AT&T SE - Combination Technician Final Bargaining Report

AT&T SE - Combination Technician Final Bargaining Report 

On June 30, 2026, AT&T Southeast notified the CWA District 3 office that the company would be creating a Combination Technician job title in accordance with the provisions of Article 15.  The CWA District 3 Office immediately requested that the parties enter into negotiations concerning the wage rate established by the company.  During this round of negotiations, our bargaining team was able to achieve the following: 

1) Amended Technician Pooling Letter (Attachment #1)

This letter provides protection for Digital Technicians, Facility Technicians, Outside Plant Technicians, and Service Technicians by ensuring that the new Combination Technician job title is pooled with the existing technician job titles for the purposes of bumping during a surplus.  Additionally, the letter provides new protections for “4-Wall” Electronic Technicians, commonly referred to as “Central Office ETs” and “Power ETs.”  This new protection enables the “4-Wall” Electronic Technicians to bump a Combination Technician in the event of a surplus.   

2) Amended Technician Pooling Job Aid (Attachment #2)

This job aid provides in depth examples of how the surplus process will work for all the existing technician job titles and the Combination Technician, by pooling those titles together in the event of a surplus.  Additionally, the new job aid provides an in-depth explanation for how the new protections for “4-Wall” Electronic Technicians will work in the event of a surplus.   

3) Letter Protecting Bumping Rights for Facility Technicians & Service Technicians (Attachment #3)

This letter ensures that any Facility Technician or Service Technician, who is on payroll today, who either voluntarily or involuntarily, becomes a Combination Technician, will maintain their existing right to bump a junior Wire Technician, in the event that they are processed through the steps of Article 7, and have not been placed.   

4) Staffing Skills & Knowledge Letter (Attachment #4)

This letter ensures that for the purposes of bidding on Combination Technician vacancies, the skills and knowledge assessment of the work experience, or qualifications, for Digital Technicians, Electronic Technician, Facility Technicians, Outside Plant Technicians, Service Technicians, will be considered equal.   

5) CDL Protection Letter (Attachment #5)

This letter ensures that in the future, any employee who is holding the Combination Technician job title without a CDL, who is at a later date, required by the company to obtain a CDL, and is unable to do so, will be processed under Article 8.04A3, receive their termination pay, and be afforded the opportunity to enter the Partnership Job Bank.   

6) Family of Skills & Time in Title Letter (Attachment #6)

This letter assigns the Combination Technician job title to Family of Skills Group 3, ensuring that the Combination Technician job title is not assigned to multiple skill groups, this maximizing seniority for all the existing technician job titles, in the event of a surplus.   

7) Wage Scale 32 (Attachment #7)

The bargaining team pursued gaining a higher wage scale for the Combination Technician job title.  The team carefully weighed the ramifications of pursuing a higher wage scale through a neutral third party, if we were unable to reach an agreement at the bargaining table, against securing contractual protections that would benefit the entire workforce as the company transitions into a predominantly fiber-based platform.  Considering the future evolution of the telecommunications industry, the bargaining team believed it was critical to negotiate protections that would safeguard employees in the existing job titles, as the industry continues to evolve.  

While an increased wage rate was proposed by the Union on multiple occasions, the bargaining team believed that the long-term protections gained during this round of negotiations, serve to benefit the majority of our membership, more so than an increased wage for the Combination Technician job title.   

8) Combination Technician Job Brief/Description (Attachment #8)
Article 15 grants the Union the ability, through negotiations, to ensure that the work components assigned by the company, to the new job title, are accurately described in the job description.  The bargaining team does not agree that the job duties or job description being assigned to the Combination Technician is a good idea.  In fact, the bargaining team has many concerns regarding the responsibilities the company intends to assign to Combination Technicians, especially when it comes to safety and the performance of line construction work.  However, the bargaining team does agree that the work components assigned by the company are accurately described in the job description.