AT&T Mobility Sales Reps going on strike?
This is unconfirmed as a whole at the moment, but we got a couple tips that AT&T sales employees were about to go on strike as “corporate is unwilling to budge on benefits and compensation.” We asked one of our ninjas about this and they said that it is definitely “possible” and there was a contingency in place. We’ll keep digging, but if you suddenly realize your Bold exploded in your hands and you need a new one, you’ll know why your local AT&T store is surrounded by picketers and protesters.
UPDATE: Yeah, this is for realz. Here’s an excerpt from the Communications Workers of America’s website: “Picket signs are being sent out to every CWA Local with Mobility members as the February 7th expiration date approaches. With little progress at the bargaining table, every Local must be ready to walk, if necessary, to get some RESPECT from AT&T Mobility.”
After reading many of these replies I’m noticing none of you realize that many of the union members involved in this bargaining agreement are the cellular network operation engineers. The ones that built every cell tower from scratch and maintain them. Going back to the Cell One and Cingular days. Every phone the stores sell including the Iphone is nothing but a piece of garbage in your pocket without the network to operate on. Over 80 percent of ATTs 12 billion profit came from wireless. That wireless is the old Cingular network that these engineers have built into this large 3G network. The big problem here is the merger of ATT landline and Cingular wireless. The remaining ATT landline management has a complete disconnect from and no respect for the only thing still giving them a paycheck WIRELESS! It’s just sad that out of the top 500 companies in the country one of the top 10 in profit is rated the 27th worst to work for by all of it’s employees including managers. Even they had their raises frozen this year and bonus pulled. All the managers need to do is reach across the table and connect with the wireless members they are now working with daily to better the companies future. Don’t believe the CEO bullshit about turning down a bonus. He had the board approve him taking 257000 shares at whole $0 dollars on Jan. 29th. He then sold 157000 of them for 3.6 million the same day. Typical CEO scumbag!
I am an assistant store manager for an at&t mobility… I believe in fighting for what you believe is right. However… Let’s not forget the economy we are in right now… and the fact that it is getting VERY hard to find jobs in the US. We should all be thankful we even HAVE a job. I think that most of our sales reps are being brain washed by the union. They have been getting false info from CWA and most of the reps are too young to even think about questioning or reasearching union facts.
If they’re dumb enough to walk in this economy then fire em all! Managers are going without raises this year, mangers already pay 1/3 of the healthcare costs, the rest of the employees should do the same!
No strike called – 24hr extension… ps. Raises should be givin on preformance not for showing up. Rep are lazy as hell and the only reason most of them will “strike” is because they want another day off to sit around and be lazy.
Thank you Former Att Mgr. Very well said. Ive work at Att for over 9 yrs. I started out making $12.50 and now I make $15.50 and if my math is correct, thats only a $3.00 raise. I was kind of rep that every sup wanted on their team, perfect attendace, high quality scores (98 %) for the yr,even wow national awards for my calls, high reliability, high availibilty, and whenever the Big Wigs would visit my call center, guess who they would put them to listen to calls??..you guessed it…me. It hurts so bad to get quarterly emails stating how many BILLIONS of dollars Att grossed, and to tell me that Im now worth shit to you now, I cant afford to take care of myself, let alone my family. Put the excutives on the phones for 8 hrs a day, and I bet those “bitches” would reach into there wallets and give us money. Its not an easy job to do and to do it well is awhole new issues. I say STRIKE, gve them hell, let them know that we can no longer bend over and take it! The last thing Att wants on there hands is Bad Press, they no longer give water to drink to there reps on the phones all day, no more profit sharing ( I remember one yr, we got over $2,000), man I miss that so much. My quarterly bonus that use to be xtra $800-$900 is now less than $200.00, and thats still with me keeping my stats high. Yes the country is hurting right now..but ATT is making crazy money!! NOW IS THE TIME TO STAND UP AND FIGHT.
