AT&T presented what it called a "final offer" to the Communications Workers of America bargaining committee Wednesday night. Union reps, including Jackson-based Local CWA President Jermaine Travis, say the proposal isn't acceptable to them.
“A lot of the math that the company has put in place is just not mathing,” Travis said. “A lot of their compound interest and a lot of their formulas, it's just not adding up.”
A major sticking point is AT&T's health care proposal. The company claims the offer increases its contributions by up to 25%, while the union claims it increases upfront costs for workers.
AT&T released a letter to employees on Thursday that outlined some details of the offer, like reductions in mandatory overtime and an 18% increase in wages over a five year period. In that letter and a video statement released by an AT&T spokesperson, the company made a direct appeal to the striking employees.
“We ask members in the southeast to carefully consider this offer, and we encourage them to ask their CWA leadership to give them an opportunity to express their voice and allow them a chance to vote on this offer,” the spokesperson said.
The union called AT&T's message to employees "misleading" and said the direct outreach "amounts to direct dealing and is more evidence of the company’s continued bad faith."
To mitigate service disruptions caused by the strike, AT&T has transferred managers and deployed contractors to the areas affected. Travis, who’s also an AT&T technician, says this is causing service delays because these workers are not familiar with Mississippi.
“I've got guys that have been working in certain areas for a very long time, and we still have to rely on each other to figure out how to repair and fix issues,” Travis said. “So to have someone who is not familiar with the area, the territory, the plants, the facilities is not the same level of care or professionalism and is also not necessarily safe either.”
AT&T has not yet responded to the union's counteroffer.
