CWA Approves Wireline Contracts With Two AT&T Divisions

Members of the Communications Workers of America formally accepted contracts with two AT&T divisions and are considering “tentative” contracts with three others, CWA announced Friday. AT&T wireline employees represented by CWA have voted to accept three-year contracts with AT&T Midwest and AT&T Corp., AT&T said. The CWA reached a tentative agreement on the contracts July 21, the carrier said. The AT&T Midwest agreement covers more than 13,000 employees in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin. The AT&T Corp. agreement covers 5,700 employees across the country, AT&T said.

CWA officials said they were pleased with the contracts with AT&T Midwest and AT&T Corp., saying they improved workers’ future retirement security and economic issues. “The union bargaining committee maintained and improved employment security, winning protections against layoffs in the first year of the contract,” said Ralph Maly, CWA vice president-telecommunications and technologies, in a news release (http://xrl.us/bnk5f3).

CWA’s Southeast district is giving its members information on tentative contracts with AT&T Southeast and two smaller AT&T divisions -- AT&T Billing Southeast and Southeast Utility Operations, a CWA spokesperson said. CWA anticipates a mail-in vote on the contracts will conclude in the next few weeks, the spokesperson said. CWA reached a tentative agreement on the three contracts Aug. 7. The three contracts, if approved, will cover more than 22,000 wireline workers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee (CD Aug 8 p15).

Negotiations are continuing between CWA and AT&T West and AT&T East, CWA said. Those negotiations follow a brief strike earlier this month over concerns about possible cuts in benefits, according to Reuters. CWA-affiliated workers at the two divisions -- 18,000 for AT&T West in California and Nevada, 3,200 for AT&T East in Connecticut -- called a strike Aug. 7 and ended it two days later, AT&T said. The carrier said then that “a strike is not in anyone’s best interest, and it’s unfortunate local union leaders in the West and East regions chose to take this action, especially considering we have already reached agreements with local CWA and IBEW leaders in other contracts where employees perform the same type of work” (http://xrl.us/bnk5e4). AT&T had previously completed a one-year extension in mid-July on its contract with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which covers nearly 7,000 employees in Illinois, northwest Indiana, New England, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, California and the Northwest (CD June 1 p19).