AT&T employees gearing up to strike over salary negotiations

Will Park

Will hails from The City of Angels - Los Angeles, California. He spends his time playing with his numerous gadgets and looking forward to seeing what future holds for mobile technology. An avid promoter of a fully "digital" life, he promotes the widespread adoption of truly mobile, paper-less living. He dreams of the day when he can go completely digital. No more snail mail, paper receipts, bound books, notepads/spiral notebooks, credit cards, hard currency. He's a digital warrior - fighting for the converged life. He is an idealist and a realist - he has a perfect view of what the world should be but knows that the world is not perfect. Can we ever hope to see Will's dream become reality? We'll see...

• Anonymous

  The conflict is between the Landline/DSL division of AT&T, not the Wireless division.

• tim

  no its between the wireless..as they stated..

• joe

  You both are incorrect. I am a current AT&T wireless employee and we along with the sales agents as well as the LANDLINE employees are all involved in the strike. The company is attempting to decrease our wages and take away vacation days. I have worked there for almost 3 years and I look forward to the vacation days and the raises we receive. I voted yes for the strike because I recently bought a house and receiving a decrease in pay is NOT part of the American dream. Call us greedy or selfish but realistically speaking we work hard just like everyone else does. You say we just answer phone calls,but we really don’t “just answer calls” or just sell phones. There are numerous responsibilities that we do that are unknown to most customers. There alot of behind the scenes responsibilities that occur everyday. So yes we will strike,it is probably not a great time to strike with the economic woes ,but we have to do what is best for our families.

• Stacy

  I am not a scab but a hire gun to come in and sell. I was a gang buster at Circuit City and I will come into a ATT store and make 60K+ a year. Yeah.

• Adam

  unions are a joke. Look what they have done for the auto industry. What happens when workers make
  too much and the economy is bad? Duh…. you lose your job. Real smart. Unions are ruining our contry.

• Adam

  Country….. lol. You can’t say smart and mispell a word in the same sentence.

• Adam=Idiot

  Elitist CEOs and Wall Street are ruining America. Union membership is the lowest it’s ever been and is declining every year. Union membership had been steadily declining in the US since 1983. So a workforce of less then 12% is ruining America? What?

• EZO

  last year at&t ceo got a 4.5 million dollar bonus, this year they skipped the bonus and got STOCK ~!!!! worth way more than that.. good job people good job at&t makes more than a BILLION dollars the stock is fine and the profit margins are excellent, unlike the auto industry there is still an economic profit on telecommunications since most of it is service. and network. although the network is expensive the reason we are in a bind is because at&t has great leverage to entrap its workers in a time when workers cannot afford to ask for more, at&t management waives incoming applications to its reps all day long leaving them around the store so that its now employees can get frighten. they also manipulate the compensation on a month to month basis, whatever the cfo comes up with so that they can benefit more each month, based on the current economic situation Verizone has already accepted the contract, from the CWA, we will have to just wait and see what the outcome is. at&t will always win, if it doesnt it will just merge a winner. they got deep pockets and they have learned real well from carlos slim helu the multi billionaire that exploits mexico as a whole , monopoliozing the communications industry taking about 10% of mexicos annual GDP.. yea 10%!!!! for those of you with a brain thats a LOT of money.

• greg

  AT&T is mismanaged from top to bottom, I think Randall Stevenson is mentally retarded, you have to be a retard to take a management job there. Union Yes, AT&T would not survive if it wasn’t for their highly trained and skilled union workers, they are the only thing that keeps that company afloat. All of AT&T’s union contracts expire this year most within the next 6 months. One word of warning AT&T, DON’T F*CK WITH ME…..

• lance

  im with you..im looking for a job and this one will fall in my lap.

• Shawn

  LMAO, Every one of you non AT&T employees commenting on this saying that AT&T will higher you and pay you 60k a year as a wireless sales person or something else. Your a joke. AT&T will not higher you. They will not allow scabs to cross the pickets. The only people allowed into a AT&T facility during a strike is the managers.

