CWA Local 6132

At last night’s Membership Meeting, we were fortunate to have CWA District 6 Campaign Lead Kristie Veit speak about the CWA petition to protect our work and ensure that public funding supports fiber buildout in Texas. Click on the image below to view the flyer and use the QR code to sign the petition. There are thousands of hard working union members working in the telecom industry that will have job protection from this fiber buildout. Satellite internet is slower, more costly, and inconsistent. Please, take five minutes and fill out the petition to help our union brothers and sisters.

A few of our Mobility Members wanted to show their support also! Thank you so much for sharing your pictures with us!

Report from March 13, 2025

The Union Bargaining team met with the Company today passing additional proposals to extend the following MOA’s: Part-Time Employees Agreement, Change in CST eligibility (asking to remove attendance & performance as a factor to displace a Prem Tech), Successorship MOA, 2 Hour Committee MOA, Hometown Security, and Retired Presidents or Designee for Strategic Alliance Agreement.

The Company passed the following proposals: Keeping Article 15.2 Temp Work in Higher Positions the same, Article X – Excused Work Days (TA’d), Informal Surplus MOA extension, and the Employment Security Commitment (ESC) extension. Under the General Application the following: Article 1 Recognition and Establishment of the Unit (TA’d), Article III Unusual Grievances (TA’d), Article VIII Responsible Union-Company Relationship (TA’d), and Article IX Nondiscrimination (TA’d).

This was our most productive day so far in the sense we agreed to five TA’s. However, we have a lot of open proposals to which we have not received a response.

Tomorrow will be two weeks that we have been at the table with AT&T. So far the Company has not done anything to address our concerns around job security. It’s been raised numerous times so far with the Company that we are fully aware of their plan to eliminate wire centers, and we need stronger language around scope of work in regards to broadband and fiber!

We are scheduled to meet with the Company tomorrow and will follow up with a new bargaining report afterwards.

To stay updated on actions and mobilizations, text FIGHT to 49484. You can also fill out this quick form to get involved and receive the latest bargaining updates.

In Solidarity,

CWA/AT&T SW Bargaining Team

Click here to see all updates

Report from March 12, 2025

Before we get started with today’s report, we wanted to do a quick weekly reminder of what some of the terminology we use in our reports means:

●   Passed Proposals – this means proposals were passed across the table by the drafting party (Union or Company). These are not agreements, only proposals that have been requested at the table.

●   Counter Proposals – this means one party has countered an original proposal that was passed at the table by the other party (Union or Company) and requested changes to that original proposal.

●   Rejected Proposals – this means that one party (Union or Company) has rejected a proposal and it is no longer currently in play at the table.

●   Tentatively Agreed Proposals – this is what we strive for as it means a proposal has been mutually agreed upon by both parties and signed as a tentative agreement towards the final contract tentative agreement.

The Union Bargaining team met with the Company today. The Union passed an additional proposal to do away with demonstrated abilities in Article XIII and replace it with the selection being based on NCS date if the employee is qualified for the open job requisition, adding double time to Appendix J for OT hours over 9, renewal of MOA for neutrality & card check, renewal of MOA for recovery of wages or benefits overpayment, renewal of part-time employees MOU, and renewal of Motor Vehicle Usage Program.

The Company rejected our proposal to increase paid holidays and increasing pay for Comm Techs considered lead technicians or subject matter experts.

The Company did counter our proposal allowing unpaid Union Time to count towards FMLA eligibility to mirror the MOA in the Mobility contract. This is a huge win as Union Officials have always been at a disadvantage doing Union work if they became ill.

We were able to TA the following articles: Article XX – Union Representation, Article XXI – Agency Shop, & Article XXIII – Notice of promotions and transfers of Union Officers, Elected Stewards, and Designated Representatives.

The Union Team is energized by the Locals who continue to send in pictures showing their members participating in Mobilization! We are planning a Town Hall call on the evening of March 27th with the Team to discuss where things are at and what you can do to turn up the heat. So stay tuned to future reports.

We are scheduled to meet with the Company tomorrow, and will follow up with a new bargaining report afterwards.

To stay updated on actions and mobilizations, text FIGHT to 49484. You can also fill out this quick form to get involved and receive the latest bargaining updates.

In Solidarity,
CWA/AT&T SW Bargaining Team

Click here to see all updates

Report from March 11, 2025

After working in our own Union Caucus this morning, the Union bargaining team met with the Company this afternoon at the table.

