Strike Settled -- 17,000 AT&T Workers in California and Nevada

17,000 AT&T Workers in California, Nevada Settle Strike

Agreement Ends Grievance Strike and Forces AT&T to Assign Properly Trained Staff to Job Sites

CALIFORNIA, NEVADA -- Seventeen thousand AT&T technicians and call center staff in California and Nevada will return to work Thursday after walking off the job Wednesday morning in protest of the company’s actions in changing working conditions in violation of federal law.

In an agreement reached late Wednesday night between the workers’ union, the Communications Workers of America, and AT&T leadership, the company will no longer require technicians to perform work assignments outside of their expertise and classification.

“We stand together in California and Nevada for good jobs and fair pay,” said Robert Longer, an AT&T technician in Sacramento. “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.”

Workers from AT&T call centers and offices throughout California and Nevada picketed at dozens of locations across the two states with major picket lines in Los Angeles, Reno, Fresno, Sacramento, Bakersfield, Carson City, Tustin, San Diego and San Francisco.

The strike comes as negotiations for a new contract that covers 17,000 AT&T landline and broadband workers in California and Nevada drag on. Additionally, about 2,200 DIRECTV satellite and warehouse workers in California and Nevada who joined CWA in April 2016 are in negotiations with AT&T for a first contract. The workers are growing increasingly frustrated with the company’s attempts to short-change California and Nevada working families and communities; however, workers will return to work today with renewed strength and unified commitment to reach a fair agreement.

Nationwide, more than 21,000 AT&T wireless customer service and field workers are working under a contract extension that can be terminated with 72 hours’ notice as they continue to bargain with the company. In the last week, wireless workers have intensified their calls on AT&T executives to end to offshoring and outsourcing and have joined rallies and pickets coast to coast demanding good jobs that support their families and quality customer service.

AT&T reported $41.8 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter of 2016 and has posted profits of more than $1 billion a month over the previous 12 months.

While AT&T is extremely profitable, the company has become disconnected from the day to day issues facing workers and customers. Despite the financial success, the company is asking its workers to do more for less -- keeping them from their families with unpredictable overtime, undercutting pay and advancement, offshoring good jobs, and pushing more healthcare costs onto employees. At the same time, customers are paying increasingly higher bills to AT&T for essential services. The issues raised by AT&T workers are similar to those raised by Verizon workers last year in a 45-day strike.