Contract negotiations open up between AT&T, unions

WASHINGTON -- Contract negotiations opened Monday between AT&T and two unions representing nearly 30,000 workers whose agreements expire May 11.

The Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers last month refused AT&T's offer to extend the current contracts for up to 18 months after the company would not agree to a no-layoff pledge.

AT&T opened the bargaining session citing the recession and also the hard-hit telecom industry, which had layoffs of 300,000 workers last year.

"AT&T hasn't been immune to the downturn," said Fred Murray, AT&T's vice president for employee and labor relations.

The rising cost of medical insurance and ways to increase productivity are two key areas the company wants to address at the bargaining table, Murray said.

AT&T has cut more than 20,000 jobs in the past four years, officials for the unions said.

They are seeking job security, job opportunities in growing areas of the company and improvements in wages and retirement and insurance benefits.

Workers "want AT&T to succeed and want to remain a vital part of this company. But by slashing jobs and contracting out work to low pay, high turnover operations, AT&T is jeopardizing quality service and that's a real disservice to employees and customers," said Morton Bahr, CWA president.

CWA represents about 28,000 network and communications technicians, customer service representatives and operators. IBEW represents about 1,000 workers, mostly operators who handle keyboard messages for the speech and hearing impaired.