17,000 AT&T workers across the US South, in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee, are still on strike after walking off the job last week on August 16, claiming that the billion-dollar company will not engage in good faith negotiations. The Communications Workers of America Union (CWA) has filed an unfair labor practices charge against AT&T with the National Labor Relations Board.
“AT&T is a highly profitable company, with over $16 billion in profits in 2023. It is set to receive millions from the federal government to build high-speed internet connections to every business and household,” writes the CWA, which organizes the AT&T workers. “We are a big part of AT&T’s success, but we have been at the bargaining table since June without making significant progress despite our best efforts.”
CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. said, “I expect AT&T to treat every member with respect and to send representatives to the table who have authority to bargain and who are serious about bargaining in good faith.”
“During the strike, AT&T has been sending undertrained managers and contractors to perform highly technical work,” said CWA District 3 Vice President Richard Honeycutt. “Our members have seen them at work in their communities and documented unsafe practices, including failure to wear proper safety equipment, failure to secure ladders and other equipment, putting the worker and nearby vehicles and pedestrians at risk, and failure to mark work areas with safety cones. We are encouraging members of the public to use extra caution when encountering these worksites.”
Highlighting the importance of the workers to the company’s functioning, several AT&T service outages have been reported across the region, forcing the company to send management teams to fix issues instead of workers. Workers pledge to continue striking until AT&T shows up to bargain in good faith.