  I am a employee, I have been through strikes. If we strike we strike. If we don’t we don’t. But all you vultures thinking you will get a job even temporary one at AT&T during a strike, your delusional.

• Bubbly

  AT&T is making all the money. Do not let anyone fool you. AT&T wants all that they can get and does not want to pay the ones that are paying all of top management checks. Not long ago, AT&T had the nerve to send out an email saying how much their top managers and CEO’s are making, while they do not want to pay the ones that are doing all the work. The employees of wireless is being slap in the face while we make all the money for t his company. I can not believe this, or maybe I can. AT&T does not care about their employees, all they want to do is jerk us around and treat us like dirt. How long are we going to continue to let them walk all over us. Let’s strike and get this mess over with. AT&T brags about how much money they are making but forgets about the important people, “THE WORKERS”.

• George

  Shawn: Your the one delusional. I have already been told to expect to work 12 hour/6day shift when/if the strike happens. Being a contractor, I will be making Overtime! So, Go on Strike, I WILL be crossing your STUPID lines and I WILL be getting PAID while your getting stiffed!

  Have fun numbnuts!

• nick

  I am a contractor srtinging lines for at&t i dont even get double time sundays or even holidays theses guys are a bunch of whiney babys with cushy jobs that they should be thankful to have in these troubled economic times. I hope these morons dont strike because i need to work . these guys even have a no lay-off clause that they are bitchin about losing . so get real guys if anyone is getting stiffed its me and ya dont hear me complaining except when you guys whom have it too good start screwing things up for me . and think about it if i aint stringin lines then there aint nothin for you to do either

• nick

  and shawn you need to be the first one, one of us contractors need to replace

• JP

  As an att union employee with full knowledge of unions, company matters, and the job! I believe i can honestly say that you contractors don’t know what the F@%k you are talking about.

• megan

  George, lets say you are telling the truth and you are going to be able to cross the line, (anyone closely asssociated with the case knows only managers will be allowed in the building)…ok so lets say for just a second that you do manage to get in. How long do you think they will pay you those 60k? One maybe upto three months? Some of these employees have been working for the company their entire adult lives and AT&T has no problem cutting their wages by 40%. How long do you think they will be willing to pay you that same wage. Their entire goal is to cut wages, their willing to screw the kids who eat at the table; use you’re brain roaches like you will only eat for a while, eventually the landlord will squish you too.

• Ron

  Remember….at&t was bought out by SBC. You can change the name of the company but when you have the same people managing it, nothing changes and it is still a bad company for which to work. They may hire contractors but it will NOT be for doing the work of the Union people. They will hire contractors only to help “teach” the management people who have never done this work before only for the sake of having a body in that chair.

  5/8/68 LEST WE FORGET!

• Daniel

  Many of you are incorrect. I am a union worker for at&t (landline) & the issues we have aren’t with wanting more $$ or more time off. The problems we have involve benfits for us as well as people who worked for this company all their life & are now retired. at&t is wanting those who retired from this company to pay their own ins. Many of these people spent 30-50 yrs with at&t & now live on a fixed income. Our CEO gets paid 1.5 million every 25 days & at&t payed for his 1.7 million dollar house. We are not asking for anything more than our annual raise & to keep the same benefits we have all had for many many years. There is alot of incorrect information out there, if you want to know the truth just ask one of us hard working union employees.

• jim

  i was surplused at at&t back in december, decided not to pursue another job vacancy within the company, and finally had the PRIVILEGE of leaving a week ago. Man, i wish it would have happened sooner because i didn’t realize how much it really sucked to work there until i was out the door. i encourage as many of my ex-coworkers to pursue another job whenever you get the chance, because working for at&t is relative to owning a boat…..the 2 best days are the 1st and the last. best of luck to all my CWA bros…please, for your own health and well being – find a way out of there, the writing is on the wall, why fight for a job that won’t be there in another 10 years.

