AT&T wireless workers who support iPhone sales in 36 states and D.C. are demanding a fair contract that protects 21,000 American workers and quality customer service
CUPERTINO—After months of being stonewalled at the bargaining table, hundreds of AT&T wireless workers and members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) will protest outside the launch of the iPhone 8 at Apple HQ on Tuesday. Marking the start of a critical sales period that’s expected to bring in billions for the telecom giant, workers are calling out AT&T’s pay cuts for its retail employees and the company’s rampant outsourcing and offshoring that undermine their job security and ability to provide quality customer service.
Workers will be chanting and carrying signs that say “iMay get outsourced by AT&T.”
WHAT: AT&T Wireless Workers and Supporters Protest at iPhone 8 Public Launch
WHERE: Entrance to Apple Campus 2
Intersection of Apple Parkway and North Tantau Avenue
1 Apple Parkway
Cupertino, CA 95014
WHEN: 9:30 AM PST
Background
Despite bringing in over $1 billion in profits, AT&T continues to squeeze employees, and customers, while failing to come to the bargaining table with serious proposals that protect family-supporting jobs. The company has become one of the worst job destroyers in recent years, relying more and more on offshoring and outsourcing as the engine of their super-profits.
AT&T has increasingly handed over the operations of its retail operations to third-party dealers that now represent over 60% of all AT&T branded stores—a strategy that may be driving a growing pattern of customer complaints, according to a CWA report. At the same time, AT&T retail employees are watching their pay decline by thousands of dollars because the company manipulates their commission structure.
Meanwhile, AT&T executives are pushing for corporate tax reform that would allow AT&T to pay a lower tax rate than their own employees who make just $16 an hour by saying job creation would follow. However, AT&T already pays next to nothing in taxes and has cut tens of thousands of jobs in recent years. According to a recent report from the Institute for Policy Studies, AT&T is the top job-cutter among the tax-dodging firms.
Last week, wireless workers briefed members of Congress, including Senator Bernie Sanders, on these issues and on AT&T’s continued refusal to bargain fairly. Earlier this year, AT&T wireless workers walked off the job for the first time ever in a 3-day strike, forcing AT&T to close hundreds of retail stores across the country. They are fighting for a fair contract that protects family-supporting jobs and are calling on the company to do what’s right for its workforce and its customers.
