Negotiations continue between AT&T and the union representing nearly 25,000 of the telecommunication giant’s employees after their contract expired at midnight Saturday.
Communications Workers of America District 3 vice president Richard Honeycutt said the AT&T employees he represents want more time with their families.
“Right now, AT&T forces employees to work an unlimited amount of overtime hours,” Honeycutt said. “That’s excessive and keeps parents from spending time with their children and balancing their work and family lives.”
Union members previously voted to approve a strike if a contract agreement was not met but, as of Sunday evening, no strike had been called.
AT&T spokesman Marty Richter said a strike vote “is not an unexpected step in negotiations of this sort.”
“We remain confident that both parties will work conscientiously and in good faith toward a suitable agreement,” Richter said. “We are not proposing to reduce the wages of any employees in these contracts, and we remain committed to providing great benefits.”
Negotiations for a new deal began in June for about 24,500 wireline employees in Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. About 3,000 of the workers are employed in metro Atlanta, Channel 2 Action News reported.
Many protested Friday outside their union office near Decatur.
Honeycutt, noting the company’s second quarter revenues topped $33 billion, said AT&T is “following a greedy agenda.”
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