Communications Workers of America on strike in Paintsville- Prestonsburg-Pikeville
By Roberta Cantrell
BSN Editor
On Friday, Aug. 16, at 3 p.m., 17,000 Communications Workers of America (CWA) workers employed at AT&T Southeast walked out of their jobs to go on strike.
Casey Castle, member of Union Local 3317 which includes Pikeville, Prestonsburg and Paintsville said although after walking out Friday they set up a picket line near Paintsville’s AT&T building on 2nd Avenue on Saturday.
Castle said they plan on staying there until this is resolved. “We are surprised by the tremendous amount of support we are getting,” Castle said. “People have stopped and brought us doughnuts, other food and drinks and been very supportive.”
According to the union, it has filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board against AT&T. They claimed the company was not bargaining in good faith, engaged in surface bargaining, and did not send representatives with the authority to make decisions.
“Our union entered into negotiations in a good faith effort to reach a fair contract, but we have been met at the table by company representatives who were unable to explain their own bargaining proposals and did not seem to have the actual bargaining authority required by the legal obligation to bargain in good faith,” CWA District 3 Vice President Richard Honeycutt said. “Our members want to be on the job, providing the quality service that our customers deserve. It’s time for AT&T to start negotiating in good faith so that we can move forward towards a fair contract.”
The 17,000 workers involved are from several states including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee the union said.
“AT&T has been sending undertrained managers and contractors to perform highly technical work,” said Richard Honeycutt, Vice President of CWA District 3 in the Southeast. “Our members have seen them at work in their communities and documented unsafe practices, including failure to wear proper safety equipment, failure to secure ladders and other equipment putting the worker and nearby vehicles and pedestrians at risk, and failure to mark work areas with safety cones. We are encouraging members of the public to use extra caution when encountering these worksites.”
The trained, experienced CWA members who are on strike do critical work installing, maintaining, and supporting AT&T’s residential and business wireline telecommunications network. Customers should be aware that these workers will not be available to respond to service calls during the strike and that replacement workers may not have the same level of expertise.
“Our members want to be on the job, providing the quality service that our customers deserve,” Honeycutt said. “AT&T needs to do the right thing and start negotiating with us in good faith.”
The current contract between CWA and AT&T Southeast expired on Saturday, Aug. 3.