June 3, 2018
Fighting Today…Focused on the Future!
Yesterday afternoon the Union advised the Company that we wanted to return to the table to meet and pass additional proposals. The Union Committee also had prepared a statement to present to the Company to address their comments from Friday and again explain what it would take to reach an agreement on a contract.
The Union’s statement, as prepared by the full committee and communicated across the table by the Union’s bargaining chair, summarized the Union’s positions throughout this round of negotiations. We advised that Vice-President Linda Hinton stated on the opening day of these talks that we are concerned with jobs and work in the Midwest region and we have not veered from that intent. The Company, as of today, has not been willing to have serious discussions about this topic. The Union has repeatedly made proposals to recover outsourced work and work that is growing. We told AT&T that we can work together to return work to the bargaining unit while making it financially viable to the company, but it will take meaningful dialogue.
After additional commentary and discussion, we further advised the Company that we have been trying to reach an agreement with the Company for the past three months. We hope that AT&T shares the same commitment. We can work together to ensure a future for AT&T employees and our members. They are one, and the same. We ended our statement asking AT&T to take our words and consider them carefully.
The Union stood on our proposals that were rejected previously, including; Appendix A19 (Employment Security Commitment), A20 (Extended Employment Opportunity Period), the Appendix F main memorandum, a letter regarding Premises Technician Job Duties, and a new MOA addressing adding work to the bargaining unit.
We also stood on other proposals that were previously discussed, including; Article 26 (Training and Employment Security), Appendix A18 (Overtime), Appendix A25 (Regarding Required Overtime), and a letter concerning Mobility Retail Jobs.
The committee then passed proposals to retain existing language for Appendix A31 (Presidential Council), Appendix A33 (Card Check and Neutrality), Appendix A35 (Successorship) and Article 13 (Wage Administration).
The Company advised they understood our proposals and took them under consideration.
Work continues this Sunday afternoon on the complicated subjects of pooled titles, benefits, monitoring and other issues.
Although progress is dramatically slow and difficult to measure, we are pleased that it appears the company has started to, once again, focus on bargaining with the committee. We will continue to fight toward a fair agreement.
Mobilize!
In Solidarity,
Your CWA District 4 Bargaining Team
Curt Hess, Tina Culver, Dan Frazier, Kim Gallardo, Tim Strong, Greg Tennyson, Jay Walther, Ron Gay, Mike Handley
Make sure you’re signed up to receive news and updates via text message by texting the word Midwest to 69866.
Click here to join our Facebook group: CWA Bargaining @ ATT Midwest.