AT&T and union fail to ink new deal
Source: Bloomberg News |
April 9, 2012, Monday
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AT&T Inc, the largest US phone company, failed to reach agreement with one of its unions to renew two employee contracts and said it will extend negotiations to reach a deal.
AT&T, based in Dallas, and Communications Workers of America didn't agree by last Saturday's expiration of the East and Legacy T Core wireline contracts, the firm said in a statement published yesterday on PR Newswire.
The Communications Workers of America is renegotiating four separate contracts with AT&T, affecting 40,000 workers. On March 31, union members voted to authorize CWA to call strikes if deals on new contracts weren't reached.
AT&T continues to negotiate with the CWA even after the contract expired at midnight on Saturday, according to the company's statement.
The union, which represents about 16 percent of AT&T's 256,000 workers, has been organizing rallies and meetings to help push for a deal to address issues ranging from guaranteed weekend days off to health-care benefits. In 2004, it led a four-day stoppage at SBC Communications Inc, which bought AT&T the following year.
"Unions are trying to maintain many things they've gained over the years, and it's hard," Ivan Smith, a partner at Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP, said in an interview. "In general, the strike is the last thing a union wants. If the employer can withstand a strike, you lose all the leverage you had. You don't make that move unless there's no other recourse."
Last August, CWA called the end of a two-week strike by 35,000 members at Verizon Communications Inc and Verizon Wireless, when the companies agreed to extend the workers' current contracts and resume bargaining. Verizon and Verizon Wireless, the unit it co-owns with Vodafone Group Plc, and the union are yet to reach a new deal.
AT&T and rival Verizon regularly negotiate with unions representing larger parts of their workforce. About 55 percent of AT&T's employees are represented by CWA, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers or other unions, according to the company's annual report.
AT&T, based in Dallas, and Communications Workers of America didn't agree by last Saturday's expiration of the East and Legacy T Core wireline contracts, the firm said in a statement published yesterday on PR Newswire.
The Communications Workers of America is renegotiating four separate contracts with AT&T, affecting 40,000 workers. On March 31, union members voted to authorize CWA to call strikes if deals on new contracts weren't reached.
AT&T continues to negotiate with the CWA even after the contract expired at midnight on Saturday, according to the company's statement.
The union, which represents about 16 percent of AT&T's 256,000 workers, has been organizing rallies and meetings to help push for a deal to address issues ranging from guaranteed weekend days off to health-care benefits. In 2004, it led a four-day stoppage at SBC Communications Inc, which bought AT&T the following year.
"Unions are trying to maintain many things they've gained over the years, and it's hard," Ivan Smith, a partner at Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP, said in an interview. "In general, the strike is the last thing a union wants. If the employer can withstand a strike, you lose all the leverage you had. You don't make that move unless there's no other recourse."
Last August, CWA called the end of a two-week strike by 35,000 members at Verizon Communications Inc and Verizon Wireless, when the companies agreed to extend the workers' current contracts and resume bargaining. Verizon and Verizon Wireless, the unit it co-owns with Vodafone Group Plc, and the union are yet to reach a new deal.
AT&T and rival Verizon regularly negotiate with unions representing larger parts of their workforce. About 55 percent of AT&T's employees are represented by CWA, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers or other unions, according to the company's annual report.
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