AT&T strike averted!

In a bit of good news for both AT&T (NYSE: T) Mobility and their 20,000 Communications Workers of America (CWA) employees, AT&T has announced that the telecom giant’s wireless business and the employee union have come to terms on a tentative contract agreement. The agreement staves off the CWA’s threatened strike, keeping workers working and AT&T Mobility’s daily operations continuing without a hiccup.

The tentative contract was hammered out in the weeks following the expiration of the CWA’s employee contract with AT&T Mobility. A worker strike was threatened and there were reports that the CWA was gearing up to hit the picket lines. But, it seems cooler heads prevailed and AT&T Mobility and the CWA were able to walk away from the bargaining table with a strike-preventing agreement in hand.

With the proposed contract, CWA workers in the US (not including Southeast, Southwest and Puerto Rico) will see a $500 lump-sum payment in the first year of the contract. Both maximum and minimum wage limits will be increased 1% immediately, with a 2.5% increase planned every two years for the next four years. PhoneArena reports that new positions will be created, with full-time consultants on track to make at least $12,000 per year in commissions and $12,500 by 2010 (as long as 100% of performance goals are met).

The CWA now has to present the contract to its members for a ratification vote.

AT&T contract announcement

[Via: PhoneArena]