Local communication workers join regional strike

DAYTON — Local communications workers are joining nearly 17,000 others across the Southeast in a strike against AT&T in an attempt to get the communications to the bargaining table over unfair labor practices, according to Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 3802 Union officials.

Local communications workers have been demonstrating on Railroad Street in downtown for the past several days, and on Wednesday, CWA and AT&T entered into federal mediation and had their first meeting with the mediator this morning.

“We are hopeful that mediation might lead us to the agreement our members deserve,” CWA officials said. “Working families across the Southeast have turned out to support the striking workers, walking the picket lines and providing food and supplies. In a show of solidarity, Teamsters are refusing to cross picket lines to deliver packages to AT&T locations.”

AT&T technicians, customer service representatives and others who install, maintain and support AT&T’s residential and business wireline telecommunications network in Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina walked off the job at 3 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 16, “in response to AT&T’s failure to bargain in good faith,” CWA officials said. Negotiators have been at work bargaining a new contract since late June. The current contract between CWA and AT&T Southeast expired on Aug. 3.

In a released statement, CWA officials warned of possible service outages across the Southeast.

“We’re more than happy to go back to work and more than happy to serve the customers like we do every other day of the year, but until AT&T starts acting right, we’re going to be here on the picket line because they’re bargaining in bad faith,” said Eddie Maresca, President of CWA Local 3603.

As of press time Friday, negotiations between the CWA and AT&T were still underway.