CWA/AT&T Midwest Bargaining Report #75

We continue to meet in subcommittee and caucus internally at the bargaining location in Chicago.

The company’s current final offer is no different than the first “final offer” they passed on May 22nd, which the union committee has rejected. We are continuing our review of the “final offer” after gaining additional detailed information in our subcommittees.

The additional information does not change our previous position that this final offer is sorely lacking in the areas we previously cited in our reports, including any commitment for work or the jobs that accompany that work.

We also want to be sure you are aware we not only use our years of collective experience when evaluating the company proposals, we also have at our disposal, and are utilizing, legal counsel in Cleveland, OH and CWA headquarters, along with research experts and health care actuaries in Washington, D.C. These forces together allow us to examine every aspect of the company’s proposals in detail.

An additional dilemma is the unwillingness of the company to provide the proper data to support their proposals. This is why the union has a number of outstanding data requests that have resulted in ULP charges for failure to provide this information.

We remain committed to the fight for a fair agreement and will send out reports as soon as we have anything meaningful to share.