The meeting started with the Union asking a lot of questions about the AT&T Retirement Savings & Security Plan (ASSP), which currently approximately 5000 of our members have, possibly being moved to the AT&T Retirement Savings Plan (ARSP) with the current proposal (where everyone else is currently at). Those not familiar with these plans, it is your 401K’s.

Additionally, we asked a lot of questions about the Company’s current health care proposal that would introduce two new tiers to health care (Individual + Spouse & Individual + Child(ren). There are a lot of complex data requests that have been requested that we want to look at. Many of the questions we had the Company could not answer without chasing after the information. Once we have a complete picture of what it looks like, we will continue to work with the Research Department at CWA on comparisons to the structure we currently have through 2025 (current CBA) and the impact it would have on our members.

The Union passed proposals to renew MOA’s for Employment Security Commitment (ESC), Active Military LOA, Retaining the CWA appointed Benefit Representative, and a new MOA that would require the Company to submit monthly movement reports (shows new hires, transfers, terminations, etc.).

The Company rejected all of our proposals to improve upon Article XI specific to sick time and passed a retrogressive proposal that would change the eligibility to 2 years (currently 1), everyone over 5 years would have a 1 day waiting period (currently everyone over 8 years has no waiting period), and to drop paid sick days from 10 to 5!

Additionally, they rejected our proposals on improvements in Article IV Basis of Compensation and passed another retrogressive proposal to change the current language that pays Cable Splicers extra pay on nights. This current language was in the CBA because of the crazy change in hours they have to work from day to day due to the job requirements.

The Company also passed an MOA to temporarily upgrade Prem Techs to do CST work in which we plan to dissect in our own caucus tomorrow morning before asking more questions.

Now finally some good news! We were able to tentatively agree to our first two proposals that would protect Article III – New Job Titles & Article XII – Seniority with no changes from the current language. Though it seems like a small victory, our hope is it will catapult into some positive changes in other proposals that we have passed in the first few days.

As you can see, the Company is playing games with our current language in several articles in the contract. The bargaining team needs everyone to show this Company we are serious and united behind getting a good and fair contract. Please pay attention to the mobilization coordinator’s requests in your Locals and if you have questions, contact your Local! This battle can’t be won just at the table; your Union needs YOU the members to also FIGHT!

We are scheduled to meet with the Company tomorrow and will follow up with a new bargaining report afterwards.

To stay updated on actions and mobilizations, text FIGHT to 49484. You can also fill out this quick form to get involved and receive the latest bargaining updates.

In Solidarity,

CWA/AT&T SW Bargaining Team

Click here to see all reports

Report from March 10, 2025

The Union Bargaining team met with the Company this morning at the table.

The session started with the Company passing a retrogressive proposal for Article XIX Grievances that would drop the amount of days you could file a grievance from 45 days down to 30 days from the date of the incident, as well as drop the amount of employees that are paid during a grievance meeting from 3 to 2. The current language of 3 covers the Grievant, plus the Union to have two people (1 to present the case and 1 to take notes). Dropping to 2 would diminish this process. The Company also passed a proposal to drop the $3000 cap for incentive plans in which we are currently reviewing the implications, and a proposal to renew the National Transfer Plan in which the Union already had a proposal drafted to do this.

The Union introduced four new Memorandum of Agreements to the Company. The first one was an MOA that would allow Mobility Union Officers or their designees to represent Core employees and be paid by the Company. This is super important for Locals that have both bargaining units (Mobility and Core) in their Locals. The second was an MOA that would count the unpaid work time a Union official spends towards their FMLA eligibility. This has been a disadvantage for Union Officers & Stewards who complete Union work as they may have not had enough hours to protect a medical absence through FMLA if they were to become ill. Third, we introduced an MOA that would introduce two new stipends that would cover climbing boots and prescription safety glasses for the titles that require one or both of these items. Finally, we introduced an MOA for employees eligible for a Transitional Leave of Absence (TLOA) that lasts longer than six months but less than twenty-four months to have the Company’s cost share of their benefits to be paid for the full duration of their TLOA until retirement kicks in; right now it stops at six months.

This afternoon the Union team met with the CWA Research Department in regards to the Company’s initial benefits proposal. The meeting was very productive and we prepared several questions that we plan to present to the Company tomorrow in regards to this initial proposal.

As you can see, the week started off with a lot of work both at the table and in our own Union caucus. It’s obvious with a couple of the proposals we have received from the Company so far that they want to take away pieces of the contract that have worked well for several years now.