• betty

  I am a U-Verse Tech’s wife. First off, to the contractors… my husband does not get double time either! He is under a small ‘thrown in’ contract and is getting bare minimum in wages and you knew you would not have job security. Sec. for any of you people reading this and feel like the union needs to go, your just upset with the way this economy has failed you and I understand. This job has been the best thing that could have happend to us almost 2 years ago, after 10 yrs. of worry and NO health insurence… I feel your pain. But the CWA is NOT the UAW!!! They have only provided AT&T growth and security for their company! For AT&T to use the ‘Bad Economy’ as a way of keeping from paying out what is right is just plain WRONG!!!! They dont need a dime! U-verse in the next yrs. to come will be making them twice as much, along with other advances. I am sorry for they way the banks F’ed this economy but we have paid our dues for a long time and deserve a little part! They want us to pay all of our health care with no raise, last I heard. Thats over DOUBLE my house payment…which we can afford and have never lived abouve our means BUT WE WONT BEABLE TO AFFORD IT ONCE WE HAVE TO FORK OVER THAT MUCH IN HEALTH CARE!!!! To top it off… they want anyone hired after 99′ to NOT recieve health benifits after retirement. This goes for all the union workers who keep AT&T moving on a daily basis! Soo ROCK ON CWA!!!!!!!! Dont let the “Devil” screw us!!!!! Gosh that sounds a Lil scary huh?

• betty

  Oh and BTW…. U-Verse techs work their butts off! It is NOT a cushy job but it is a great one. They work in all kinds of conditions and in all kinds of spaces, when is the last time you saw a utility worker do anything but walk around and read your meters and send you bills! These guys are in crawl spaces, attics, ditches running wires through brick and stone feeding them through tiny holes from first to sec floors and creating some thing outta nothing in some cases. If it soo easy.. I’d like to see you do this for awhile and then I tell you ” no sorry, you will not be getting any raise plus you need to pay for all your health coverage… and ”oh btw… we want you to to 2-3 more job titles on top of it. Lets see how you would feel. They work in rain, shine and blizzards! all the while maintaining a one on one customer repore with the most nervous whiny customers when they realize that U-verse requires more then a simple ”hook-up”like cable.

• betty

  Well I really hope you put all your OT in a saving acct. You’ll need it once the strike is over and you are dropped by AT&T. This is IF you even get the chance to start work. Hope you have a back up plan!

• paul

  i couldnt have said it any better betty, thank you.

• tommi

  I believe the employees of AT & T be lucky to have jobs and if you have to lose some vacation days or some benefit of some sort or take a slight decrease than do it. How can AT & T or CWA be so erogant to think to strike during a time where people would much rather have had the opportunity to take a cut in pay and or benefit than to lose their jobs. I would never use or purchase anything from AT & T or use their services if they choose to strike.

• tommi

  I totally agree that unions are ruining our country. It is abused and taken to the extreme.

• george

  I can expect to be paid 60k for 2 yrs from 12/2008 as I have a 2yr contract.

• betty

  Ahh again, someone who has NO clue! tommi it is not about just losing some vaction days nor is about losing “some benifit of some sort”!!!! READ WHAT I HAVE SAID ABOVE!
  I say it again, You people have would not have a word to say if this economy was just fine. But because you and others are being affected, now everyone is just out for them selves. I have read plenty on here thankful for at&t and a job! And how many jobs have people had in the past that they worked for a company and hated or didnt agree with? But never left because they actually liked the job itself? Or held out hope that it would get better??? If it wasnt for the union, no one would have any security from big greedy corporate! But since all of a sudden the rest of the economy is going to sh*t, AT&T (who is NOT) gets off, a free pass to, in my mind… not help continue the working families out there who are actually still paying their mortgages (and at&t execs), who arent on welfare and is still putting out their money back into the economy?? Without the union, we would have already been in that boat! And made the unemployment rate skyrocket. But since everyone else is suffering… We should ALL suffer as a whole Huh?? Thats really sad if we cant find any hope any where and hate people who are doing “OK” in life. We have to hope they get knocked down along with the rest?? When did Americans turn soo selfish??! This economy will not be better anytime soon, there will be even more corporate greed in the future! Life is not fair, at all! But ya deal with it and take yurs when it comes and keep on moving.

• AT&T Manager

  Betty… I’m one of the AT&T managers that will help keep this company running while the union strikes becasue they feel ‘THEY’ alone built and maintain this company… give me a break!! This company was built on the backs of many people… union and non-union alike… we as managers have also had to make some hard sacrafices for the benefit of the company to survive this economy!! The company has a responsibility to many (employees, investers, public, etc) not just the union members!! Why do the union members feel they shouldn’t share in the cost of rising healthcare expenses just like the rest of the employees?!?! Why do the union members feel they deserve anything more than all other employees who keep this company running each and every day?!?! Why do the union members feel they deserve anything?!?! This is a free country with the right to work and there are a lot of people out there ready and willing to work but there aren’t enough jobs. The unions cripple companies with their demands for more!! I agree with all the people on here that you’ve bashed as having NO CLUE… be grateful to have a JOB!! I know I am!! Additionally, the profit being spewed by the CWA wasn’t even made by the landline side… the wireless side made that profit and the wireless union labor contract was recently signed…

• slbledsoe

  Stacie, You are a scab

• SantaAna12

  For those of you that think that AT&T will not hire scabs….think again. I am a long time communications contractor, and I have been called by two companies to put my name on a list to work the strike. I worked the Alltel strike….no I did not want to…..but the same situation applies here…..I need work and this is the only work out there. Dont kid yourself. When I heard that AT&T wanted to eliminate pensions for new hires it did not surprise me. I was around when they laid off 25,000 a week before Christmas back in the day. I have contracted for them….and I only do so as a last resort. I am not impressed by their size or their management policies. Last year they made how many BILLION…and they gonna shaft you. Amazing that they think they can get away with this. I wish you guys luck, I mean that. But if you are one of the guys that think that they cant run it without a strike….think again….google the ALLTEL strike.

• Researcher

  I am looking for a former AT&T Wireless Employee who is an Expert with billing as well as the amount of time it takes to process data, text messages and phone calls. Can any of you refer this researcher to such an Expert?

• 1manager

  judgeing by the contractors and retired manager in my area the union has nothing to worry about.the contractors suck bigtime and the retired managers couldnt work more than about four hours before they would have to stop in the tavern to get a beer fix.

• Shout

  I am an AT&T landline employee. Here is the scoop. If the CEOs get there way here is how it will affect us: First it will affect our insurance by basing the amount we pay for insurance on a) whether you have what AT&T considers low, medium, or high usage of insurance b)how many hours you put in at work (they’re not talking about part time or full-time since AT&T does not hire part-time, but we are talking about a 40 hour week plus all theovertime they stack on top of it), c) also by how many people in the family are on the insurance plan, and d) add a dedcutible based on the same factors they use for calcualting the premiums. So if you go into the hospital, your working hours are decreased so your premiums and deductible go up. If you or a family member have a chronic illness like diabetes, asthma, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis etc would have more medical usage thereby increasing your premium amount as well as increasing your deductible. I’ll submit the pay changes in another post, but the insurance idea is outlandish. Especially since AT&T saw a net profit of 12.4 billion in 2008 that they made off of the backs of their employees.

• Shout

  As far as the pay rate changes AT&T is proposing, here is the scoop: AT&T wants to pay of 60% of our hourly wage and have us earn the other 40% through commissions. Now even a contracted telemarketer knows there are times when the customers just aren’t in the season to buy as much. However, the schizophrenic condition AT&T sets up for us to make a sale with threats all along the way if you don’t do it just so-so (and we’re talking way beyond being professional, giving disclosures, and FCC regulations, or offering all products) you will be put on anywhere from a 6 to 24 month step of discipline. You are constantly threatened to lose your job for a variety of reasons. You must do it their way even if it is not conducsive to landing the sale. It’s a catch 22 for the new pay scale so they don’t have to pay the additional 40% to make your full hourly wage. Did I mention that if you are on any of those steps of discipline–even if you make your quota and earn the extra 40% YOU WON’T RECEIE IT WHILE YOU ARE ON ANY OF THOSE STEPS OF DISCIPLINE THAT THEY CAN PUT YOU ON ARBITRARILY. In our buidling about 90% of the people are on some type of step of discipline. Are all of their employees really that sub-standard, or is that just another part of AT&T’s plan to keep the money in the pockets of the CEOs? (be it through pay increases, bonus, or stock). Not only is there no bargainng in good faith, but there is no disciplinary action in good faith. The 90% of employees on a step of discipline only began about a year ago. It use to be that about 10% of the office was on a step of discipline I will post about the vendors who will work in our place in the event of a strike on another post.

