A little over 17,000 AT&T workers in the Southeast have gone on strike, accusing the company of “unfair labor practices”.
The strikes, which come after unsuccessful contract negotiations, involve technicians, customer service representatives and wire installation workers.
Striking Workers Release Statement
The Communications Workers of America (CWA) – the union representing the employees on strike – released a statement on Friday.
The CWA accused AT&T of not bargaining in good faith, and said the organization sent negotiators who were not authorized to make key decisions.
What The CWA Says?
CWA District 3 Vice President Richard Honeycutt said, “Our union entered into negotiations in a good faith effort to reach a fair contract
“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.”
Unions Take Action
The CWA union said that it had filed a complaint against AT&T with the National Labor Relations Board.
Honeycutt said, “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.”
AT&T Give Their Side of The Story
When approached by journalists, AT&T strenuously denied any wrongdoing; saying they did not break labor laws and are eager to negotiate a new contract.
“CWA’s claims of unfair labor practices are not grounded in fact,” they said, adding, “We have been engaged in substantive bargaining since day 1 and are eager to reach an agreement that benefits our hard-working employees.”
Where Are Workers Striking?
The AT&T strike is currently limited to nine states in the Southeast of the United States.
Workers are currently striking in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
Outages Reported
Despite reassurances from AT&T that the strikes should not disrupt customers’ service, disruption has already been reported in some states impacted by the strikes.
In North Carolina’s Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area there have been reports of “prolonged internet outages”, which may not be resolved until Tuesday.
AT&T Have ‘Not Been Bargaining in Good Faith’
Josh Foster, President of the CWA in Nashville said, “We have been bargaining for a new contract since June. Our contract expired last weekend, on Aug. 3, and we felt throughout the bargaining process that AT&T bargainers that they were sending to their side of the table have not been bargaining in good faith,
“They have been telling our bargaining team that they don’t have the authority to make changes or bargain for the contract that they are working on.”
Social Media Reacts
On social media, people overwhelming expressed sympathy for the striking workers, with one person posting, “They [striking workers] made the company billions of dollars and can’t even get a raise… but the CEO [gets a] bonus…”
Another X/Twitter user lobbied Vice President Kamala Harris to join the picket line with the strikers, saying, her “support wold mean everything to us!”
More Bad News For AT&T
The ongoing strikes cap off a bad summer for AT&T, who suffered a massive hack in July.
In July, it was reported that hackers stole six months worth of data from nearly every AT&T cellular network customer, compromising the safety of millions of Americans’ sensitive data.
