CLEARLAKE >> Around a dozen AT&T workers protested alongside Highway 53 late Friday afternoon in response to the latest announced layoffs. Eight local technicians will lose their jobs on October 12. What does this mean for local customers? A service waiting time of approximately two to three weeks is expected in comparison to the usual response period of one to two days.
Low-income customers may suffer the most, according to premises technician Johnathon Alves.
Alves, who is one of the eight workers who will be laid off, said, “Work will roll over to the maintenance guys who usually take care of lines. We think it’s mostly about the costs.”
According to Alves, there are about 70 or 80 premises technicians who will be laid off in rural communities alone, including Lake, Ukiah, and Fort Bragg. In doing so, AT&T could lower its costs by around $4 million a year.
AT&T said this is all due to adding people in areas where they see increased customer demand for products and services and reducing jobs in other areas due to decreasing work volumes. This year’s 4th Quarter downsizing will affect a total of 321 employees across California.
AT&T has heard from its workers over the past several months on topics like layoffs and a shift in job requirements. In May, about 17,000 workers walked off their jobs and held a strike in defense of landline workers.
The Communications Workers of America (CWA) represents employees and in a statement, via Facebook, they said, “This same issue has been a subject at the bargaining table for months and the Company has recently made a unilateral change in job requirements without the agreement of the Union.”
In response, AT&T agreed to bring 3,000 jobs back. A spokesperson for the company, Marty Richter, said, “We’ve already hired over 1,000 in the state through August of this year, and we’re currently hiring over 530 more…” He added that last year, over 23,000 were hired in the U.S., including nearly 3,300 in California.
Lake County workers, however, feel “the most forgotten.” With fewer customers in Lake County than in urban, for example, there are “fewer people to complain about the long wait that they will have to face after layoffs,” Alves said.
Alves and another technician, Joe Pepoon, said they don’t know what they will do after October 12. Both relocated from Santa Rosa and Napa to their hometowns in Lake after receiving job offers in the county.
“We bought houses and settled down to work for AT&T here,” Pepoon said. “If we hadn’t moved, we would still have our jobs back in Santa Rosa and Napa. It’s just sad that this is happening in rural areas.”
Richter said the company will work to find other AT&T jobs for those affected and employees also have the option of “accepting a severance payment.”
Lineman and assistant director for the area’s CWA union Shawn Heape led Friday’s protest. He said, “There is a demand for service here. People need service for homework or entertainment. Customers in Lake will be affected by the loss of these eight technicians.” In an email statement, Heape said managers at the Clearlake yard are also worried about how they are going to serve all county consumers.
Low-income customers would be the most affected by this change, premises technicians believe. AT&T’s Access program provides an affordable way for low-income people to have access to the internet for as low as $5 a month. Alves said there are many consumers in Lake County that benefit from the program. Customers are given self-set-up kits and if they need assistance, technicians like Alves or Pepoon respond within one or two days. Losing them would mean a longer wait time, especially for those in the Access program who may not be able to afford service for more complex needs or to switch to another provider.
“They (low-income consumers) can’t go to Mediacom, for example, because they don’t offer these low-income programs. So, their only choice is to sit and wait for who knows how long,” Alves said.
Last year, AT&T fought hard to pass Assembly Bill 2395, which would allow the company to leave over 10 million Californians without the service of copper landline phones. Rural communities like Lake County would be especially impacted as connections from wireless or fiber services are not often comparable. Thanks to large efforts by union opposition, the bill died that same year. But workers fear it may rise again, in addition to the number of quarter downsizings.
Heape shared that another demonstration is scheduled this Friday on Olympic Drive and Old Highway 53 in Clearlake. He and all those present during last week’s protest aims to encourage consumers to let their voice be heard and write a letter to AT&T.
