Union authorizes AT&T Mobility strike; could begin today
As unfortunate as it might be, it looks like our scoop this past Tuesday was indeed spot-on and AT&T Mobility reps could be preparing to strike as early as today. While often necessary, strikes are never a good thing and in almost all instances everyone involved hopes a strike can be avoided. Sometimes a good old fashioned picket sign-wielding march around HQ is inevitable however, and it’s looking more and more like that is the case for AT&T Mobility reps fighting for what they believe to more fair compensation, employment and working conditions.
Thanks for the image, Papi!
Here’s what we know: The Communications Workers of America (CWA) union has voted, with a huge 85 percent yes vote, to authorize a strike for over 20,000 unionized AT&T Mobility employees. If union leaders do not come to terms with AT&T, the strike could begin as soon as today in 37 states where contracts are set to expire at 12:01 am tomorrow, February 8th.
Here’s what we think (thanks, tipsters!): There will be several states that do not strike initially, if indeed AT&T Mobility workers do strike. Among those states are Texas, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and possibly Oklahoma and Indiana. Many of the workers in these regions may be called upon to cover heavily-trafficked stores in striking regions which will no doubt create a bit of tension. In fact, low-traffic stores in strike states may even be closed temporarily to provide more coverage in higher volume stores. Beyond that, we have word that staffing agencies are already being called upon (as early as this past Tuesday, in fact) to seek out coverage for stores in affected regions which certainly doesn’t go far to instill confidence on AT&T’s side of the bargaining table. Of course we’re hoping this is merely a cautionary measure and AT&T is still doing everything in its power to avoid a strike.
Any strike is not to be taken lightly but in today’s economic climate we’re rooting extra hard for both sides to put in overtime at the bargaining table until an amicable and mutually beneficial agreement can be reached. We also hope that striking AT&T employees bear the current economic conditions in mind when coming in contact with temporary workers. Millions of Americans have been laid off over the past year and work is work. In the end, let’s all just hope for a quick resolution so we can get back to making snarky comments about AT&T’s 3G speeds without the strike looming over our heads (joking fellas, you know we love you).
Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
If you don’t like your job then quit. I am so tired of hearing that one too. If everyone had that mentality there would be no one with a job because if no one fights against companies that make changes to benefit themselves anytime they see their employees making a little more money than they want them too ever company would do this same thing. Why in the hell should I quit because that is not the reason why this is all happening. Most of us like or even love what we do. It is the fact that ATT wants to take advantage of people who do want to succeed and in reality make them a ton of money. People like you who use that stupid logic are the ones that the minute things don’t go your way you run and hide or just plain give up and make up stupid excusses to why your unemployeed leaching off of my tax dollars because your collecting unemployeement. Like many have said it is not like we are askng for a ton of stuff that ATT can not afford we just want things to either stay the way that they are or just be some what fair vs. making it impossible to do my job correctly. Look I am not die hard union but people need to make a stand to stop companies from just changing the rules to benefit themselves. I know it happens everywhere but ATT as well as any company should realize with out us they have nothing. SO where does that leave us we need them and they need us, and then their are the people that say if you don’t wanna do it there are a ton of people out there that will. Here is what I say to those people. Im sure there are people out there that want to do but just because you want to do it doesn’t mean you can do it correctly. You see the people that think they can are usually the ones that don’t make it through the interview or may be able to fake their way through the interview wash out during the 90 day probation period. I am not saying this job is hard because lets face it most jobs can be learned but the difference is those people that excell at it and become great at what they do. I will leave you with this. There once a place where people lived and were happy until the kingdom changed hands and all of a sudden people were taxed to death and their sons taken from their homes but some people did nothing because they figured its not me they are after. Well little by little the new kingdom began to spread and more and more people were treatted this way and still there were people who did nothing because the figured its not me they are after. When finally it was their turn to be taxed or have their sons removed from their homes they wondered why there was no one left to fight for them.
Unions need to go away. They served a purpose when unfair employment practices were around over 30 years ago but those are non-existent now with tighter employment laws. You are harming companies which consequently harms employment. Look at the auto industry. You are single handedly crushing American Auto Makers with your imposed costs. Go.AWAY.
Chris, you idiot. Get your facts straight. First of all, the ARPU is NOT $45. Secondly, you’re not factoring in churn.
….and I just relized michaelct already put you in your place…. so shut your mouth and go to work you whiny little bitch.
CEO’s need to go away. They served a purpose when coporations needed one man to be in charge like 30 years ago, but that is non-existent now with tighter over sight for various subsidiaries of a corporation. They are harming companies which consequently harms employment. Look at Ken Lay. You are single handedly crushing the investment bankers of America with your rampant fraud. Go.AWAY.
