Yesterday 17,000 AT&T fixed-line employees in California and Nevada walked off the job in protest over the failure to strike a new labor contract with AT&T. The workers have been without a contract for more than a year, the biggest points of contention being the offshoring of jobs to cheaper overseas call centers, erosion of health benefits, and pension elimination for new hires. Striking employees stated that AT&T had been "illegally" changing their work assignments without negotiation and dragging its feet in negotiations.
But the strike apparently only lasted all of one day.
The CWA and AT&T both confirmed that they struck a deal last night whereby AT&T will no longer require technicians perform work assignments outside of their expertise and classification. The settlement in question was posted to the CWA Facebook page last night.
"We went on strike to demonstrate to the country that we will not do more work for less pay, especially when it puts us in a position not to deliver the best possible service," Robert Longer, an AT&T technician in Sacramento, said in a prepared union statement.
The return to work was good news for AT&T customers hoping to avoid the installation and repair delays that plagued Verizon during a seven week strike last year. In that instance, Verizon lost a sizeable number as subscribers as frustrated customers fled to other broadband and TV options.
The long-debated contract however appeared no closer to a resolution. Roughly 2,200 DIRECTV satellite and warehouse workers in California and Nevada joined CWA in April 2016 and are currently in negotiations with AT&T for their first contract.