Arce released the following statement:

This new agreement builds on what we achieved in the first round of bargaining. In addition to maintaining gains on employment security, overtime, and scheduling, we improved the compensation package. This was possible due to the dedication of our outstanding bargaining team to quickly address the concerns our members raised and the mobilization of our members throughout the process.

Union members will meet to review the tentative agreements, before holding ratification votes in each region that will give every union member a voice on the proposed union contracts. The bargaining committees in each district recommend ratification.

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