CWA Strike Ends in Southeast as Agreements Are Reached With AT&T
AT&T negotiated tentative agreements with Communications Workers of America covering two regions, averting a strike in the West and ending a 30-day work stoppage in the Southeast, CWA said Sunday. The Southeast agreement covers 17,000 workers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia,…
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Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. A five-year agreement includes across the board wage increases of 19.33%, with additional 3% increases for wire technicians and utility operations, the union said. The four-year agreement for the West region covers 8,500 workers in California and Nevada and includes a compound wage increase of 15.01% and “improvements to overtime and scheduling,” CWA said. The Southeast agreement comes days after both sides returned to the bargaining table, an AT&T spokesperson emailed Monday. “As we’ve said since day 1, our goal has been to reach fair agreements that recognize the hard work our employees do to serve our customers with competitive market-based pay and benefits that are among the best in the nation -- and that’s exactly what was accomplished,” the spokesperson said: The agreements also support AT&T’s competitive position in the broadband industry “where we can grow and win against our mostly non-union competitors.” CWA President Claude Cummings said members and retirees from across the U.S. helped during the strike. “I believe in the power of unity, and the unity our members and retirees have shown during these contract negotiations has been outstanding and gave our bargaining teams the backing they needed to deliver strong contracts,” Cummings said.