About 17,000 AT&T workers in the southeast are still on strike after the Communications Workers of America union withdrew from negotiations over a new contract.
Internet service technicians, customer service representatives, and thousands of other workers in nine states鈥擜labama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee鈥攚alked off the job after contract talks .
The CWA, which represents the striking AT&T workers, says its members are looking for a contract that delivers increased wages and benefits, including more for health care, and claims the company violated the National Labor Relations Act by to come up with a contract that addresses these demands.
The Dallas-based telecom giant denies the claim.
鈥淲e鈥檙e 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,鈥� an AT&T spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
CWA Local 3204 in Atlanta President Ed Barlow says the lack of bargaining is the of the strike.
鈥淚f the company doesn't want to send the right representative to the table, our members are prepared to stay out and strike as long as we have to to get the company to do the right thing at the bargaining table,鈥� Barlow said.
Union leaders agreed to AT&T鈥檚 proposal to return to the negotiation table with a federal mediator present, but CWA informed the telecom company on Monday that it was withdrawing from the mediation process.
鈥淲e appreciate the mediator鈥檚 efforts. Our message to AT&T is: no more excuses. It鈥檚 time to get serious about bargaining so we can get back to work serving our customers,鈥� CWA District 3 Vice President Richard Honeycutt said in a press release.
A spokesperson for the telecom giant says regardless of neutral third-party intervention, progress on the contract for thousands of workers will require some compromise. 鈥淲e thank the mediator for their efforts throughout this process,鈥� an AT&T spokesperson said.
Last week, CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. joined members on the picket line outside of AT&T鈥檚 Atlanta headquarters.
鈥淗ell, we could get a contract. If they would just bargain, we could probably get a contract today if they would just bargain,鈥� Cummings Jr. said.
He says AT&T has yet to send any representatives to the table with the power to negotiate.
鈥淲e just want you to bargain, just bargain with us and we'll get to a place where we will have something that we both can live with and to send these members to vote on,鈥� Cummings Jr. said.
鈥淐ustomers are hurting,鈥� Cummings Jr said.
Customers have taken to social media saying they are experiencing internet service outages and repair delays.
Tom Smith is an economist at Emory University.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think that this is gonna go on for months and months and months, but it could,鈥� he said.
He says that until a deal is reached, customers will have to endure service disruptions.
鈥淚f it wasn鈥檛 disruptive or it didn鈥檛 have any kind of negative element towards customers, then AT&T, I suspect, wouldn鈥檛 feel any kind of pressure to negotiate,鈥� he said.
In 2019, about 20,000 CWA AT&T employees in the South went on strike for four days following the failure to agree to new employment contracts. The strike ended with a five-year tentative deal between CWA and AT&T that increased wages and enhanced retirement plans for workers.
鈥淚 mean, nobody wants to be in this situation,鈥� Smith added. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think that striking workers want to strike. AT&T doesn鈥檛 want the service interruptions. Customers clearly don鈥檛 want the service interruptions,鈥� he said.
AT&T said that it remains focused on reaching a fair agreement, and is providing customer service throughout the work stoppage.
Marlon Hyde reports on business and the economy in Atlanta, Georgia.
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