PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) – Monday marked 24 days since AT&T union-represented workers began a strike across 9 states in the southeast.
About 17-thousand workers are demanding fair contracts with higher wages, affordable healthcare, and improvements to work-life balance for those subject to mandatory forced overtime.
The communications workers of America say AT&T is failing to bargain a fair contract for its workforce.
Workers were on strike outside of the AT&T central office in Panama City and said all they want is economic growth in today’s growing inflation.
They tell us they want to return to helping customers as soon as they get what they consider a fair contract.
One AT&T worker said, “We’re looking for something that gives us economic growth all the way around, not just wages, benefits, or anything like that, something that can help support all of us and our families and everything, with the way inflation is and everything that has been going on in the world.”
Another AT&T worker, J.W Simon said: “Unfortunately when you can’t come to an agreement on a fair labor contract, it leaves us no choice other than to do what we’re doing across 9 states with our CWA brothers and sisters, to step out and say we just want fair bargaining… we want fair bargaining and a fair contract, for all the workers, so we can get back to doing what we do best which is taking care of the costumers for AT&T out there every single day.”
AT&T has made a final offer to its union-represented workers as the strike escalates. The communications company says the 145-page offer gives workers competitive market-based pay, and they’re asking employees and the CWA leadership to carefully review it and vote on it.
But the CWA responded to AT&T with a counter-proposal, according to a press release sent out this past weekend that reads: “AT&T’s negotiators presented our bargaining committee with their 145-page so-called ‘final’ offer yesterday at 6 p.m. Prior to that, they had not formally presented a complete economic package, and we had seen nothing on health care. When they presented the proposal at the bargaining table, they stated that they were willing to continue bargaining, and we provided a counter proposal at 11 p.m.,” said CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. “The misleading message AT&T sent to CWA members this morning about their proposal and the status of bargaining amounts to direct dealing and is more evidence of the company’s continued bad faith. This type of conduct is what led to these workers going out on strike, and it does nothing more than aggravate the situation.”
We also received a statement from AT&T’s spokesperson Jeff McElfresh, which reads: “On Sept. 8, we reopened discussions on the terms of the final offer we submitted to the CWA on Sept. 4 as we continue the constructive negotiations we’ve engaged in since day one. We continue to aim for an agreement that will provide competitive market-based pay that exceeds projected inflation, provides benefits that improve employees’ total well-being, and sustains a competitive position in the broadband industry where we can grow and win against our mostly non-union competitors. We are hopeful that the CWA will engage with us in the same spirit and work towards an agreement to get our employees back to work.”
As for workers, they say they will continue to strike for as long as it takes. “it’s not a desire that we want to be here, it’s when you get your hand forced and you have no other alternative, you have to stand up,” said an AT&T worker.
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Publish date : 2024-09-09 13:32:00
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