Hundreds of technicians and customer service agents are picketing alongside the 17,000 thousand employed by AT&T Southeast.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — AT&T Southeast employees on the picket line to protest “unfair labor practices.”
About 300 union workers the Communications Workers of America (CWA) in Louisville have been on strike since Friday afternoon.
“We just want somebody from AT&T that could help us come to a working agreement,” Diogenes Miller, president of the CWA local 3310, said.
The union said AT&T management is not bargaining in good faith, so they filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board.
Miller said about 200 employees in Louisville have been striking throughout the weekend at six different locations. He expects the rest of the local union to join in on the picket line tomorrow.
“All we’re asking for right now is to show up to the table and be able to bargain,” Carolyn Cain, a union leader in the CWA local 3310, said.
She claimed AT&T is surface bargaining, meaning representatives don’t have the authority to make decisions.
“We need someone at the table who can actually call the shots and make a decision,” Cain said.
AT&T said the union’s claims are “not grounded in fact.”
“We’re disappointed that union leaders would call for a strike at this point in the negotiations, rather than directing their energies toward constructive discussions at the bargaining table. This action needlessly jeopardizes the wages and well-being of our employees,” said an AT&T spokesperson in a statement.
About 17,000 workers employed by AT&T Southeast are picketing. The strike involves employees from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
“Get somebody at the table, and let’s just get it done,” Miller said.
Sunday is the third day that customer service representatives and technicians are out of the office.
“We’re sad that it had to come to this point,” Cain said. “We’d rather be out there servicing our customers.”
AT&T customers in the area could face phone and internet outages while employees are picketing.
“We are the skilled employees that make AT&T run,” Miller said. “There’s not enough management to cover what we do.”
AT&T said they do have measures in place to avoid service disruptions for customers.
Miller said their five-year contract expired earlier this month, but they’ve been negotiating since June.
The Greater Louisville Central Labor Council received information about negotiations , and said AT&T allegedly offered a 1% wage increase and proposed increased cost of insurance.
“We strong, nobody is crossing the line, and we’re here for a fair contract,” Miller said.
Miller said that as of today, parties have met several times but have not come to an agreement.
Cain added that unfair labor practice strikes usually do not last more than five days.
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