It’s still early, but we are prepared to fight off their retrogressive attacks and improve upon what we already have in the CBA.

Thank you to all the Locals who have engaged in Mobilization activities thus far! For those Locals who haven’t participated yet, where are you at? Your Union needs you!

We are scheduled to meet with the Company tomorrow and will follow up with a new bargaining report afterwards.

To stay updated on actions and mobilizations, text FIGHT to 49484. You can also fill out this quick form to get involved and receive the latest bargaining updates.

In Solidarity,
CWA/AT&T SW Bargaining Team

Click here to see all reports

Report from March 7, 2025

Today the Union Bargaining team met with the Company and received the Company’s first comprehensive benefits proposal. The presentation took several hours as there was a lot of information to explain. And lots of questions were asked.

Not to get too deep into the weeds as this proposal will likely change multiple times over the course of the next 5 weeks through counter proposals, however it would move all current employees including any new hires into the same bargained for medical program. Additionally, they are proposing to make a change to the savings plan which would put everyone into the same plan excluding employees in Appendix J (they would remain in the AT&T Retirement Savings Plan & Cash Balance #2).

There are some major differences in the Health Care Plan with their initial proposal than what we have currently, in which we plan to meet with the CWA Research Department to walk through their proposal and what it would look like for our members. The Research Department has seen this similar proposal two times previously last year at the other core tables.

Lots more information to come in future reports as we bargain with the Company towards crafting the best benefits package possible for our members.

The day ended with the Union passing four new proposals for stronger language in Appendix J’s supplemental statements. Additionally, the Company’s proposal to eliminate severance pay for employees who are terminated was officially rejected.

There was a lot of work that went into the first week at the table with the Company and we could not do this without you, the members, continuing to show support and mobilizing in the field and in your offices towards a fair contract!

Our next report will come out after Monday’s session with the Company.

To stay updated on actions and mobilizations, text FIGHT to 49484. You can also fill out this quick form to get involved and receive the latest bargaining updates.

In Solidarity,

CWA/AT&T SW Bargaining Team

Click here to see all updates

Report from March 6, 2025

Due to an unforeseen medical issue, today both parties (Union & Company) worked in their individual caucuses. The Company’s scheduled initial benefits presentation has been moved to tomorrow’s scheduled session.Today the Union Bargaining Team worked through some additional proposals that will be improvements on current language around the amount of mandatory OT for Technicians, improvements on some differential pay, and some new MOA’s that will be introduced by the Union team. We will discuss these MOA’s further after they are passed at the table in a future bargaining report.

The Team ended the day by meeting with our two Alternate bargaining team members via zoom and providing them an update on where things are currently. They have been a valuable voice in the process and we plan to check in with them weekly (or more often if needed) through the duration of bargaining.

During tomorrow’s benefits presentation, the Company has agreed to excuse our CWA appointed Benefits Representative to join the Union Team for the presentation in which his feedback and expertise will add additional value to the team.

Remember, this is a marathon not a race; and we will be as transparent as we can be without causing any harm at the table to the overall process of getting us the best agreement possible. With that being said, mobilization by our members is key in showing this Company we are united for this FIGHT! Please continue to stay connected to your Locals and their designated mobilization coordinators on future actions.

To stay updated on actions and mobilizations, text FIGHT to 49484. You can also fill out this quick form to get involved and receive the latest bargaining updates.

In Solidarity,

CWA/AT&T SW Bargaining Team

Click here to see all updates

Report from March 5, 2025

Before we get started with today’s report, we wanted to explain some of the terminology that is used in our reports and what it means:

• Passed Proposals – this means proposals were passed across the table by the drafting party (Union or Company). These are not agreements, only proposals that have been requested at the table.
• Counter Proposals – this means one party has countered an original proposal that was passed at the table by the other party (Union or Company) and requested changes to that original proposal.
• Rejected Proposals – this means that one party (Union or Company) has rejected a proposal and it is no longer currently in play at the table.
• Tentatively Agreed Proposals – this is what we strive for as it means a proposal has been mutually agreed upon by both parties and signed as a tentative agreement towards the final contract tentative agreement.

Again, these are some of the terms you will see used over the next six weeks and we wanted to give a better idea of what each term means.

Now to the real report; your elected CWA/AT&T SW Bargaining Team met face to face with AT&T Labor Relations for day #2 of our negotiations.

