AT&T Bargaining Report - April 17, 2024

AT&T Bargaining Report

April 17, 2024

 Despite our persistent efforts, progress in negotiations with the company has been frustratingly sluggish. Your bargaining team continues to meet with the company in formal session and subcommittee as needed. The company seems determined to maintain its entrenched position, insisting that any advancement must come at the expense of our hard-earned benefits. Take, for instance their pension proposal.  Initially framed as a pitiful 2.25% increase over 4 years (1%, 0%, 1%, .25%), they now attempt to manipulate the numbers by offering the same total percentage but with a sleight of hand (1%, .25%, 1%, 0%).  That zero in their proposal means they don't want to contribute to your pension in year 4 of this agreement.  This is the shit we’ve been dealing with at the table. It’s a contemptuous and disingenuous attempt to pretend that they are moving forward with bargaining.  

The company's attitude reeks of entitlement, with an unbelievable belief that they can preserve certain privileges while imposing detrimental clauses upon our membership. They seek to bully their way through, leveraging their power to push through provisions that serve their interests at the expense of ours. For example, the company presented a new severance table into Appendix A that is for anyone that would AUTS transfer after ratification, and it would create a two-tier severance. 

Despite the company's News Now report they released after expiration; it is crystal clear the company has no real interest in improving the lives of their employees regardless of your title or the appendix you are in and contrary to the corporate email they decided to send out.  AT&T has shown their true intention, which is to preserve their bottom line at the expense of our wellbeing. The company continues to reject any positive proposal we present for improvements to any title or appendix and has yet to offer anything of value, especially to appendix E, without trying to tie it to a scope of work change. 

The company is still at a disrespectful 10.25% over the 4 years, that will equate to an average of only a 2.56% increase per year while inflation is projected to be 10.60% over the same 4 years, averaging 2.65% per year. They want you to take a loss over the next 4 years while the company bragged in company mail about their huge profits and free cash flow of 16.8 billion dollars for 2023; they also have a projected cash flow in the 17–18-billion-dollar range for 2024 according to the company's recent earnings report. The blatant disrespect the company has shown during this round of bargaining has outraged your bargaining team as it should outrage you also. Their brashness has only strengthened our resolve to fight for a fair and just contract for all.

One last quote from the company when we pointed out that they have not agreed to a single proposal that would benefit the membership: “We gave you MLK day (** not to appendix e) and you have the most sick time in the country already”.    In their eyes, keeping items are improvements…...  continue to mobilize. 

Mike Barfield    

Art Gonzalez      

Chris Roberts 

John Miller         

Jason Hall