LAKE COUNTY — An AT&T spokesman responded to recent demonstrations, saying the company is committed to working together with the union to bargain a contract.
Recent demonstrations aimed at bringing attention to Communications Workers of America (CWA) union members” opposition to outsourcing of American jobs.
About 18,000 AT&T workers in California and Nevada are bargaining for a new contract. The workers” collective bargaining agreement, which expired on April 7, was extended as negotiations continue.
Marty Richter, AT&T spokesman, said the company seeks to bargain a contract that will allow the company to continue to provide and protect high-quality middle-class careers for its employees.
Richter said bargaining began on Feb. 29 with the CWA for four wireline contracts including one that covers more than 17,000 employees in California and Nevada. He said the bargaining effort includes employees in both network and call center roles. He said these are employees in the traditional wireline (landline) part of the business and does not include employees involved in the mobility (cell phone) portion as they are covered through separate contracts.
“While we didn”t reach an agreement wit the CWA by the April 7 expiration of those four wireline contracts, the two sides have agreed to continue bargaining and employees are continuing to work under the terms of the old agreement while negotiations continue,” Richter said. “The two sides have been at the bargaining table pretty much on a daily basis.”
CWA union members voted to authorize a strike if fair contracts can not be reached. According to CWA, more than 93.5 percent of the voting AT&T members in the combined units of four districts approved the strike authorization.
Shawn Heape, union steward Local 9400 said he is looking at paying $1,300 a month for benefits.
Richter said employees in these contracts are “very well compensated.” He said the average AT&T network technician in these contracts makes $90,000 in wages and $43,000 in benefits while average call center representative makes $67,000 in wages and $40,000 in benefits. “We are not proposing to reduce the wages of any employees in these contracts,” he said. “And in an era when many companies are either curtailing or abandoning benefits, we continue to provide great benefits including medical, dental, vision, pensions and/or 401(k) savings plans.”
According to CWA, AT&T made $31 billion in profits in the past two years. Richter said AT&T is one of the largest employers in the United States and the country”s largest employer of full-time union labor. “We always strive to be the best corporate citizen possible in our hiring practices and our commitment to the United States,” he said. “Like many large global companies, we need to do some outsourcing in order to meet our customers” demands in a very competitive marketplace.”
Richter said the company”s senior management team receives competitive and market-based compensation that reflects their responsibilities and expertise. “The vast majority of the compensation received by our officers is performance-based and our executive compensation is in line with our peer companies.”
