AT&T Workers On Strike Throughout Southeast
More than 20,000 AT&T workers across the Southeast went on strike over the weekend. They’re citing unfair labor practices as the reason for the protests.
Some of those workers are in Montgomery. The Communications Workers of America is a union-based department that is representing those workers.
It says it has filed charges against AT&T for “not bargaining in good faith.”
“We as AT&T employees or former employees have felt like it’s strong enough to walk off our jobs to make sure there’s protections for us in terms of job employment, and everything else,” employee spokesperson Eric Becker said.
The protesters include technicians and customer service representatives who develop AT&T’s residential and business network throughout the South.
The workers and their employer have been in disagreements over contract negotiations involving wages and healthcare, among other demands for employees.
“Our contracts sometimes last three years, sometimes last five years. and this encompasses the entire contract in terms of labor treatment of their employees,” Becker said.
We reached out to AT&T’s Southeastern department for a statement. So far, Alabama News Network has not heard back.
“We love what we do as our job, we love working with the people behind us,” Becker said. “These are all my brothers and sisters in the union. And I hope that they can, in good faith, sit across the table with us and work together to resolve the issue.”
The CWA also filed charges against AT&T in Florida after the phone company disciplined workers for wearing union memorabilia and participated in activities they say are protected under the National Labor Relations Act. The strike includes employees in nine states.
