photo by McKenna Schueler
AT&T workers in Orlando, joined by fellow union members with Central Florida Jobs With Justice, strike over allegations of bad faith bargaining.
They’ve been on strike over a breakdown in contract talks between their union, the Communications Workers of America, and the telecom giant they work for day in and day out to keep communities connected — when times are good, and when they're dire.
“Without us, there's no 911 communications,” said Troy Tavares, a 21-year outside plant technician from Longwood, speaking from a picket line off Goldenrod Road in Orlando on Friday. “Half of this city of Orlando will not have internet if we don't come out at 2 o'clock in the morning when there's been an accident [and] a telephone pole went down.”
The executive suite of AT&T — a company that posted $24.7 billion in operating income last year — “may have come up with the ideas,” Tavares acknowledged. “But we have to implement them.” He and his co-workers are the middle class, he said, and they're the ones who answer the communities' calls.
A group of about two dozen AT&T workers from around the Orlando area joined Tavares on the picket line Friday, under the hot Florida sun, as the group issued a public call on their employer to take contract talks with their union reps seriously.
“We elect our bargaining team,” said CWA Local 3108 president Steve Wisniewski, referring to those who represent AT&T employees at the bargaining table. “We empower them with decision-making capabilities to bargain on our behalf, and we expect the same from AT&T.”
“However, sadly, that is not the case,” he shared. “The representatives that they have at the table have to go back to their headquarters in Dallas, Texas, for every decision that gets made,” he continued, drawing snickers and shaking heads from those standing behind him. “That is, quite frankly — it's insulting. We expect better.”
This lack of respect, as workers describe it, is the basis of unfair labor practice charges the union has levied against the telecom company, which allege violations of good-faith bargaining requirements under federal labor law. The union's allegation of bad-faith bargaining has, for the first time since 2019, kept thousands of working people in nine Southern states — Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee — off the job.
Workers on strike, anxious to get back to work, currently receive just $300 per week now in strike pay distributed through the union's strike fund, as they wait for the company to “stop fooling around,” as Wisniewski puts it, “and get serious.”“Without us, there's no 911 communications,” said Troy Tavares, a technician from Longwood.
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That strike pay only kicked in after the first two weeks of the strike, and isn't enough to afford even a quarter month's rent for your average one-bedroom apartment, let alone basic expenses like groceries or other monthly bills.
Three-year AT&T machine operator Gilberto “Jonathon” Pascual feels like he and his coworkers “went from essential,” to the company, “to expendable.”
“We're out here fighting for our families, our brothers and sisters,” he said, turning to his union siblings behind him, some of of whom have brought their own children and family members to the picket line in recent weeks. “We're trying to make a living, we're trying to secure a safe future for all of us.”
Jeff McElfresh, chief operating officer of AT&T, told Orlando Weekly in an emailed statement through a spokesperson that the company provided its best and final offer to the union in early September and resumed talks with the union last week.AT&T employees in Orlando, repped by @CWA3108, have been on strike for nearly a month, along with ~17,000 others across the South. They’re asking AT&T to come back to the bargaining table and show they’re taking the process seriously.
— McKenna Schueler (@SheCarriesOn) September 13, 2024
“We’re out here fighting for our families” pic.twitter.com/625U17ajpn
“We continue to aim for an agreement that will provide competitive market-based pay that exceeds projected inflation, provides benefits that improve employees’ total well-being, and sustains a competitive position in the broadband industry where we can grow and win against our mostly non-union competitors,” his statement reads. “We are hopeful that the CWA will engage with us in the same spirit and work towards an agreement to get our employees back to work.”
Wisniewski maintains that AT&T has refused to bring negotiators to the table with their bargaining team who have the authority to make decisions on behalf of the company. While union members are fighting for a contract this year that addresses cost-of-living and quality-of-life concerns, Wisniewski feels confident that once AT&T does take the bargaining process seriously, they'll be able to hammer out a deal very quickly.
The last time they went out on strike was in 2019, and that strike lasted just four and a half days, Wisniewski told Orlando Weekly. He said it's frustrating they're in a position where their strike is now entering its fourth week. “We don't know if this is a new trend with AT&T. It's not something we've experienced in the past.”
Not all AT&T workers are currently on strike, even locally, since some employees (e.g. AT&T Mobility) are covered by a different union contract. But things are heating up beyond the South.
Last week, AT&T employees on the West Coast, also represented by the CWA, rejected a tentative agreement for a new contract that they had previously reached with the company. “Our members had a chance to review and vote on the AT&T West tentative agreement, and the majority determined that it did not meet their needs,” said Frank Arce, vice president of CWA District 9, in a statement.
Just yesterday, the union announced that its executive board had authorized its own strike against AT&T West, in a move of solidarity with striking employees in the South. A strike authorization doesn't necessarily mean a strike will occur, but it's a threat the union can leverage against the company, which has already posted job listings online for workers to pick up the slack left behind in the Southeast.
Ahead of expected storms in Louisiana this week, contractors for AT&T offered an hourly pay rate of $210 or more to non-union workers who were willing to cross the picket line, according to a post that circulated (and caught the union's attention) on Facebook.
Subcontracted workers in white trucks drove past workers on the picket line in Orlando this morning, drawing snide remarks and glares from those holding the line. Other cars and semi-trucks driving down Goldenrod unaffiliated with the company, on the other hand, honked their horns in solidarity. Orange County Commissioner Mayra Uribe, who's running for re-election this fall, joined the striking workers for a press conference Friday, alongside Florida Rep. Rita Harris, D-Orlando, whose successful campaign for re-election was settled during this last month's primary election.
Striking workers in the Orlando area have also been joined on picket lines over the last month by representatives of other labor unions — including teacher and hospitality workers unions — as well as U.S. Congressman Maxwell Frost (you can't just own a CWA bomber jacket and not show up to the picket line), Congressman Darren Soto and other Democratic state legislators such as House Rep. Anna Eskamani, Sen. Linda Stewart (who's challenging Uribe for her seat on County Commission) and incoming state Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith (who didn't face any challengers in his race for the District 17 state Senate seat).
“Coming to support workers on the picket line this past month, I have met workers who have seen this song and dance from AT&T every single time that they do bargaining,” said Tara "Glitter" Felton, an organizer for Central Florida Jobs with Justice who's also a CWA union member. “Mega corporations like AT&T will continue to do everything that they can to weaken the power of their workforce.”
“These workers are our neighbors,” Felton continued. “As a community, we need to continue to show support.”
The union has set up a GoFundMe for striking workers in Central Florida here, and also has a petition that community members can sign to tell AT&T to bargain a fair contract with their union workforce. Community members can also follow CWA Local 3108's social media pages for updates on picket line locations.
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