ATLANTA – AT&T reached tentative agreements with AT&T Southeast and AT&T West for new union contracts, marking a significant milestone after an ongoing strike by the provider’s workers, technicians and customer service representatives.
Communications Workers of America (CWA) negotiated new contracts in the Southeast covering 17,000 workers who install, maintain and support AT&T’s residential and business wireline telecommunications network in North Carolina and eight other states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee.
The five-year agreement includes across-the-board wage increases of 19.33% with an additional 3% increase for wire technicians and utility operations, addressing the core issues of low wages and health care costs. The agreement holds health care premiums steady in the first year and lowers them in the second and third years, with modest monthly increases in the final two years. The agreement in the Southeast ends the 30-day strike — the longest telecommunications strike in the region’s history.
“We are incredibly proud of our members and thank CWA members, retirees and allies across the country for the solidarity that has sustained us through these complex negotiations,” CWA District 3 Vice President Richard Honeycutt said in a release. “Their willingness to make sacrifices to win major improvements in their contract, not just for themselves but also for future members, is truly inspiring.
“Our bargaining team has worked tirelessly to negotiate a contract that provides significant wage increases that reflect our union members’ hard work and dedication and a medical plan that ensures that our members and their families have affordable, comprehensive healthcare services. You built this for every member who has walked a picket line, spoken out for the contract they deserved, or joined their coworkers for union action.”
The four-year agreement at AT&T West negotiated by CWA covers 8,500 workers in California and Nevada and improves overtime and scheduling, and it includes a wage boost, bringing the compounded increase to 15.01%.
Union members will meet to review the tentative agreements before holding ratification votes in each region. The bargaining committees in each district have recommended ratification.
