CWA Signs Historic First Contract With WIPRO

Last December Alcatel-Lucent decided to outsource its entire Finance Operations worldwide. The finance functions in Alpharetta, GA were contracted to WIPRO. Our members were offered VTP and offered jobs in WIPRO doing the same work, in the same place and carrying over many of their wages and benefits - BUT NOT THEIR UNION. We demanded bargaining rights at WIPRO and threatened to file charges with the National Labor Relations Board if they did not comply. We did not have to take that step. We are happy to report that we have just signed a Contract with WIPRO for those employees, one of the first (maybe only) Union contract for WIPRO in the United States.

WIPRO has headquarters in India and is the third largest outsourcing company in India with operations all over the world. They are now expanding their presence in America and we anticipate they will be hiring many more employees as they add more products and customers. We welcome this growth, especially in these tough economic times, and the CWA looks forward to growing with them. The CWA Contract that was just signed with WIPRO is an historic event for the current and future CWA Members at WIPRO. With this signing comes a collective voice for the newly established bargaining unit at WIPRO.

Although the numbers at this time are small, the principle is very important. These workers had a right to keep their Union when Alcatel-Lucent moved their entire offices over to this subcontractor. We pushed the issue and our Members Union rights were recognized and to have the Communications Workers of America remain as their collective bargaining agent with the protections and voice as set forth by a new collective bargaining agreement. Congratulations to our Members and all of the participants that worked so tirelessly to make this a reality.

In unity there is strength.

Roy Hegenbart
President
CWA Local 3250