Union members push back on AT&T’s return-to-office plan

August 24, 2022 by

Charli Haataja shares the results of a survey showing AT&T call center workers are more productive and less likely to miss work when allowed to work from home.

AT&T will begin forcing workers to report to call centers in Minneapolis and Bloomington next month, a decision that members of Communications Workers (CWA) Local 7250 condemned as unnecessary, risky and costly for workers and their families.

Union members aired those grievances at a press conference today outside the United Labor Centre in Minneapolis. They said corporate executives abruptly backed out of an agreement reached with CWA earlier this month to extend the Work-From-Home (WFH) agreement in place since COVID-19 hit in March 2020.

“They drew up a contract and gave us a return-to-office date of March 31, 2023,” union steward Yolanda Olmo said. “The contract was signed, but in less than 24 hours AT&T came back and said they weren’t going to honor that contract.”

Call-center workers said absenteeism is down and productivity is up since they began working from home, with workers more likely to work through mild symptoms, illnesses to family members, extreme weather and other events that might prompt them to avoid the shared workspace.

“You want us to be in each other’s faces,” union steward Angela Bates said. “Now, we may not be able to be in our families’ faces.”

Yolanda Olmo

A survey of over 500 CWA members found an overwhelming majority reported concerns about rising commuter costs, COVID risks and the safety of AT&T’s downtown location. Local 7250 President Kieran Knutson said members are “more united and passionate” about keeping their WFH agreement than any issue in his 18 years with the union.

“Work From Home is our new normal,” Local 7250 Area Vice President Charli Haataja said. “If you’re going to change that for us, we want actual reasons why.”

AT&T has yet to provide a legitimate business reason for the return to in-person work, union members said.

“You say that you need us to come back to the office for collaboration,” Olmo said. “We are credit representatives that collect money. Why do we need to collaborate collecting money?”

Meanwhile, call center employee Sara Fry said, costs associated with returning to the office – parking, transit, gas, child care – will hit workers like a pay cut when the policy takes effect Sept. 21.

“We haven’t had a meaningful raise in over five years,” Fry said. “We didn’t have the money before COVID, and we can’t afford to go back to the office now.”

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Don’t be fooled by AT&T’s authorized retailers, CWA members warn

December 17, 2021 by

Union members and supporters demonstrate outside the AT&T authorized retailer in Roseville, where CWA members used to work.

After a push from union members in Minnesota, the Communications Workers of America is stepping up its campaign to fight back against job cuts and union busting at AT&T retail stores nationwide, asking supporters to do business with stores that employ CWA members.

AT&T workers were in the streets outside dozens of “AT&T authorized retailers” across the country last weekend, including stores in St. Cloud and Roseville. The actions drew attention to the company’s recent move convert corporate-owned stores, staffed by CWA members, to third-party dealers.

That’s union-busting, said Kieran Knutson, president of CWA Local 7250, which represents AT&T wireless sales reps, technicians and call-center employees in Minnesota.

“It’s an attack not just on our union and on the working conditions in those stores, but also on the communities because there are less union jobs available,” Knutson said during a protest Saturday outside the authorized retailer in Roseville. “We’re not going to let them off the hook for that.”

AT&T has closed or converted more than 650 corporate-owned stores in the last two years, including 12 of 36 stores in Minnesota. The cuts have come despite AT&T’s promise that then-President Trump’s 2017 tax cut, which put billions into the company’s coffers, would create new jobs.

Local 7250 authored a resolution, passed by the CWA at its international convention in October, calling for the day of action against AT&T’s job cuts, held Saturday during the holiday shopping season.

The union also has launched a campaign to help AT&T customers tell the difference between union and non-union stores, which look alike except for a small sign on the front indicating which are authorized retailers.

Union stores in the east metro include Burnsville, Maplewood, St. Paul (Highland Park) and Woodbury. Find a complete list of union stores nationwide at CWA.org/ATTstore.

Union members and supporters all but shut down the AT&T authorized retailer in Roseville for nearly two hours Saturday, marching outside the storefront with signs and distributing fliers in the parking lot.

The store used to be staffed by union members, Knutson said, but recently closed and reopened as an authorized retailer owned by Prime Communications. That company’s leadership includes several former AT&T executives.

