AT&T, CWA Agree on Tentative Deals for 11,000 Workers

AT&T and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) have tentatively agreed on contracts covering about 11,000 workers while negotiations continue on contracts impacting an additional 22,900 workers.

The Midwest AT&T wireline contract agreement covers employees in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. A small agreement also was reached on the SBC Global Services/AT&T Corp.-COS contract, which covers certain employees in Michigan. The two four-year deals cover about 8,000 employees and will be submitted to the union’s membership for ratification votes.

The AT&T Corp. agreement covers employees across the country, including the U.S. Virgin Islands. A small agreement also was reached on the AT&T Corp. Puerto Rico contract, which covers a small number of wireline employees in Puerto Rico. The two four-year agreements cover about 3,000 employees and also will be submitted to the union’s membership for ratification votes.

AT&T’s Marty Richter

AT&T spokesman Marty Richter tells Channel Partners the telecom giant is “committed to working together with the union to reach fair agreements that will allow us to continue to provide solid union careers with excellent wages and benefits, while ensuring the flexibility we need to differentiate ourselves through world-class customer service.”

“Out of respect for the union, we won’t comment on the details of the tentative agreements until they have been presented by CWA leadership to their members,” he said. “Including these agreements, the company has now reached 19 fair agreements since 2017 with the unions representing its employees, collectively covering about 88,000 employees.”

In the meantime, bargaining continues on two other contracts. Mobility Puerto Rico covers about 900 employees in Puerto Rico, and the Southeast wireline contract covers about 20,000 workers in Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida.

The current contract for CWA members at AT&T Southeast expires on Aug. 3.

“We start this bargaining session demanding AT&T to show our hard-working members the respect and loyalty they deserve,” Richard Honeycutt, CWA District 3 vice president, said last week. “This can be done through better wages, benefits, improved work rules and job security..”

The CWA has criticized AT&T for continuing job cuts. Last month, AT&T started notifying employees that their jobs are at risk as part of its plans to cut 1,880 U.S. jobs during the next few months, it said.

This follows AT&T reportedly gearing up for layoffs in early January.