Questions and Answers on AT&T Southwest Early Bargaining

Download a PDF of the Questions and Answers on AT&T Southwest Early Bargaining

1. What is Early Bargaining?
   The current collective bargaining agreement between CWA and AT&T-SW expires on April 6, 2013. The company and the union have agreed to enter into negotiations this month to try to reach an agreement before the expiration date. CWA believes there could be several benefits to reaching an early agreement. However, if we fail to reach an early agreement, then we would resume regular negotiations beginning January 26, 2013
2. Will the Elected Bargaining Team be involved?
   Yes. The elected bargaining team will be meeting with AT&T management representatives starting December 8. Mike Neumann will be the chair of the Union bargaining committee.
3. Why bargain now?
   Recently, AT&T announced that it will be investing billions in the network upgrades. By bargaining early, we hope to build on this positive investment scenario. We will seek to create more job opportunities and job security for our members inside the overall negative climate.
4. Why do we think it is to our advantage to bargain early?
   We begin these negotiations with the premise that our members will be better off economically by the end of the new agreement than they are today. CWA will be building from the agreements which have already been reached at AT&T. Those agreements meet the “better off than” standard. And, during negotiations, our elected District 6 bargaining team will be pressing for changes that will improve our members’ lives. Finally, if the early talks do not yield a “better off than” outcome, we do not need to come to an agreement at this time. We would instead, recommence negotiations in the spring according to the schedule for the April 6, 2013 contract talks.
5. What happens if no agreement is reached?
   CWA and ATT have agreed to bargain for two weeks ending on December 21, 2012. If we do not reach agreement by that date, we will begin our normal bargaining process in 2013. This would entail Mobilization training and activities, full blown negotiations and bargaining up against the contract deadline of April 6, 2013 and perhaps beyond.
6. How will members be kept informed?
   We will bargain through Dec 21 under a news blackout. That means that there will be no news announcements or mobilization actions during this period. We will keep local officers informed of our general progress.
7. Is this positive for our members?
   Early bargaining offers the chance to reach a good agreement without any risks. If we cannot resolve our differences, we will simply halt the early discussions and resume in 2013.
8. Do members get to vote on the early agreement?
   Yes. Just as in traditional negotiations, if we reach a tentative agreement in early bargaining, the union will send out a settlement summary with the highlights of the tentative agreement for the membership to review so that members can be fully informed in order to vote on the tentative agreement.