AT&T Member ULP Action Follow Up
June 5th, 2018
Brothers and Sisters
It has been an energizing week filled with emotion and I’d first like to thank all of you again for your remarkable showing of solidarity. You have put AT&T on notice and through your actions, brought them back to the table. Here is a summary of the past week’s events:
1) On Thursday May 31st, members notified the Local that they were walking out over AT&T’s continued commission of unfair labor practices (ULP). These members identified AT&T’s continued attempts to bargain with them directly instead of their elected bargaining team as the reason for their action. Local leadership had previously filed a ULP over this issue.
2) Throughout the morning Thursday, word of the action spread throughout the membership and picket lines formed at work locations as members notified each other of the walkout.
3) Members from Local 4302 continued to picket while Local Officers contacted representatives from NLRB and AT&T Labor Relations to resolve the ULP.
4) On June 3rd, 2018 a CWA bargaining report was released in the early evening that indicated AT&T had returned to the table ready to bargain with the CWA bargaining team.
5) The following morning, yesterday, June 4th, members began calling the Union Hall requesting that Local officers set up an informational meeting to discuss the ramifications of the previous day’s bargaining report. The meeting was set for 2:00 PM.
6) At 2:00 PM an informational meeting was held where member questions were answered. After review of the bargaining report, Local leadership suggested that the members return to work.
7) At 4:25 PM that same day, the company sent another email to the membership titled Bargaining Update. This email, at first glance seemed almost identical to the ones that had been sent previously leading to the ULP charge and member action. After a calm review, and a follow up bargaining report from the CWA bargaining team, it is very clear that this email was intended to assist AT&T in building a legal defense against the pending ULP charges. The coercive portion of the previous emails (the emails clearly stated to ask to vote FOR the offer, not even simply to vote ON the offer) had been removed and the CWA bargaining report indicates that AT&T is still at the table.
8) CWA Local 4302 members reported back to work without incident on Tuesday June 5th, 2018 and remain.
We are stronger as a Local for your actions over the past week. AT&T knows you’re willing to do whatever it takes! Keep this momentum moving forward and mobilize, mobilize, mobilize!
In Solidarity
Joseph Snyder
President, CWA Local 4302
