Attention All ATT SE BU Members -- Important Information Regarding ATT SE Tentative Agreement

Much misleading and simply wrong information is circulating in emails and on a public web site, some of which appears to bring the Union into disrepute.

It is important that you know the facts about the Tentative Agreement, and we want to set the record straight.

Contrary to what some have stated as fact, the Union cannot and did not agree to any language that would “not be subject to National Labor Law”. The protections of all labor laws are applicable to you now and will continue to be applicable under the Tentative Agreement.

• Some have commented that the Tentative Agreement equates to “backward steps for the OPT”. The Tentative Agreement provides more protection and job security than OPTs have currently. There can be no layoffs for one year; they will have expanded bumping rights including the right to bump any equal or lower level wage scale in the Network Field Operations organizational unit; OPTs will also receive 3 years of pay protection regardless of their seniority.  Additionally, all work performed by OPTs is protected by Article 14. No other CWA/AT&T contracts have language that offers total protection of work the way Article 14 does. There were absolutely no changes to this language. Although we were not able to get the WS 32 for the OPT like we were for the ST, who are potentially more affected by the Wire Technicians, it’s simply wrong to say the OPTs have gone backward in the Tentative Agreement.
  
  It would be an assumption that the Company intends to surplus STs and other core technicians to populate the Wire Technician title. To the contrary, why would the Company agree to use available STs to perform DSL installation and repair work that is currently performed by contractors? Why would the Company upgrade the ST title to WS32 and subsequently surplus them into the UFO with the wage protection and economic work rules negotiated for them?    One alternative the Company had at their disposal was to place the Premises Technicians into the core agreement as Wire Technicians as the title currently exists. The Union would have the right to negotiate wage rates and schedules for Wire Technicians, but would have no authority to stop the Company from populating that title with Premises Technicians. This option would have had a cost impact that they would have recouped from gains we achieved in the tentative agreement, and would have resulted in no additional protections or job security for our current core titles. In fact, the opposite effect could be that Wire Technicians could perform any work in the Agreement, including work protected by Article 14, as long as they were paid the appropriate differential and this could impact multiple core titles. Surpluses among STs have been an unfortunate fact since the decline in access lines began. U-Verse has helped to keep Wireline customers, and the Company continues to hire Premises Technicians. When the Premises Technicians become Wire Technicians, jobs will be available to STs with core wages, benefits and economic work rules rather than STs being laid off while the Company hires from the street. This Tentative Agreement protects ST jobs, not jeopardize them.

• We have not agreed to any different service levels. It is unfair that some continue to insult their CWA brothers and sisters in the Premises Technician title. There is no evidence that supports accusations that our fellow technicians working in U-Verse are less knowledgeable, less skilled, less motivated or care less about our customers. Sure, they have a different training path like every technician title does, but that doesn’t mean they don’t work as hard and care as much about the quality of service they provide than other technicians. This also ignores the fact that many Premises Technician are laid off Service Technicians who left the payroll because they had nowhere to land when they were declared surplus. That problem has been fixed in this contract.

• There is no “mini-contract” for the Premises Technicians. Last year, those Premises Technicians chose to be represented by CWA. We fought hard for your Union brothers and sisters in that job. After the Company’s Premises Technician proposal was passed subsequent to an Article 14 proposal, the bargaining team insisted that the title be changed to Wire Technician, a title already in the Working Agreement. Under the Tentative Agreement, your fellow Wire Technicians will receive greatly enhanced healthcare and retiree benefits. They will now have substantially better work rules. Just as one example, Wire Technicians will receive premium pay on Sundays, something the Premises Technicians don’t get now. And of course, they will see dramatic increases in their wages. Make no mistake; they will not be “Sub-Technicians” as some have tried to insultingly label them. Their working lives will be greatly improved under the Tentative Agreement, because CWA fought for them. And we will continue to do so. We don’t have them all the way there yet, but now that we have them under a collective bargaining agreement, we will keep improving their benefits, wages and work rules through continuous bargaining.
  
  Premises Technicians now work only inside customer premises, where Services Technicians have no contractual or legal protection of work. Now, through Wire Technicians, the Company has CWA represented technicians inside our customers’ premises, but they will not do the full scope of work that STs perform. Yes, that may affect some Services Technicians, which is why your bargaining team made every effort to afford them wage and economic work rule protections. There can be no layoff of STs for one year, and if at any point they move into the Wire Technician title, their pay, benefits, pension and economic work rules are protected so they will be treated like they are currently under the core agreem

• Bargaining involves tough choices, including demands around benefits and compensation.   We deserve to, and do, share in the profits that we create as employees of AT&T. Your bargaining team has never agreed to decrease the level of healthcare our members receive, and we didn’t do it this time either. We did agree to pay a little more for healthcare, as those costs have gone up, but the raises in wages more than compensate for those healthcare cost increases; however, members have the right to opt out. We insisted on keeping the non-decreasing lump sum for pensions. We negotiated a pension increase and moved that increase to January 1 from June 1. Compare your healthcare plan and costs, your pension plan and annual wage increases of 2.25%, 2.75% and 3% with your friends and neighbors and ask them if they would “accept” these benefits. The facts are clear: you will be better off economically under the Tentative Agreement than you are now.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but they are not entitled to their own facts. Read the Tentative Agreement for yourself and ask all the questions you want. If you’ve learned all the facts and make a reasoned decision to vote against the Tentative Agreement, that’s fine. But don’t be swayed by misinformation and scare tactics.

Bargaining is hard and a lot of Monday morning quarterbacks will sit back and criticize. But we worked hard and held the Company’s feet to the fire. We made hard choices when we had to. At the end of the day, under the Tentative Agreement, you will be better off economically; you will have world class healthcare at an affordable price; and you will have more job protections than you have now.

We urge you to vote “Yes”.

In Unity,

Judith R. Dennis, Vice President – District 3
Donald LaRotonda, Assistant to Vice President
Thelma Dunlap, Administrator Director
Debra Brown, Local 3706
James Carrico, Local 3310
John Neblett, Local 3802
Billy O’Dell, Local 3215
Mike Stovall, Local 3106