AT&T workers on strike sue because of unfair contract negotiations
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – More than 17,000 Communications Workers of America Union employees throughout the South.
“We are striking because the company has failed to send people to Atlanta to our bargaining table, that have the authority to make the decision on nine state seventeen thousand employee contracts,” said William Johnson, Faculty Technician.
AT&T workers across the Golden Triangle say they will continue to protest until they get the changes they want.
William Johnston is a facility technician. He said the company management did not bargain fairly.
“When you go into bargaining, the company is responsible for sending a delegate from Dallas, or whatever location that they want, that has the ability to make a decision, stand behind it, and that decision not gets overturned in Dallas by someone with more authority. They failed to do that. We have been bargaining since June,” said Johnson.
Right now, NPR reports workers are striking in nine states, including Mississippi and Alabama.
These striking workers say their time away from the company could have a big impact in the community.
“A major outage could shut down the Airforce base, or our 911 centers. There is a lot of things that we upkeep, and we get called out in the middle of the night that people do not see, to make sure that you can use your communication devices and internet without a hiccup,” said Johnson.
Johnston also says this strike is about more than just wanting a pay increase.
“It is not actually about money, currently what we are trying to do, is just get the company to the table to negotiate. It is not a money thing. It is the fact that we do not even have anybody that can make a decision about how we are going to move forward in any capacity, and that is what the strike is about,” said Johnson.
WCBI did reach out to AT&T headquarters and got a response later in the evening. The following statements were sent to us by an AT&T spokesperson:
“CWA’s claims of unfair labor practices are not grounded in fact. We have been engaged in substantive bargaining since day 1 and are eager to reach an agreement that benefits our hard-working employees. As evidence, we have reached 3 agreements this year covering more than 13,000 employees, including our most recent tentative agreement with District 9 (west). We remain committed to working with District 3 (southeast) in the same manner.
“We’re disappointed that union leaders would call for a strike at this point in the negotiations, rather than directing their energies toward constructive discussions at the bargaining table. This action needlessly jeopardizes the wages and well-being of our employees.
“We have various business continuity measures in place to avoid disruptions to operations and will continue to provide our customers with the great service they expect.”
