SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) — After their previous contract expired in early August, AT&T Southeast workers engaged in a month-long strike in an attempt to force AT&T into labor negotiations. good faith, according to the Communications Workers of America (CWA). ).

More than 25,500 CWA members across eleven states have ratified strong new contractual agreements with AT&T Southeast and AT&T West, they said. The AT&T Southeast contract covers approximately 17,000 workers in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

AT&T workers who install, maintain and support AT&T’s network will receive wage increases of more than 19 percent during the new five-year agreement in the Southeast, the CWA said.

“For 30 days, our members stood up and made sacrifices to fight for the fair contract they deserve. Thanks to the solidarity and tenacity of our members, AT&T workers now have the support they need to make AT&T a leader in closing our nation’s digital divide,” said Richard Honeycutt, vice president -CWA District 3 President. “In these nine states, billions of dollars in federal funds will be injected to support a massive broadband deployment, and this contract ensures that customers and workers will be adequately supported as AT&T bids and, hopefully, will obtain new projects resulting from this financing. »

The CWA said the contracts covering both AT&T Southeast and AT&T West include significant improvements to overtime and scheduling practices, addressing a major concern for technicians who install and troubleshoot AT&T fiber optic networks in the homes and businesses.

They said these technicians often cite unreasonable expectations about the time it takes to complete their tasks, too many tasks added to their queue throughout the day, and excessive scheduling of weekend shifts. end. They also said that all of these things contribute not only to their own work-life balance, but also to the level and quality of customer service they are able to provide to AT&T customers.

CWA members across the Southeast walked off the job Aug. 16 after AT&T refused to engage in good faith negotiations and failed to send negotiators to the table with the authority to make decisions , they said.

The CWA said that during the month-long strike, AT&T suffered operational and financial difficulties without AT&T’s key customer service representatives and installation and maintenance technicians, resulting in a decrease of the company’s ability to manage breakdowns and repairs.

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