AT&T workers in California and Nevada in one-day walkout

CWA’s District 9 staged a one-day June 8 walkout in response to AT&T’s demands for contract givebacks. Thousands of landline workers in California and Nevada protested the company’s insistence that healthcare and retirement security costs be shifted workers.

Contract negotiations between AT&T and CWA have dragged on since before the last contract expired two months ago. CWA is negotiating for 37,000 AT&T workers in four separate units: AT&T East, AT&T Midwest, AT&T Legacy and AT&T West.

In an internal memo, leaked to the Los Angeles Times, AT&T executive, Betsy Farrell, wrote that when workers strike, “The company doesn't suffer. In fact, these actions help us financially when we don't pay you.”

CWA spokeswoman Libby Sayre told the Times, “It's a slap in the face. These guys work very hard to provide quality customer service. They don't need a lot of insults and provocation.”

CWA has noted that AT&T is a very profitable company, yet it repeatedly insists that its workers not share in its profits, and that the workforce must sacrifice more.

Thousands of AT&T workers stage a walkout in California, Nevada (LA Times, June 8, 2012)
 
Countdown to Contracts: CWA Members at AT&T Stand Behind Their Bargaining Team (news release, Apr. 6, 2012)