MORON, DON’T USE ONE EXAMPLE TO TARNISH ALL. Ex-Enron Chairman and CEO Kenneth Lay surrendered to authorities Thursday after being indicted in what experts called the centerpiece of the government’s crackdown on the scandals that have rocked corporate America.
unions have a place in society, unions are needed in hard working manual labor jobs to make sure of fair working conditions. however many unions grow too big and HURT the companies they are working for(look at the big3 right now, they pay almost 2x the cost of other car makers due to the union).
However can ANYONE please explain to me why a sales rep in a cellular telephone store needs a union?
they breed mediocrity, they reward people for being there long enough while stiffling orginal thought because of senority.
ATT is killing growth within thier stores because of the union MAKING peopl follow a path.
screw that, my buddy has worked for verizon 5 years now, started as a CSR and is now a DM. I have a buddy who started at ATT as a CSR and constantly bitches about how people move up just because they have been there longer, not because they are qualified.
sounds like a GREAT way to do thing.
unions….weeee
Sorry but I just have to chime in here…
I have worked in the wireless industry (tech and retail sales) for almost 12 years. Started out with a dealer for Cellular One, spent almost 9 years there, was paid well, treated fairly and had god benefits considering I worked for a small business…when he went belly up (bad financial decisions) I went to work for another dealer, was paid fairly, treated well but had no benefits. When the location I worked in closed (lost lease) I went to work for the carrier directly. I was paid well, treated fairly and had good benefits. When Cellular One was bought out by ATT we had nothing but high hopes for success and more pay…to bad it didn’t turn out that way, in fact the location I worked at was closed due to “low volume” and “Low profitability” (which was BS by the way) after the first 9 months as an ATT COR location. I was laid off initially and offered a decent severance package. Two weeks later when ATT decided that they had made a mistake in there estimate of needed employees for another nearby location I was offered to continue my employment with them there, I declined as did the other employee at the store that was also laid off (both of us over 40 years old and employees that were kept all under 30 years old…but we won’t go there, that’s another story). It turned out to be a good decision as the location was given to a large dealer and we both went to work for them.
This turned out to be the best decision I could have made.
I never did get treated fairly when I worked for Att, and all I saw was rising quota’s and lowered commissions. With the dealer I now get paid well again, get treated with respect for the job that I do and have half way decent benefits. There have even been some months that I did not quite hit quota and got paid out anyway because the local management has the ability to pay you anyway BASED UPON YOUR PERFORMANCE and MARKET CONDITIONS…something that Att would NEVER do.
And to those of you that think that this is an easy job that anyone can do, I’d like to see those of you who think that way try it out for a while and learn the truth, we get paid well for what we do because to do it RIGHT is very difficult and takes years to learn.
The reason why turnover is so high in this position is that carriers seem to want a young face doing this job, not professionals to do the job…so they hire people who don’t know anything about sales or the industry.
It is a complex, exacting and ever changing job that takes intelligence, dedication, honesty and the proper attitude to be successful at, most people do NOT have what it takes to do it and those of us that DO, we should be paid in accordance.
I feel for the At&t employees who are facing the strike, knowing what I know they probably need to do it to get what they deserve.
Oh and I have to add…
For the COR employee bashing the dealers…
I certainly can’t speak for all dealers…but we happen to spend more time fixing the problems that the COR store (or web sales) created for customers than we do fixing problems for other dealers in the area…and the only reason that we send our customers or any customer in general to a COR location is because they need something done that At&t has decided that we CAN NOT DO IN A DEALER LOCATION. Trust me we would like to give the customer that seamless customer experience that At&t wants but they do not allow it.
So when you get stuck doing the dirty work for dealers, blame that on At&t not the dealers. We are trying to create customers for life…and to do that you need to be able to do everything for them, if were not doing it for them…it’s not our decision, it is the decision of the company that you work for.
I work in a small town and have gotten to know almost everyone and earned their respect as an honest person looking out for their best interest, it is the only way to succeed in this business, if I was dishonest or flagrantly giving customers stuff they didn’t want or need just to make money I would be out of a job…
Being on the front line means that you have to interact and deal with both pleased and extremely displeased customers on a daily basis and the displeased ones are the fun ones, especially when the problem was not caused by you…but either the customer themselves or another dealer or At&t directly. When I worked in COR my manager would run and HIDE when pissed customers came in, now in the dealer channel again, I have a manager who will come right up and stand BESIDE ME when this occurs, back me up 100% and make the attempt to placate the customer and if needed ask them to leave, sometimes not politely…there’s a perk you can’t negotiate into a contract.
pleaase would you guys go on strike already, please just let this poor scab make a good impression and take just one job from all of you please. i want to work for att i dont care about benefits i just want a decent hourly wage and some kind of commission could care less about how much it was…….oh please oh please strike
youngc:
If you don’t care about commission they don’t want you. Sorry to break it to you but if you are there for an hourly check you shouldn’t be in sales, and when the real sales reps come back off strike management will be glad to let you go back to wal-mart where you came from.
I am a ATT customer. How can I help push management to reach a fair deal? Maybe CWA can get something on their website so customers can petition ATT. Something we should all realize: when Unions are over 20% of the workforce in a sector all employees in that sector make more and have better benefits.
