BREAKING: AT&T Union Workers in Vero Beach are on Strike. Union Walk-out Is Across 9 Southern States.
Union files unfair labor practice complaint at the National Labor Relations Board against AT&T for not bargaining in good faith.
On Tuesday, August 27th, you may have experienced an outage of your AT&T cellphone or digital services. The Daily Mail reported the “nationwide” outage affected southern states like Florida, Kentucky, Alabama and Georgia, as well as Texas, California among other states. According to the Daily Mail, Seminole County emergency communications services were also affected. Seminole County posted on X that residents should call their non-emergency line until the issue was resolved.
AT&T attributed the outage to a “software” issue. Eventually, AT&T admitted that the outage was a “nationwide” problem. On Tuesday evening, AT&T issued a statement that said, “We are working to address a software issue that may affect the ability of a limited number of our customers to connect to our wireless network. Keeping our customers connected is our highest priority, so we appreciate their patience as we work to resolve this issue.”
According to the website The Mobile Report, the problem’s location was primarily focused in the southeast portion of the United States. Currently, 17,000 AT&T workers represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) are on strike in 9 southeastern states which include Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida. If you drive down Aviation Boulevard by the Vero Beach Airport, you will see the local picket line.
The strike began on Friday, August 16th, after negotiations came to crawl. In their announcement of the walk-out that is now in its 13th day, CWA representatives alleged that AT&T is engaged in unfair labor practices. The union states, “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.”
‘Surface bargaining’ is where one party enters negotiations with no intent to come to an agreement. In their statement, CWA made further allegations of AT&T’s “refusal to bargain over mandatory subjects and reneging on agreements made in the bargaining.”
CWA Local 3111 President, Peggy Ward, who represents the counties of Martin, St Lucie and Indian River, described the process at the negotiating table. She said, “They have sent nobody who can bargain with us in good faith. Our reps put something on the table and their people do not have authority to make decisions. They have to leave to ask others if they can agree.”
Back on June 25th, CWA representatives were sent to Atlanta in hopes of negotiating a new agreement on behalf of the Bell South / AT&T workers in the southeast region known as “District 3.” Their contract was set to expire on August 3rd. After the expiration date passed, negotiations continued. However, according to the union, the lack of authority and even understanding by the AT&T negotiators persisted. Ms. Ward remarked, “The union filed the unfair labor practice complaint a few days after the contract expired. We were working without a contract.”
Overseeing the negotiations in Atlanta, CWA District 3 Vice President, Richard Honeycutt, said in a statemeent through the CWA, “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.”
In response to the walk-out, AT&T also released a statement on August 16th that said, “CWA’s claims of unfair labor practices are not grounded in fact. We have been engaged in substantive bargaining since day 1 and are eager to reach an agreement that benefits our hard-working employees. As evidence, we have reached 3 agreements this year covering more than 13,000 employees, including our most recent tentative agreement with District 9. We remain committed to working with District 3 in the same manner.”
In a time of rising costs due to inflation, it is a risk for these career employees to be on the picket line. After no movement for 5 days, on August 21st, AT&T proposed a federal mediator to manage the negotiations. “We remain committed to reaching a fair agreement with CWA District 3, and we have offered to bring in a federal mediator to ensure there is no question about either side’s commitment to this process. Until a deal is reached, we have business continuity measures in place so that we can continue to provide our customers with the great service they deserve.”
Some of those business continuity measures are hiring contract workers at high wages to keep service demands met for customers. The CWA released a statement informing the public that “replacement workers may not have the same level of expertise” on service calls. Ms. Ward commented, “These workers on the picket line are highly skilled. We want to be back to work. We care about our customers and the company.”
The negotiations are entering the 8th day since the arrival of a federal mediator. According to Ms. Ward, the problem remains. She said, “We have been trying to bargain in good faith. We sent people with authority to negotiate on our behalf. Until they get someone in there who has the authority to bargain, things won’t change.”
Ms. Ward has been the CWA Local 3111 president for 25 years. There have not been any incidences on the local picket lines. Ms. Ward shared that there is 100% local participation in the strike. The Sunshine Journal asked if this scenario has occurred in past negotiations. She responded, “In 2019, we had the same issue. We filed an unfair labor practice complaint and it was settled in 3 days.”
On August 12th, AT&T reach a tentative agreement with the CWA West union representing workers in California Nevada and Hawaii. Union membership has yet to approve the 4-year contract. At the time, the company said, “AT&T is committed to recognizing our employees for the work they do every day to serve our customers by providing competitive wages and benefits that are among the best in the nation.”