To all of you that say we, as ATT workers, are greedy and lazy..shut the hell up…WTF? Both my significant other and I work at ATT and while we are thankful for our jobs, we are sick of the bullshit at ATT… Reps and managers alike get fu—- on our pay and benefits. ATT was one of the few corporations to make PROFITS last year…almost ALL from mobility.and the only ones to make any money were the damn execs!! We do NOT get “free” phones or plans contrary to what some of you idiots think and ATT does NOT have our interests at heart when WE are the ones retaining the damn customers…I’d like to see Randall Stephenson take a damn phone call…and do our damn job and get paid what we get paid…then let’s see what he says…that bitch wouldn’t last a week. And to all of you that don’t work for the damn company can kiss my ass… Stop talkin out of ur ass…we as employees aren’t greedy..we are jus tryin to pay the damn bills and put food on the table…I don’t wanna strike and I feel for the managers but I’ll be damned if ATT wins without a damn fight…if anyone is greedy here…its the damn execs and higher ups…it isn’t the damn workers…. Am I glad I have a job..yes I am…but I am Not like those of u that say “be happy u GOT a job”… I stand up for myself…what I believe in and I’m WORTH what I’m askin for…so SCREW ALL U IDIOTS THAT DON’T KNOW SHIT…
Now there’s a 24 hr extension? Why??? WTF!!! I still say STRIKE, why do ATT needs 24 hrs or is it the Union? Enough talk, now its time for Action and Action speaks louder than words!!!!!!
I am one of the “dumbass managers”/”scabs”/”assholes”/etc. that will have to go in to work if there is a strike. I work in a state where no one is union so I am about as indifferent as they come. I would first like to say that I, as a manager, understand that the reps have the hardest job in the company. But I also understand that corporate leaders have to look 5, 10 years into the future when it comes to business. All of these companies that are begging to be bailed out are ones that mismanaged during booming years.
Good luck to all of you.
“On Feb 8, 2009 @ 2:03 am, Truth Said:
No strike called – 24hr extension… ps. Raises should be givin on preformance not for showing up. Rep are lazy as hell and the only reason most of them will “strike” is because they want another day off to sit around and be lazy.”
So I suppose that management and all non-bargained employees at AT&T have poor performance, not worthy of a raise? This corporation has frozen salaries for these people, regardless of performance. If performance was the true “decider” of a wage increase, then (by your thinking) management must be doing something wrong. That isn’t the case. This idea that a company will reward hard work is naive. A company will pay only the minimum they can in a given environment.
As far as the economy goes, getting a side job + union pay won’t cripple us enough to the point where we would have to abide by the garbage benefits that we now receive, additionally our commissions were slaughtered. We may as well be making union pay if you consider what the company has done to us at this point.
Hey, check our current health benefits now.
MisterMgr, you’ve obviously got your testicles glued to the corporate machine. It must feel nice to know that your salespeople dictate what you make each month, so if I were you, i’d shut it and quick, otherwise, the next step will just to have all employees produce the absolute minimum, thereby screwing YOUR comp check.
have a nice day.
PS: Going on Strike WILL NOT force us to lose our jobs, nor will it give anyone else any type of permanant employment, however, I welcome for those individuals to say otherwise, a Union Based lawsuit would be a very nice thing to win during these…
…economic times.
You Go !! I customers ask me all the time if we get free cell phones and free landline service, i laugh and then say, we are here for the customers not for the perks
NOTHING!!!
This union sucks !! 30 more days… they are just going to fold. And again we will get nothing. Umm.. this is another reason why At&t is the worst employeer I ever had and this union is wimpy
In 1.5 years at AT&T as a sales rep:
-My base pay has gone up $2.50/hour
-Exceeding quotas: $48,000/year w/ commission
-Paid $0 of a $100,000+ hospital bill
-Pay around $30/month for medical/dental/vision
-Have received multiple raises from the company outside the unions contracted raise schedule
About 3-4 years ago, before they were unionized, Cingular sales reps at my store (most who have moved on to management or business sales positions) were making 75k/year with commission just hitting quotas (this was before they were rolled into the CWA). My manager who has worked for the company for over 10 years said around a decade ago sales reps were making easily over 100k per year.
I certainly can’t complain about my working conditions considering the work. AT&T is certainly fair to their employees, at least in my experience. There are always problems wherever you go (like constantly fluctuating commission), but it sure beats doing the exact same thing at Best Buy for $8 an hour, with a pay cap at $12-$15/hour depending what department you work in. I am just thankful to have a job where I am guaranteed more than $35,000/year right now with great benefits for my family.
I will stay silent on whether or not I support a strike, although from the looks of it, you can probably figure out what I think.
