Up to 17,000 AT&T workers in the Southeastern United States went on strike Friday, the Communications Workers of America union announced.þþWorkers in Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina are involved in the strike, which the union argued in a news release is necessary to ÿprotest unfair labor practices committed by management during negotiations for a new union contract.ÿþþCars honked as about a dozen strikers stood on the corner of Commerce Street and Fourth Avenue North on Saturday afternoon, wearing red T-shirts and holding signs. þþ“We have been bargaining for a new contract since June. Our contract expired last weekend, on Aug. 3, and we felt throughout the bargaining process that AT&T bargainers that they were sending to their side of the table have not been bargaining in good faith,ÿ Josh Foster, president of the union in Nashville, told The Tennessean. ÿThey have been telling our bargaining team that they don't have the authority to make changes or bargain for the contract that they are working on.”þþAt least 800 members are striking in Nashville alone, with a total of about 2,500 workers striking across the state. þþ“My hope is that AT&T will bring their side of the table to the table and bargain in good faith,ÿ Foster said. ÿI’m hoping that they’ll stop their unfair labor practices that we’re accusing them of. I’m also hoping that they will realize and recognize that they have a very loyal and dedicated workforce who’s been there for them throughout.”þþAT&T disputed the union's accusations in a news release and said the company reached agreements in three other union negotiations this year that cover 13,000 employees. The company stated that the Southeastern strike impacts 15,000 workers rather than the 17,000 claimed by the union.þþThe strike involves technicians, customer service representatives and others who work with AT&T’s residential and business telecommunications network in the region.
Source: tennesean.com