“The sole purpose of Prime Communications is to franchise AT&T retail stores, to turn them from union into non-union stores,” Knutson said. “It’s not like they also franchise Verizon; they are purely a creation for union-busting.”

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Union pledges fight as AT&T plans more Twin Cities store closings

February 26, 2021 by

Local job cuts at AT&T will continue this spring, when the company plans to close three more wireless retail locations in the Twin Cities suburbs, according to Communications Workers Local 7250.

The union, which represents AT&T wireless sales reps, technicians and call-center employees in Minnesota, received official notification of the store closings yesterday.

AT&T closed nine retail stores across the state last summer, and has been shamelessly outsourcing and offshoring American jobs at a steady clip in recent years. The cuts have come despite AT&T’s promise that then-President Trump’s 2017 tax cut, which put billions into the company’s coffers, would create new jobs.

That will never happen, AT&T retail sales consultant Larry Thompson said, unless executives feel pressured to live up to their promises. Thompson, a Local 7250 officer who works in the company’s St. Paul store, said the union is at work on plans to exert that pressure.

“We all see the writing on the wall,” he said.

A year ago, Local 7250 represented workers in 36 AT&T Wireless locations statewide. By June that total will have dropped to 24.

Each store employs five sales reps, on average. They typically earn around $17 per hour in base pay, plus commission and benefits, Thompson said.

The company closed 250 stores nationwide last summer and, in October, warned of more cuts to come. CWA Local 7250 President Kieran Knutson said the three Minnesota stores set to close this spring – in Apple Valley, Shakopee and West St. Paul – are among 95 closing nationwide in April and May.

CWA’s nationwide contract with AT&T guarantees workers the opportunity to transfer to other wireless stores within a 30-mile radius or, if they meet the qualifications, to work from home as a customer-service consultant.

That softens the blow some. But Thompson said customer-service reps earn considerably less than sales reps without commission, and AT&T “has closed so many stores, we’re running out of places to put people.”

Stores slated to close typically reopen as nonunion “authorized retailers,” selling AT&T products and services but not owned by the company. The products are the same, but the experience inside the store is different for both workers and customers.

“They typically reduce sales staff to he bone, and they don’t offer the same kinds of benefits, wages and job security that our contract guarantees on top of the commissions,” Knutson said.

“They don’t operate with the same integrity,” Thompson added. “Everybody who works at a corporate-owned store has had a negative experience with authorized retailers because of that.

“We get paid well, we do a great job and we keep our jobs. It’s that simple.”

Find a list of corporate-owned stores, staffed by Local 7250 members, on the union’s website.

Meanwhile, supporters should stay tuned to the union’s social media feed for upcoming actions pushing back against job cuts at AT&T, Knutson said.

“This is a clear union-busting move by the company,” he said. “Behind all of these cuts are some real people and their families. We’re not going to take this lying down.”

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Poised to strike this weekend, AT&T wireless workers seek support on picket line

May 18, 2017 by

Melinda Casey of Minneapolis is among 2,000 AT&T wireless workers in Minnesota poised to strike this weekend. “I have a family to support. I have two children. I need a job that’s secure,” she said.

Some 21,000 AT&T wireless workers in 36 states – including about 2,000 in Minnesota – plan to strike this weekend, a show of frustration over the company’s failure to negotiate a new contract that protects good, family-supporting jobs.

The strike is set to begin at 2 p.m. tomorrow unless AT&T and the Communications Workers of America, which represents wireless workers, reach a tentative agreement before then. AT&T wireless workers have never been on strike before, and it could drastically limit AT&T’s ability to handle traffic at 27 company-owned retail stores in Minnesota and hundreds more across the U.S.

Members of Twin Cities-based CWA Locals 7200 and 7250 are seeking support on picket lines across the state, including the following metro locations:

  • Apple Valley: 7634 – 150th St. W
  • Coon Rapids: 12481 Poppy St. NW
  • Maple Grove: 8105 Wedgewood Ln.
  • Roseville: 2724 Lincoln Dr.
  • Woodbury: 10100 City Walk Dr.
  • Eden Prairie retail store, 590 Prairie Center Dr.
  • Minnetonka: 1800 Plymouth Rd.

Workers say AT&T has offered only meager pay raises in negotiations – not nearly enough to cover the increased share of health insurance premiums the company is demanding workers pay. Commission rates, job security and sick pay are also sticking points in talks, which “are stalled right now,” CWA Minnesota State Council President Mona Meyer said.

