CWA D4 AT&T MIDWEST BARGAINING REPORT #64

Jun 05, 2012

Negotiations continue in the Midwest mostly with informal discussions. Our Bargaining Committee understands very well how frustrating it is for members to see virtually the same report every day for weeks. We are certainly frustrated too with the pace of negotiations. We thought it might be helpful to explain a little more about what we are doing when the report says "informal talks" :

Every day, our committee meets internally to review the outstanding issues and discuss any discussions that have taken place with AT&T informally by our chair or by our elected leaders. Sometimes, our subcommittees on benefits, Appendix F, Service Rep issues etc meet with management for informal discussions. Often we also have conversations between the different chairs, Vice Presidents, or the "Committee of 8 (VPs and one elected local leader from each table) which are reviewed with our committee. Remember, that while these are separate contracts, one of our goals is to get AT&T to bargain with all four tables at the same time, which sometimes slows us down. Our focus has been to shorten the list of unresolved issues and to narrow the gap between the parties when we can't resolve them. Sometimes we can reach an informal understanding on an issue that is contingent on reaching an overall deal. In those cases, there is no "formal" agreement on the issue and thus nothing to announce in a bargaining report yet. Of course, once there is an overall deal, all of these agreements will be part of it and shared with local leaders, who will then share with all of our members prior to any ratification vote.

We are making progress--very slowly--every day, in shortening the list of unresolved issues and narrowing the gap. Our member’s mobilization helps to accelerate the pace, so keep that up please. Our committee hopes this has been helpful to understand better what it means when you see that we are having "informal discussions".

MOBILIZATION NEWS: Locals continue to mobilize across the Midwest in our fight for a fair contract. On the job members are taking the time to provide quality customer service and are following all of the companies guidelines. Local 4123 members at 54 N. Mill are experiencing Labor Pains over AT&T’s greediness at the bargaining table!