CWA AND AT&T MOBILITY BARGAINING REPORT # 20
February 8, 2009 (3:30PM)
With the clock stopped at 11:59pm Saturday, February 7, 2009, Bargaining resumed today with the Union requesting the Company to extend the provisions under the 2005 Labor Agreement by thirty (30) days to allow for additional time to come to a fair and equitable contract settlement.
The Union re-emphasized the fact that the Company underestimated the necessary time required to bargain making it nearly impossible to address the issues that you, our members asked us to care for. Blatant interference on the Company’s part and the numerous reports of intimidation and harassment taking place in the work locations has directly attributed to the lack of progress which has been made to date thus accounting for the number of unresolved issues that still remain on the bargaining table.
The Union’s Bargaining Team is ready and willing to negotiate as long as the Company is willing to do the same.
The Union Bargaining Team asks for you continued support as we work towards a settlement agreement.
The Union is available and willing to bargain for as long as it takes to get our members what they deserve.
Provisions of the current contract remain in effect.
Updates will be provided as events develop.
Until you are told differently, it’s business as usual.
Stay Informed. Be Prepared. Expect the best.
MOBILIZE MOBILIZE MOBILIZE
guess I know now were my union dues are going to….room service for the next 30 days.
I am going to enjoy reading the companies side of how it went on there bargaining up date web site. Once I get back my ID and login privlages restored and before that my building access will need to be restored. Last week they shut everyone off a week early because someone posted the wrong date to turn cards off.
Prisoner number 51723 requsting permission to enter the room. this should be fun tomorow.
OMG!!! Where did you people go to school? for that matter, did you GO to school? I have never in my life read so much crap from so many uneducated people.
Let me start first with Ken – entitlements? You darn right! I’m entitled to earn a wage that will allow me to support myself, not a wage that barely lets me make it paycheck to paycheck in city that has one of the lowest costs of living in the country. And before you say it, yes, I actually agree with you about the entitlement attitude. However, you missed the fact that you, too, seem to think you’re entitled to require someone else to put up with an employer that makes more money in one quarter than some companies make all year and that company is saying,”we cant afford to give you a raise.” Huh? Dude, you even said “Just go try to find a better job, competing against everyone else these day(s)”. I don’t think the American public is entitled to a $700 Billion dollar stimulus package but I do think that if att paid me worth a damn, I might be able to put a little stimulus in the economy. You are an arrogant putz much like I used to be when I sponged off off Mom and Dad while I went to school. So, are you living with Mommy & Daddy and trying to fast track into management or are did you just make manager?
Orphan Annie – your turn, Honey. Unions trying to increase their monthly subscriptions… Do you even have a clue as to what you’re attempting to talk about? See the response Ken received. Are either of you remotely familiar with the Employee Free Choice Act? I suggest you do a little reading before you open your obviously uninformed mouths on a topic about which it’s apparent you know next to nothing.
And now, my favorite, Rob. JEEZUS!!! you are the reason unions are struggling to exist. You said “I’m now with AT&T, I’ve got no intentions of striking, I’ve looked at what’s at stake over the past 2 weeks. I just bought a new car a week after new year’s. I don’t want to lose possible wages (I do pretty good) or get fired with the way jobs are going now.” Not a manager, huh Rob? So the reason you do “pretty good” is because of a UNION contract that gives you guaranteed raises, benefits better than just about any other employer in the country (not just the industry) and the right to representation in discipline cases (and brother, I can tell already, YOU are gonna see some discpline) but you’re not gonna strike. Nice one Dude. Just bought a new car, right? Did your union guaranteed wages help you get that? DAMN right they did! You, too, are an ignorant putz. Oh, and before I forget, Rob. You might be interested in learning that SBC (you know, SBC bought AT&T but kept the name) has a history of doing lockouts. Union or not, if CWA goes on strike no one but managers goes in. Didnt think of that did you? At least as a Union member- you ARE a Union member, arent you Rob? – you’ll get strike pay.
And how can I forget ATT Manager. OMG! what gratuitous platitudes… my heart bleeds for the fact “your bonus got cut to 67%” and you get “no merit increase”. Ya know, for a minute, I thought you might be a stand up guy/girl but then the “I lost my bonus” whine. At least, you get a bonus and not some stupid time share balloon for working your tail off on a call. BTW, ATT manager, you’re not the only one who thinks this is just about the sales force. Does anyone think about the Customer Care people who put up with schmucks like all of you all day long for less than $12 an hour? Can any of you yahoos figure out why your email isnt working on your p.o.s. Pearl or why you cant get mms on your iPhone (there’s no mms on iPhone)? Better still, how many of you can figure out what the snot nosed 12 year old with the FUZE is even talking about? Doubt it.