Local 7200 member Melinda Casey, who works in AT&T Mobility’s Bloomington call center, said she’s fighting to support her two children, one of whom is epileptic. Casey earns the contract’s top wage scale of $18.57 per hour, and out-of-pocket medical costs, including a $2,500-per-patient deductible, already absorb a big portion of her earnings, she said.

Brian Gnerer

“If they raise premiums then that essentially washes out any type of pay raise we would get,” she said. “It makes it easy to walk out on Friday, knowing it’s the only way to bring a better contract.”

Brian Gnerer, who works in the Bloomington call center too, echoed Casey’s sentiment.

“I’m for the strike,” Gnerer said. “Thinking short term, I need to make sure I get my bills paid, but I also want to have a decent life after I’m done working. That means getting paid more, getting better health care so I can maybe put more money away for my future. And I’m willing to do what I need to do to get there.”

“Overall, I feel like there is a lot of unity” in our bargaining unit, Casey added.

Learn more about the contract negotiations at www.unityatmobility.com.

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Workers to rally outside courthouse as AT&T sues to deny their sick pay

July 13, 2015 by
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CWA members walk a picket line outside AT&T offices downtown Minneapolis during a grievance strike in May 2015.

AT&T is challenging a new Minnesota law allowing workers to use paid sick time to care for family members.

But as the Fortune 500 telecommunications company appears before a federal judge in Minneapolis on Friday, members of the Communications Workers of America will rally outside the courthouse with a simple message: AT&T is not above the law.

The rally will begin at 10:30 a.m. Friday, July 17, outside the U.S. Courthouse, 300 4th St. S., Minneapolis. [Click here to view the Facebook event page.]

AT&T’s challenge involves only workers with more than 25 years of experience with the company, who have seen their requests for sick pay to cover time spent caring for family members denied. Similar requests from less-tenured workers have been approved by the company.

CWA, the union that represents AT&T workers in Minnesota and across the country, has filed grievances on behalf of employees, and the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry last year issued a direction to comply with Minnesota Statute 181.9413, which expands sick leave to cover family members.

But AT&T has delayed resolution on both fronts by challenging the law in federal court.

“AT&T is actually spending more money on lawyers to avoid following the law than it would cost them to comply with it,” CWA Local 7250 President Shari Wojtowicz said.

In May, AT&T workers staged a grievance strike in Minneapolis to show solidarity with co-workers who have been denied sick pay.

Debra Derke, an AT&T employee for nearly 30 years, estimated she’s lost eight months’ pay since her husband suffered a string of medical emergencies that began with a heart attack in August 2013.

“They’re basically discriminating against their most senior, most dedicated people, the people who have made this company what it is,” Local 7250 member Susan Anderson said. “It’s shameful, especially with the profits they have, the perks that their CEO gets. Yet they are basically trying to nickel and dime us to death.”

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Gold watch? Fountain pen? For 25th anniversary, AT&T guts MN workers’ sick leave

May 13, 2015 by
CWA Local 7250 members impacted by AT&T's sick-pay policy include Susan Anderson,

CWA Local 7250 members impacted by AT&T’s sick-pay policy include Susan Anderson (green coat), Dan Waalen-Radzevicius (black coat) and Deb Derke (red shirt).

Members of Local 7250 of the Communications Workers of America called a grievance strike yesterday. About 200 workers picketed outside AT&T’s offices downtown Minneapolis in support of their longest-tenured co-workers, who have seen requests for sick pay denied by the company.

AT&T claims it’s not required to allow workers with 25 or more years of experience to use their paid-sick time to care for family members – even though workers with less than 25 years experience can.

It’s an interpretation of a new state law that AT&T is defending in federal court. But in the meantime, where does that leave employees who have given a quarter-century or more to the Fortune 500 telecommunications company?

On the picket line yesterday, Debra Derke estimated she’s lost about eight months’ pay since her husband suffered a heart attack in August 2013 – the first in a string of major health crises. Derke’s husband suffered a second heart attack in March and is now paralyzed.

“We have a lot of doctor’s appointments that I need to attend. There are a lot of times when the PCA’s don’t show up. I’ve got to take care of him,” Derke said. “That’s my new normal. Every day I wake up to find out whether I can or can’t come to work.”

