About 17,000 AT&T workers across the Southeast are on strike, citing unfair labor practices during recent contract negotiations.
And Yazoo County is represented in those strike efforts this week as well. Although small, three local employees join the effort that is stretching across at least nine states.
“We are on an unfair labor practice strike against AT&T because they refuse to send people to the bargaining table who are authorized to bargain,” said William Pickle, local president of the Communications Workers of America, representing the Mississippi Delta. “We have been working without a contract for about two weeks and we went out on strike last Friday at 2 p.m.”
The local strike began at an AT&T office on Grady Avenue and will rotate between there and another office location on Washington Street.
According to The Associated Press, “the Communications Workers of America — the union representing the striking employees — said workers walked off the job Friday in response to AT&T’s failure to bargain in good faith. Workers have been attempting to reach a new contract since June. The labor organization said AT&T did not send representatives to the bargaining table who had authority to make decisions and that the company has reneged on agreements made in bargaining.”
The AP articles said the strike involves AT&T technicians, customer service representatives and others who install, maintain and support AT&T’s residential and business wireline telecommunications network. It involves workers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
The goal of the strike?
“To bring them back to the table to bargain in good faith,” Pickle replied. “This strike ought to show people how their local technicians have been cut down. We care about the customer, but we also must care about ourselves.”
According to a CWA press release, CWA has filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board against AT&T for not bargaining in good faith, engaging in surface bargaining, and not sending representatives to the bargaining table with the authority to make decisions. The charges also address the company’s refusal to bargain over mandatory subjects of bargaining and reneging on agreements made in bargaining.
“Our union entered into negotiations in a good faith effort to reach a fair contract, but we have been met at the table by company representatives who were unable to explain their own bargaining proposals and did not seem to have the actual bargaining authority required by the legal obligation to bargain in good faith,” said CWA District 3 Vice President Richard Honeycutt. “Our members want to be on the job, providing the quality service that our customers deserve. It’s time for AT&T to start negotiating in good faith so that we can move forward towards a fair contract.”
As the strike continues, union officials are warning the public about safety concerns.
“AT&T has been sending undertrained managers and contractors to perform highly technical work,” said Honeycutt. “Our members have seen them at work in their communities and documented unsafe practices, including failure to wear proper safety equipment, failure to secure ladders and other equipment putting the worker and nearby vehicles and pedestrians at risk, and failure to mark work areas with safety cones. We are encouraging members of the public to use extra caution when encountering these worksites.”
According to the CWA, the trained, experienced CWA members who are on strike do critical work installing, maintaining, and supporting AT&T’s residential and business wireline telecommunications network. Customers should be aware that these workers will not be available to respond to service calls during the strike and that replacement workers may not have the same level of expertise.
“Our members want to be on the job, providing the quality service that our customers deserve,” Honeycutt said. “AT&T needs to do the right thing and start negotiating with us in good faith.”
The current contract between CWA and AT&T Southeast expired on August 3.
