Communications Workers of America (CWA) employees at AT&T Southeast are on strike to protest labor practices committed by management during talks for a new union contract, according to a news statement.
According to a CWA press release, the strike will affect over 17,000 technicians, customer service representatives, and other employees who install, maintain, and support AT&T’s residential and business wireline telecommunications networks in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
The CWA has filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the National Labor Relations Board against AT&T for failing to bargain in good faith, engaging in surface bargaining, and failing to send people to the bargaining table with decision-making authority. The charges also target the claimed company’s reluctance to bargain on mandatory subjects and reneging on bargaining commitments, according to the press release.
“Our union entered into negotiations in a good faith effort to reach a fair contract,” said CWA District 3 Vice President Richard Honeycutt said in a press release, “but we have been met at the table by company representatives who were unable to explain their own bargaining proposals and did not seem to have the actual bargaining authority required by the legal obligation to bargain in good faith. Our members want to be on the job, providing the quality service that our customers deserve. It’s time for AT&T to start negotiating in good faith so that we can move forward towards a fair contract.”