• Shout

  It is true that if we go on strike only managers will be allowed into the buildings, and there will be only select properties that they will utilize. However, they have in place to contract outside vendors. Basically that means telemarketers. They will make about 1/3 of hour hourly wages, ATT will supply NO BENEFITS for them, and I’m sure they will work overtime. How someone figures they will make $60k per year, I don’t know. There will be no hiring of new employees during this time. Those telemarketers are not employed by AT&T, but rather they are employed by the marketing com0panies. However, AT&T can monitor them, become disatisfied, and request that any telemarketer be removed from their program. We don’t believe that AT&T will hold the managers and telemarketers the “high” drackonian standards that they hold us to–at leasst not in the beginning. However,if the strike is prolonged and they are able to keep up with the business–they will place the same burden on the telemarketers shoulders that they have placed on ours–but without benefits and for a little more than minimum wage. If that is your goal–OK.

• Shout

  AT&T is also asking for the right to impose unlimited overtime on us. Currently in my division we work no less than 47 hours a week. If AT&T gets there way, we will work even ewxcess of the 55 hours per week that the union limited to a few months per year before.

• beverly alexander

  MY HUSBAND IS RETIRED FROM ATT. WE KNEW THE CONTRACT WAS UP IN APRIL. WE WANTED TO KNOW WHAT THE NEW CONTRACT SAID AND HOW IT AFFECTED THE HEALTH INSURANCE.

  THANKS,
  BEVERLY

• Sal

  Wow, and to think I just answered 245 questions to apply at AT&T wireless! I have been studying finance and business for a little over a year. Understand this, in “big business” there are only 3 things that matters most.

  1. The business
  2. Senior management
  3. The customers

  I do not agree with that, but it is what it is. All we can do is educate and protect ourselves, especially about finance!

• cormac

  I was a Term employ working as a construction splicer here in san jose 2008. I was told I was Garanteed 1 year up to 3 years. Less than 8 months laster I was cut. Iam just wondering if this has happened to any one out there. I am trying to get a class action going for breach of contract. I never was given any thing in writing.
  mac2pac@hotmail.com

  Thank you

• ATT Sucks Dog Balls

  ATT is a BIG PIECE OF SH**!!!
  Friggin Union has been bleeding this country dry for the last 50 years. F*** all unions!!
  And that dueschbag above “ATT Rep” is a bigger friggin moron if he thinks its gonna get better. And BTW asswipe you dont make more money then Verizon reps…..its documented….your another dumbass getting led around like a dumb dog….the union doesnt do sh** for you except take your money….

  I worked for Lucent for 13 years and they screwed me in the end…..and Im a VOIP Design Engineer/ CO Level III tech, not some dildo rep doing customer service. But whats funny now is I do contract work for ATT and make more $$$ than when I ever worked for the REAL ATT (which tells you something)…..not this bullsh** conglomeration of baby Bells slapped together…. Believe me when I bust through that bullshit picket line in front of the CO’s I maintain and scab all over those dumbasses. Let one ATT pussy try and stop me…..You morons that a memebers the CWA better wake the fu** up!

  Whats really funny is that ATT is already calling me to take on work when this occurs. Believe me CWA it was a wrong move to walk away from the table cause you gonna be left holding your “short and curlies” while I take all your money your fu**in idiots……cause guess what ATT is going to sub-contractors to maintain alot of there infrastructure already…..I’m living proof…..have fun on the unemployment line and keep bitchin cause your going no where………