And though her contract says she has access to paid sick time, AT&T won’t let Derke use it to care for her husband, in effect, because she’s been with the company too long.

“It will be 30 years on Oct. 28, 30 years of my life supporting this company,” Derke said. “(AT&T CEO) Randall Stephenson hasn’t been there that long.”

Derke’s case is the most extreme, but other Minnesotans have filed grievances related to AT&T’s sick-pay policy as well.

Dan Waalen-Radzevicius requested four paid-sick days to care for his husband, whose injuries resulting from a stray-cat attack became seriously infected and left him drifting in and out of consciousness. Susan Anderson requested one paid-sick day to care for her husband as he began his battle against prostate cancer.

Waalen-Radzevicius has 29 years’ experience at AT&T; Anderson has 34. AT&T denied both workers’ requests.

“It’s absolutely ridiculous,” Waalen-Radzevicius said. “Our CEO made $20 million-plus last year, plus bonuses, plus trips – everything. And he can’t afford to pay us this minimal amount?”

CWA estimates only about 100 workers statewide fall into the gap created by AT&T’s sick-pay policy, but workers of all ages and experience levels walked alongside Derke, Waalen-Radzevicius and Anderson on the picket line yesterday. Divide-and-conquer tactics won’t work with this group, they said.

“Someday they’re going to be in our shoes,” Anderson said of less experienced workers. “It’s great they’re supporting us. It’s what unions are all about.”

Union members look out for each other, Derke added, just like family members take care of each other.

“It’s beautiful,” she said. “It’s so heartwarming to know I’m not alone here. We all work here, and we are family.”

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AT&T workers in Minneapolis strike over sick pay for longest-serving employees

May 12, 2015 by

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Workers in AT&T’s credit collections department walked off the job in Minneapolis this afternoon, joining a “grievance strike” to demand AT&T stop denying sick pay to its longest-serving employees.

About 200 of the department’s 243 workers, members of Local 7250 of the Communications Workers of America, joined picketing outside AT&T’s offices at 9th Street and Marquette Avenue, according to union reports.

Striking workers plan to return to their posts tomorrow, Local 7250 President Shari Wojtowicz said. But the walkout put AT&T on notice that union members are standing behind their co-workers whose requests for sick leave have been denied.

CWA Local 7250 members picket outside AT&T's offices downtown Minneapolis.

CWA Local 7250 members picket outside AT&T’s offices downtown Minneapolis.

“I think it was unexpected for the company,” Wojtowicz said of the strike. “It’s unfortunate for our customers because we pride ourselves on our quality of customer service, but if we’re not able to take care of ourselves or our families, it’s difficult for us to provide that service anyway.”

[Related: For 25th anniversary, AT&T guts MN workers’ sick leave]

The grievances prompting the strike involve workers with 25-plus years of experience at AT&T, who are no longer eligible for sick pay when they miss work to care for an ailing family member, according to company policy.

Workers allege that policy is illegal under the Minnesota Parenting Leave Act, which lawmakers passed in 2013 to expand workers’ access to sick time during family health emergencies, whether it’s a child, parent or spouse who is ailing. State regulators agree, and a lawsuit between AT&T and the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry is advancing in federal court.

“AT&T is actually spending more money on lawyers to avoid following the law than it would cost them to comply with it,” Wojtowicz said.

But Local 7250 members aren’t waiting for a judge to make AT&T do right by its longest-serving employees.

web.CWAstrike-picket1“They’re basically discriminating against their most senior, most dedicated people, the people who have made this company what it is,” Local 7250 member Susan Anderson said. “It’s shameful, especially with the profits they have, the perks that their CEO gets. Yet they are basically trying to nickel and dime us to death.”

The strike is unique to grievances between Local 7250 and AT&T, but the slow pace of negotiations between CWA and AT&T on contracts covering about 17,500 workers nationwide factored into workers’ decision to go on strike, Wojtowicz said.

CWA’s previous contract with Legacy-T, the branch of AT&T that covers Minneapolis, expired April 11, leaving workers without arbitration rights included in the agreement.

“Our members have taken matters into their own hands, walked off the job in the hopes the company will work with us to resolve this issue on behalf of all employees,” she said.

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