CWA and AT&T Enter Federal Mediation as Southeastern Strike Continues Over Unfair Labor Practices

Atlanta, Ga. - As the Communications Workers of America strike against AT&T Southeast continues into its sixth day, reports of service outages and delays are mounting across the Southeast. "We're more than happy to go back to work and more than happy to serve the customers like we do every other day of the year, but until AT&T starts acting right, we're going to be here on the picket line because they're bargaining in bad faith," said Eddie Maresca, President of CWA Local 3603 in Charlotte, N.C.

CWA and AT&T have entered into federal mediation and had their first meeting with the mediator this morning. "We are hopeful that mediation might lead us to the agreement our members deserve," wrote the CWA bargaining team in a statement sent to striking CWA members.

In Eads, Tenn. a striking worker was injured on the picket line by a vehicle driven by a contractor. "We were afraid something like this would happen," said CWA District 3 Vice President Richard Honeycutt. "As a result of the strike, AT&T has been sending managers and contractors who do not necessarily have the proper training to work on installations and repairs. Our members have seen numerous safety violations at worksites across the Southeast. The public should use caution in those work zones."

Working families across the Southeast have turned out to support the striking workers, walking the picket lines and providing food and supplies. In a show of solidarity, Teamsters are refusing to cross picket lines to deliver packages to AT&T locations.

"Thank you to the Teamsters and all of the community members who are standing with us during this strike," Honeycutt said.

AT&T technicians, customer service representatives, and others who install, maintain, and support AT&T's residential and business wireline telecommunications network in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee walked off the job at 3 p.m. ET on Friday, August 16, in response to AT&T's failure to bargain in good faith. Negotiators have been at work bargaining a new contract since late June. The current contract between CWA and AT&T Southeast expired on August 3.

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