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AT&T West Coast Union Workers Protest Offshoring, Vote to Strike

AT&T's workers on the west coast have been protesting the company's increased use of offshore labor as they work toward a new union contract. 15,000 CWA-represented AT&T workers in California and Nevada are issuing the same sort of complaints Verizon saw in its most recent battle over union contracts earlier this year, when the telco was seen to have buckled to complaints.

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AT&T workers in CWA’s District 9 region in San Diego protested at the intersection of San Diego Mission Road and Interstate 15 on Friday.

The CWA reached out to DSLReports.com to note that talks have "broken down" and that 15,000 AT&T employees in California and Nevada have voted to authorize a strike, if necessary.

The union says AT&T has been outsourcing thousands of jobs to India, Mexico, the Philippines, Jamaica and elsewhere. The CWA also says technicians are being required to work overtime hours with no advance notice, for extended period of time -- all while benefits have been reduced.

"The company is also short-changing customers and communities by failing to meet minimum regulatory standards and charging customers more for basic services," CWA said in a statement. "Despite the financial success, the company is asking its workers to do more for less -- keeping them from their families with unpredictable overtime, undercutting pay and advancement, offshoring good jobs, and pushing more healthcare costs onto employees."

AT&T, as you might expect, denies that there's any problems at AT&T.

"We’re proud to be one of the largest employers in the U.S. and the country’s largest employer of full-time union labor," said AT&T in a statement to DSLReports.com. "We provide excellent union careers with very competitive wages and benefits, and we provide more of them than anyone else in the country."

Most recommended from 24 comments


thehammer86
join:2015-10-18

15 recommendations

thehammer86

Member

Call Trump!

They should also reach out to trump.

Didn't he promise to bring jobs home?

Call him on his promises!

woody7
Premium Member
join:2000-10-13
Torrance, CA

10 recommendations

woody7

Premium Member

hmm ..............

This is how they pay for their acquisitions........................../

Anonb843a
@2600:1005.x

2 recommendations

Anonb843a

Anon

Offspring?

Do you notice companies like at&t setup one city/state/country against another for jobs/call centers etc. You can say it's just good business/free market, but it puts a massive amount of power with the company. That may be fine for shareholders, but what about workers in a specific city or if it has to do with Internet service in a specific city, what is the fallout. at&t is focused on the largest ROI/stock price. Those are not always in my or your best interest.
microphone
Premium Member
join:2009-04-29
Parkville, MD

2 recommendations

microphone

Premium Member

Maybe it's time to outsource executives

We pay too much for them anyway.
mlcarson
join:2001-09-20
Santa Maria, CA

2 recommendations

mlcarson

Member

H1B's

AT&T is a big proponent of using H1B's wherever possible. In the past, the Union didn't care about this since the jobs displaced weren't typically union jobs. I guess they've moved onto their jobs now. They limit the number of AT&T jobs and use contractors which are typically non-American workers which they can get at a fraction of the cost of an AT&T employee. The bringing in of foreign labor by these big companies has to stop. They have no shame.