CWAisOUTATOUCH:
Here are a few facts for you.
AT&T Mobility
4Q 08 ARPU: $59.59
4Q 08 Postpaid Churn: 1.2%
4Q Data revenue: Up 51.2% over last year
4Q New net subscribers (postpaid): 1.3 million
My original point is that at&t mobility is thriving. We are hiring like crazy and opening stores all over the place. If you read my entire post you’d notice I said I understand I’m not calculating all financial factors. I’m a business finance major w/4 mos left till graduation, 4.5 yrs wireless sales experience.. so I understand what the costs of running the business are, likely better than you.
Nobody is putting me “in my place”. Take a look at at&t’s financial statements, if you know how to read them, and you’ll understand why we feel like they can afford to not cut our pay. Oh and for those who are tired of hearing about it, or think they could do better.. this industry has been going on for a while, why haven’t you applied yet? AT&T is actually hiring in my market, quite a bit actually.
source:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/t-adds-2-1m-subs-wireless-revenue/2009-01-28
chris
your a union loser with no degree you belong in an unemployment line. or at walmart with your inbred mother and father. ive worked in wireless for the past 5 years i cant wait until i graduate college and fasttrack into a managment positon so i can fire your ass
yea i dont care about commission if its 15k less than last year commission is a bonus if your depending on bonus money than your priorites are fucked up. if you have to finally pay money for healthcare than so be it its 2009 everybody who isnt SEPTA pays for insurance. whats so bad about your work enviroment? people call you names? lifting iphones with a mandatory data plan too much on your back? try working for sprint who finally is focusing on customer retention rather than just sales i had the worst manager ever captain shady manager and no union to back me up for everything i did right.
maybe you should quit whining and get a job at a COR location if you are such an amazing sales person.
att cut work on the non mobility side
they pay dealers 200-300 per line to take into consideration the subsidized pricing on phones
i realized along time ago there are two types of people… sales people and non sales people.
its one of the highest paying jobs in the world but also the toughest.
if you cant deal get out.
if you have yet to work B2B, retail direct, AND retail indirect then you have no idea how to comment on this.
do you know how many companies and have cut pay so they didnt have to cut people?
do you know how many people are reading this that lost their jobs in the past 60 days?
let me ask a better question… do you even know what sales is about?
you all sound like a bunch of babies, wha wha wha my quota is to high.
i dont care if you sold 80 phones the month before… GUESS WHAT ITS A NEW MONTH AND YOU ARE NOW AT ZERO.
.. thats the hardest thing to grasp as a sales rep who doesnt understand what they are employed for.
screw you shiettalkers about att employees. at one point reps were making over 100,000/year. every year since then, they’ve been cutting out salary. Just last month, they lowered the feature pay to less then half our pay than we usually got. so u dumbasses that dont work for att just shutup and mind your business
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.
FUCK YOU SCABS!!!!
There are 4.5 million ready to take over your jobs. I’m sure they will take even minimum wage over what unemployment pays. Be happy to even have a job. I’ll take that one to the bank anyday. Don’t bother to reply to me or say i’m an idiot, because I don’t have the time to respond to trollers. Sticks and Stones baby
There is not going to be a strike. Agreement was extended 30 more days to try and figure “stuff” out. The thing is many of us @ ATT have no clue what that “stuff” is. Everyone says that its about benefits and raises but noone really knows for sure since the employee’s are not the ones negotiating the new contract. I personally want the strike so I can come to work while the other employees sit home.
LETS GO SCABS!!!!
FUCK THE UNION!!!
wow i just recieved a email and it doesn’t sound like they came into an agreement
youngc:
I’m not a member of the union, but I work in VA so I am automatically covered by their benefits by state law.
And if you were so experienced and good at wireless sales, you’d already have a job at att earning 40-50k/year, not begging people on message boards to strike so you can take their job for 10 bucks an hour.
steveh unions arent bad for america…bro read a history book and the process on GDP and GNP in America… unions arent the problem it;s saturated market with geeedy investors get it straight
wow reps at ATT USED to make 100k
too bad, reps at verizon STILL make 100k
non union, with better benefits, and a faster growing company….again…non union.
go you…..making 60k at a union job, AWESOME.
goooo union
mediocrity and pathetic losers.
ATT will fall under to the pressure eventually, but if they cave in like the motor companies did they will get RAPED by them.
@Chris
I quit Sprint/Nextel 2 weeks ago.
As an opportunist, you seize it anywhere and anyhow you have to.
Currently a candidate for a higher position with Cricket Communications
LETS GO STRIKE, JUST GOT A CALL FROM THE TEMP AGENCY!!
AND ITS 20$HR they agreed to pay me
STRIKE, STRIKE STRIKE!!!
Sounds like CWA walked away from the bargaining table with time left on the clock.
So much for making an effort eh?