LUMBERTON — Thirteen members of Local 3609 of the Communications Workers of America joined fellow-union members in nine states Friday on informational picket lines to build public support in their effort to get a better contract with AT&T.
“We want to reach a fair contract. We want to provide the quality service our customers deserve,” said Local President Nathan Mason. “But it seems that AT&T doesn’t see it that way … . I’ve worked for this company for 17 years and this is the most unfair contract negotiations I’ve seen. I’ve never seen AT&T stall like this … It’s time that corporate greed in America has to stop.”
According to Mason, 28,000 union workers across the Southeast have been working without a contract since Aug. 9. In addition to North Carolina, the workers fighting for a better contract are in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee.
“We had an option to go on strike Aug. 9, but a strike hurts both us and the customers,” said Mason, whose Local currently has 20 members. “In good faith we decided to work and negotiate.”
A steady flow of motorists honked their horns in support of the union as they drove past the picketers stationed in front of the AT&T building on Godwin Avenue between 7 and 8 a.m. Friday.
Mason said that the 20 union members in Robeson County are responsible for ensuring that most communication systems and associated communications equipment in the county are maintained and operating. All 911 systems, above and below surface cables, Internet systems and cell towers are maintained by the group.
Mason declined to answer a reporter’s question concerning the salary range for union members in Robeson County. He did say, however, that the issue is not so much salaries as it is cuts in benefits.
Mason said that it is unfair for AT&T, a company that last year recorded a profit of $6.5 billion, to want to raise health insurance benefits by 225 percent. He also said that it is “unreasonable” for the company to want to do away with all employee sick days.
“People do get sick,” he said.
In a statement, AT&T said that the goal of the negotiations has been to continue to provide company employees with high quality union careers with wages and benefits that are among the best in the country.
“We continue to bargain with the union and remain committed to reaching a fair agreement that will allow us to do that,” the statement reads.
According to the company statement, AT&T employees in the contracts are well compensated and will continue to be.
“We are not proposing to reduce the wages of any employees in these contracts, and we remain committed to providing excellent above-market benefits,” the statement said. “It’s important to note that we reached agreements earlier this year covering about 16,500 CWA-represented employees in other areas of the country who do the same work as these folks, and we were able to reach very reasonable contracts that continued to provide excellent wages and benefits. Those contracts were ratified by union membership on June 26. We’re committed to doing the same here.”
According to Mason, union workers in Robeson County and throughout the nine-state district will continue to picket throughout the contract negotiation period.
“There is no schedule of when we will be out here again,” Mason told the newspaper. “It will be off and on.”
