YOU ARE AT:CarriersUpdate: AT&T, union still negotiating; strike threat lingers

Update: AT&T, union still negotiating; strike threat lingers

AT&T has contingency plan if work stoppage materializes

A week after contracts for 17,500 unionized AT&T workers expired, contract talks are still ongoing despite an earlier strike threat from labor organizers.

Information is scarce, but AT&T spokesman Marty Richter told RCR Wireless News, “The two sides are continuing to bargain.”

A representative for the Communications Workers of America did not respond to a request for comment.

The contracts in question cover 17,500 AT&T Midwest and Legacy T employees.

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Richter, in an e-mail update, described the negotiation goal “is to continue to provide our employees with high quality middle class careers with wages and benefits that are among the best in the country.”

“We are not proposing to reduce the wages of any employees in these contracts, and we remain committed to providing great benefits.”

AT&T is the largest employer of full-time union labor in the country.

Regarding a strike, Richter said, “We have systematically and thoroughly planned for a potential work stoppage and have a substantial contingency workforce of well-trained replacements ready.”

The last update to the CWA website stated: “Some progress is being made in negotiations for new contracts covering workers represented by the [CWA] at AT&T Midwest and Legacy T.”

ABOUT AUTHOR

Sean Kinney, Editor in Chief
Sean Kinney, Editor in Chief
Sean focuses on multiple subject areas including 5G, Open RAN, hybrid cloud, edge computing, and Industry 4.0. He also hosts Arden Media's podcast Will 5G Change the World? Prior to his work at RCR, Sean studied journalism and literature at the University of Mississippi then spent six years based in Key West, Florida, working as a reporter for the Miami Herald Media Company. He currently lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas.