AT&T has denied allegations that it failed to negotiate in good faith while thousands of its workers are on strike across the Southeast, including in Alabama.
“We have been in substantive negotiations since day one and are committed to reaching an agreement that benefits our hard-working employees,” AT&T spokesman Jim Greer said in an email.
“As evidence, we have reached three agreements this year for more than 13,000 employees, including our most recent tentative agreement with District 9 (West). We remain committed to working with District 3 (Southeast) in the same way,” Greer added.
The Communications Workers of America union announced Friday that it had filed an unfair labor practice complaint against AT&T with the National Labor Relations Board. The union accused the company of sending representatives to the bargaining table without decision-making authority.
“The charges also relate to the company’s refusal to negotiate on mandatory collective bargaining issues and non-compliance with collective agreements,” the union said in a statement.
According to the union, the striking AT&T workers include technicians, customer service representatives and other installation, maintenance and support workers in nine southeastern states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
The strike began on August 16.
Mustafa Hassan, president of CWA Local 3905 in Huntsville, said the previous five-year contract with AT&T expired on Aug. 4.
“We’re always prepared for something like this, but we were hoping we wouldn’t have to cross that road,” Hassan told AL.com. “It just got to the point where nothing was really moving.”
Greer said the strike would not cause any disruption to public services.
“This action unnecessarily puts the wages and well-being of our employees at risk,” Greer said in the statement. “We have implemented several business continuity measures to avoid operational disruption and will continue to provide our customers with the excellent service they expect.”
