AT&T Strike In California, Nevada: 17,000 Workers On Strike, Say Company Violated Contract Terms

About 17,000 AT&T workers in California and Nevada went on strike Wednesday over the company's violations of the previously negotiated job duties of employees working as premises technicians. The issue has been a matter of negotiation for months and the company has recently made a change in unilateral job requirements without the union's consent, according to the union's Facebook post.

The strike is said to be one of the most widespread labor actions against the multinational telecommunications conglomerate in years as workers say they have been working without a contract for almost a year. The strike began amid ongoing negotiations between the company and landline workers in California and Nevada who are represented by the Communications Workers of America union.

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The workers will reportedly be on strike until a settlement accommodating their concerns is reached.

“We are on strike today because AT&T is hurting us all by violating their bargaining obligations with the union,” said Robinson Paiz, a maintenance splicer from Los Angeles who joined the strike, according to KXNT. “AT&T technicians work around the clock to make sure our customers get the high-quality service they need and depend on, and we are building AT&T’s billions of dollars in profits.”

Meanwhile, AT&T's spokesman Marty Richter said that it is “a union-friendly company, with more full-time, union-represented employees than any company in America,” according to the Los Angeles Times. Richter said that AT&T is the “only major wireless company with a unionized workforce.”

In May 2016 too, about 1,700 San Diego AT&T workers went on strike over a contract grievance regarding the way the company monitored sales and customer service representatives. Members of the Communications Workers of America walked off their jobs. The grievance strike last year focused on the methods used by AT&T to check up on its sales and customer service representatives on the job, said Carlos Munoz, district steward for CWA Local 9509, according to the San Diego Union Tribune.