During the morning session, the Company completely rejected the Union’s proposals to move all titles from Appendix J to Appendix C. Additionally, they rejected all proposals that would add Appendix J employees into specific Articles in the departmental agreement and out of their supplemental agreements in Appendix J. However, the Company did mention they are fully open to having discussions on improving the supplemental agreements that are in Appendix J.

The Union was fully prepared that this would be the Company’s plan of action as they had made similar moves in other AT&T Core contracts last year that had similar job titles. The Union worked all day to finalize several proposals that would change or strengthen language in the Appendix J supplemental agreements. Late on day 2 we passed several of these proposals across the table to the Company.

The Company closed the day by passing two proposals. One proposal was concerning the number of months that the Company can require technicians to work a total of 12 hours of overtime per week. The second involved regressive language towards severance payments. These were passed as the last proposals of the day. The Union will look at these further before sending counter proposals or responses.

Tomorrow the Company has informed the Union Bargaining Committee that they intend to present their initial benefits proposal.

We are only two days into this marathon and the Company has already played their hand on keeping Appendix J employees in place. The Union was and is ready for this fight at the table. We need everyone with us in the fight.

To end this report, we want to thank our brothers and sisters from Local 6132 in Austin, Texas for meeting us the first morning we walked in to begin bargaining. Your support meant the world to us.

To stay updated on actions and mobilizations, text FIGHT to 49484. You can also fill out this quick form to get involved and receive the latest bargaining updates.

In Solidarity,
CWA/AT&T SW Bargaining Team

Click here to see all updates

Report from March 4, 2025

NOTE: The words “pass”, “passed”, and “passing”, in the context of bargaining, means the proposals are going across the table to the Company.

The CWA/AT&T SW Bargaining Team met face to face with AT&T Labor Relations for day #1 of our negotiations.

The session opened up with comments from D6 Vice President, Derrick Osobase, and AT&T/Labor Relations Vice President, Randy White. The take away from both VP’s was finding common ground, even when we have disagreements and ending with a contract we can all agree upon.

The Union passed 37 total proposals on day one! Our very first proposal was to eliminate Appendix J by moving the four titles into Appendix C. Also, the Union passed proposals to include Appendix J employees into the following Articles by including them and eliminating the supplemental corresponding agreements in Appendix J:

Article II – Classification, Article IV – Basis of Compensation, Article VI – Hours of Work, Article VII – Work Schedules, Article VIII – Holidays, Article IX – Vacations, Article X – Excused Work Days, Article XI – Absences of Duty, Article XIII – Job Vacancy, Article XIV – Promotional Pay Treatment, Article XV – Temporary Work in Higher Positions, Article XVI – Travel, Article XVII – Force Adjustment, Article XVIII – Severance Payments, and Article XXV – Contract Work. Once we fully understand the Company’s intentions to our proposals, we will be able to move forward with discussions of the four job titles that are currently in Appendix J.

Additionally, the Union passed the following proposals:
addressed inclement weather absences, adding hazard pay for disaster work, reintroducing the cost of living allowance, keeping night diff at 6pm versus it changing to 7pm per the last negotiating report in 2017, days off by seniority, eliminating the 12 hours of mandatory OT 3 months out of the year, adding additional Holidays, lowering vacation week eligibility to match Mobility contract, improvements on carry over vacation scheduling, additional paid Excused Work Days, Improvements on funeral leave, improvements on sick time, adding additional compensation for Communications Techs who are required to train others, introducing per diem based on IRS rates, improved severance payments, and protection of future work outside of traditional telephone work.The Company passed three proposals today in what they called clean up language; one to eliminate Appendix D where operators had mostly been housed and no longer exists, elimination of the Operator Services Task Force agreement (falls in line with eliminating Appendix D), and to renew the military LOA for Operation Enduring Sentinel.

As you can see, it was a very busy first day of bargaining with AT&T!

The Union bargaining team will begin tomorrow working in our own caucus to prepare for the next meeting with the Company to pass additional proposals to protect existing MOA’s and introduce a few new ones.

With that being said, we can’t get to the top of this mountain without the mobilization of our members. Please get connected with your Local on what you can do to help us win this FIGHT!

Thank you to all the Locals that sent in pictures of their members showing support in solidarity with the Bargaining team. This is the very heartbeat that will keep us going!

To stay updated on actions and mobilizations, text FIGHT to 49484. You can also fill out this quick form to get involved and receive the latest bargaining updates.

In Solidarity,

CWA/AT&T SW Bargaining Team

Click to see all updates