AT&T Broadband Workers Hold 2nd National Conference
Nearly 2,000 Have Gained Representation Since First Meeting in Sept. 2000
On January 19, 2002, nearly 50 AT&T Broadband employees from company locations from coast to coast met in Pittsburgh to discuss ideas and strategies for organizing and building power at their company.
This meeting was the second conference the workers have held since the first 11 AT&T Broadband employees organized in Gillette, Wyoming in October 1999. Now, nearly 3,000 workers at the company have won representation and collective bargaining rights with CWA, the Communications Workers of America.
Since CWA’s first conference for AT&T Broadband workers (Sept. 23-24, 2000), the workers’ campaigns to win union representation have mushroomed, as nearly 2,000 additional workers at 15 company locations gained union representation with CWA.
Participants at this year’s conference hold virtually every non-management position at the company – technicians, dispatchers, head-end techs, contractor coordinators, installers and customer service and sales representatives. Besides AT&T Broadband, conference participants had worked earlier for TCI, MediaOne, Continental and other communications firms.
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AT&T Broadband employees from locations coast to coast shared information how they can build power and bargaining rights for themselves and their co-workers |
During the two-day meeting, workers shared their organizing experiences and discussed strategies for winning representation and strong contracts.
AT&T Broadband employees who attended the conference said they felt encouraged being part of a movement. Listening to stories from workers who won representation at other locations made them feel less alone. About half of the AT&T Broadband employees attending have negotiated their first contracts with the cable company. The union activists were upbeat that the lessons which they learned would pave the way to success in their efforts.
A high point of the meeting was a presentation from cable workers in the Pittsburgh area who organized more than 800 workers in eight different locations within 12 months. It began small in the Pittsburgh area, starting with just 30 employees who had a CWA contract in a Comcast system which had been swapped with AT&T. Now, nearly every AT&T Broadband employee in the Pittsburgh cable market has CWA representation and a voice on the job.
AT&T Broadband employees who are interested in learning about forming a union and, or who would like to receive periodic e-mails and news about their co-workers' efforts to bring CWA representation at their company should contact CWA. Click here.
Visit CWA’s website for AT&T Broadband employees for regular updates.
