Following through on a promise made earlier in the week, AT&T union workers in 36 states and DC say they will engage in a three-day strike that could impact consumers over the weekend. Around 21,000 AT&T wireless workers have been working without a contract since February, and threatened AT&T earlier in the week that the limited strike would occur if AT&T didn't present them with an acceptable contract by 3PM today. The standoff comes as AT&T is also engaged in tense negotiations with the company's 17,000 fixed-line union employees across California and Nevada.
The wireless strike could result in some retail store closures this week, and the wireline strike could impact AT&T customer installations and repairs.
"Despite being the largest telecom company in the country with nearly $1 billion a month in profits and the CEO earning $28 million, AT&T continues to pinch its workers’ basic needs and stand in the way of high-quality service its customers pay good money for," the CWA said in a statement. "This is a warning to AT&T: there’s only one way out of this now -- a fair contract -- and we’ll settle for nothing less."
The union says the workers want to reduce AT&T offshoring, improved job security, and no increase in healthcare contributions. AT&T hasn't seen a labor strike since a two-day strike back in 2012. AT&T says it will continue to work toward a new contract with the employees.
"We're all family, whether you're a union member or not," an AT&T representative tells Fortune. "Like any family we have our disagreements but we'll sort them out."
The fact that the union has set a hard end date to the strike suggests that the stand off isn't quite as dire as the six-week Verizon strike last year that dramatically hindered Verizon's installation and repair efforts.