AT&T West, CWA Reach Tentative Agreement on Contract

A tentative agreement on a new four-year contract has been reached for more than 13,000 AT&T West workers in California and Nevada represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA).

The CWA AT&T West contract covers technicians, call center customer support workers and administrative staff. The tentative agreement provides for pay raises, affordable health care and increased pension benefits. It also maintains existing job offer guarantee provisions in the event of layoffs.

“I am proud of our CWA bargaining team for negotiating a strong contract, under difficult circumstances, that protects good, family-supporting jobs in California and Nevada,” said Frank Arce, CWA District 9 vice president. “CWA members are out there every day installing, maintaining and supporting critical communications services so businesses can continue operations and customers can stay in contact with their loved ones. Our member mobilization meant that our bargaining team had the support they needed to win a fair agreement well before the current contract expired.”

AT&T spokesman Jim Kimberly tells Channel Partners his company “worked cooperatively with the union to achieve a fair contract agreement that allows us to continue to provide solid middle-class jobs with competitive wages and benefits, while maintaining the flexibility the company needs to operate in an extremely competitive industry.”

AT&T’s Jim Kimberly

Details of the proposed contract will be provided to local union leadership and a ratification vote will be held once the members have an opportunity to review the details of the agreement. If ratified, the new contract will go into effect on April 5.

Out of respect for the union membership, AT&T will not comment on the terms of the settlement until the CWA has provided details of the tentative agreement to its members.

Including this agreement, AT&T has reached 26 agreements since 2017 with labor unions representing its employees, collectively covering more than 128,000 employees.

Last month, AT&T and the CWA reached a tentative agreement on a new four-year contract for more than 8,000 Southwest Mobility workers. The workers authorized a strike as their contract was set to expire on Feb. 21.