AT&T workers in NC strike over contract as pockets of Triangle, Charlotte see outages

For the first time since 2019, thousands of AT&T workers across the Southeast are on strike, including hundreds in the Triangle area.

Communications Workers of America says 17,000 union members in regional District 3 began striking Friday and will remain off work until they believe the major telecommunications company begins to bargain over a new contract in good faith. Their previous contract expired on Aug. 3.

District 3 covers every southern state between Louisiana and Virginia, including all of North Carolina.

“We’re pretty much showing them that we mean business for this upcoming contract,” said Kelvin Little, a wire technician in Raleigh who serves as a head organizer for CWA Local 3611.

The strike comes as some AT&T customers in the Triangle report prolonged internet outages. Saturday afternoon, AT&T also reported internet outages within a circle of northern Charlotte neighborhoods.

“As far as the impact, the trained, experienced CWA members who are on strike do critical work installing, maintaining and supporting AT&T’s residential and business wireline telecommunications network,” CWA communications director Beth Allen said. “Customers should be aware that these workers will not be available to respond to service calls during the strike.”

Since at least Wednesday, AT&T internet customers in Durham have reported being without residential service. According to the company’s website , outages have been detected across a wide section of the city, including downtown and around Duke University.

AT&T has alerted some affected residents in southwest Durham their internet service “should be online” by Tuesday morning.

“We have various business continuity measures in place to avoid disruptions to operations and will continue to provide our customers with the great service they expect,” company spokesperson Jim Kimberly said.

Accusations of surface bargaining

Starting around 7 a.m. Saturday, Little and coworkers formed a picket line along a busy street in Morrisville near McCrimmon Parkway and Aviation Parkway. They stood in red union shirts near an AT&T service box, hoisting signs and encouraging passing cars to honk. Local 3611 organized 10 rallies between Raleigh and Chapel Hill on Saturday, each held near an AT&T staff office.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Wiley Nickel and Republican state Senate candidate Scott Lassiter stopped by the Morrisville picket line to show their support.

CWA is the nation’s largest telecommunications union, and it’s part of AFL-CIO, the biggest U.S. union federation. On Aug. 8, the AFL-CIO filed a federal unfair labor practice complaint against AT&T Southeast, accusing the company of engaging in “surface bargaining” without a legitimate intention to reach an agreement. In an email, CWA communications director Beth Allen alleged AT&T sent negotiators who lacked “the authority to make decisions so we can move forward toward a new contract.”

AT&T refuted this charge.

“CWA’s claims of unfair labor practices are not grounded in fact,” Kimberly said in an email. “We have been engaged in substantive bargaining since day 1 and are eager to reach an agreement that benefits our hard-working employees.”

Kimberly added the internet and cellular service provider has reached three contract agreements in 2024, including a tentative deal with CWA District 9 (which covers California, Nevada, and Hawaii) that AT&T announced earlier this week. Online, the company has criticized the southeastern regional union for “needlessly jeopardiz(ing) the wages and well-being of our employees.”

CWA District 3 last went on strike in August 2019. That action lasted five days until the two sides reached a tentative new five-year contract.