And speaking of being a moron, I can’t forget Jaime. So you make hella money, huh, esse? Yeah, then I get the freakin pissed off customer because she just got her bill and you told them Customer Care would adjust the STANDARD (translation, esse, that means EVERYONE pays it) upgrade fee and btw, you loaded their account with a buttload of features they didnt even know they had until they got the bill. Yeah, you make hella money but Customer Care has to fix all of your friggin screw ups.
WOW! Way more time in Moronsville than I ever wanted to spend. Maybe you att types need to pull your heads out of your collective rear ends and take a look at what your Union has done for you lately before you start saying your not gonna strike.
As for the rest of you, I suppose I’ll talk to you sometime soon because undoubtedly, you’ll be calling to ask me how to give you an upgrade you’re not eligible for or explain to you why your bill is over $1000 because you know your sweet little 14 year old daughter didnt download all those ringtones or send all those text messages.
Get freakin grip on reality, people! Better still – get a grip on your shoulders and pull your heads out of your butts.
YOU work for at&t? My God, it’s a miracle you haven’t bankrupted the company? You can’t even put a grammatically correct sentence together!!
Jao Me- LOL! Just want to say that you took the words right out of my mouth. Go get em!
Each day I hear customers complain how ATT try and get money from them each and every way possible. TRUE!! But then to turn around and try and get money from your own employess, we gets NOTHING free, no free airtime, no free phones, WE have to pay for ftrs on our employee accts. And we are the driving force behind the company! Cust Care is the one who spks directly to the customers and interact with them all FUCKIN day long. We are the ones to hear them complain, we are the ones who get to hear them scream in our ears, we are the ones who cant spk back to the customer is a nasty tone, we are the ones that have to kiss the customers asshole all day long, we are the ones who go home at night with headachs, backaches, heartaches. Since they (ATT) think so very little of cust srvc, why not send the jobs over seas..and yes Americans loves spking to people with accents, or better yet, why not let the cust spk to an automated systems. Thats right, keep right on pressing “0″ and wait for a customer service rep to come on the phone and assist you. NOT!!!!!!!
This is so stupid..im a att rep in a call center and everyone that was or still is a rep in a store needs to grow up and be an adult. You all do nothing and get nothing right when you actually handle a customer and thier issues half the time call into us and we have to get it straight for you. We get paid 9.25 and work 40-50 hours a week dont get commission even though we sale phones just like you do.So grow up and get off the strike b/c then you loose more money b/c the customers are just going to call us and and actually get it from us regardless of you. Your basically loosing money anyways. Oh, and have you ever thought of why att might actually be doing all the pay and commission decrease? B/c we always complain and have to send feedback on you guys at the store b/c yall did something to screw up the customers acc or no feature was added or a feature was added without the customers concent.So the company is loosing money b/c of you so stop your crying and get off the strike.
Agirl InYoungstown…. in todays economy be glad you have a job!!! if you think att sucks, then fucking quit!!!! you are annoying!!!
After reading all of these post, it is obvious that people have very strong opinions about this proposed strike. The bottom line is this…..right or wrong, in this economy AT&T has the advantage. That is the hard core, undisputed truth believe it or not. And for all of those complaining about how horrible AT&T is as an employer, just get another job. You must have at least one friend who works somewhere that is hiring, or do you?? Life is too short to be miserable everyday. All of these rants are just that, rants. I understand the need to stand up for what you believe in, but your beliefs have to be justifiable. EVERYBODY is experiencing cut backs and job loss.
So I will stop now so that I can be cussed out and told how stupid I am and how clueless I am.
No 30 day extension. We work without a contract. Wow, the CWA sure does look like an impotent bitch in these negotiations. I sure hope they either stand up or give in soon.
Well I am in total agreement they cut out pay 15000.00 and wonder why people are striking hell I can barely afford to pay my bills without it thank god I am not in that much debt I wish att could at least stop changing commision when they are doing nothing but making people look for different employment if they looked at this in the long run with more experienced people they would actually make tons of more money with experienced people than with people who have never worked with OPUS/TELEGENCE
Walter