Kentucky workers are back to work after contract agreement reached with CWA

KENTUCKY ( FOX 56 ) — After 30 long days, AT&T employees returned to work on Monday.

AT&T and Communications Workers of America (CWA) have reached a tentative contract agreement after employees went on strike, asking for better pay and work protection. AT&T said the new contract covers 17,000 employees in the Southeast region, with a wage increase of 19.33% and an additional 3% for wire technicians and utility operations workers, as well as better healthcare premiums.

Jonathan Campbell, CWA president of the local 3321 chapter and an A&T employee who has been with the company and union for more than 20 years, described the result as a relief.

“There are some, you know a few things in there that all of us would have liked to have seen better. But I think overall, it’s a good agreement,” said Campbell.

AT&T released a statement:

“We are pleased to announce that we’ve reached 2 tentative agreements with the Communications Workers of America (CWA). The first is in District 9 in the West, which comes within days of getting back to the negotiating table to constructively reach a new deal. The second is in District 3 in the Southeast, bringing the work stoppage to an end on Sept. 16.

“As we’ve said since day 1, our goal has been to reach fair agreements that recognize the hard work our employees do to serve our customers with competitive market-based pay and benefits that are among the best in the nation — and that’s exactly what was accomplished. These agreements also support our competitive position in the broadband industry where we can grow and win against our mostly non-union competitors.

“We’ll provide more details about the tentative agreements once the CWA shares them with its members, and we expect the ratification votes to happen in the coming weeks.”

Campbell said this outcome shows that when people come together, differences can be worked out.

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“If it was just me and I’d still be out there today. If you’ve got 17,000 fighting for the same cause, you’ve got a lot better chance,” he said.

The next step is for CWA to approve the agreement; if it doesn’t, negotiations will continue.

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