The 17,000 AT&T workers in the southeastern region represented by the Communication Workers of America (CWA) have reached a tentative agreement after being on strike for over a month. The workers that walked off the job are technicians, customer service representatives, and line installation and maintenance crews. The activity on the picket line placed enormous pressure on the company to reach agreements with CWA, as workers demonstrated at every location in the southeastern United States and brought telecommunications work to a standstill.

Our CPUSA clubs in the region supported the strike effort from the very beginning of the strike. The Labor Commission of the CPUSA mobilized comrades and friends in North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia to bring solidarity greetings, strike support, donations, and People’s World news coverage to the effort.

The CWA reported the new agreement with AT&T Southeast includes a 19.33% increase in wages for all workers plus an additional 3% for wire technicians, and stabilization of healthcare costs for the next four years.

These wage increases will not only show the strength of unions, but that workers have strength and support even in the “Right to Work” (for less) South. It will inspire others to join together and demand a living wage! This is not easy to do. When your workplace has enough employees to fill half of Bull Stadium in Durham, North Carolina, that can be a daunting task.

From the Greensboro-Triangle CPUSA Club, we can assure that solidarity is strong in the South. Southern workers have endured the hardships of the “Right to Work” and “At-Will” bosses for decades; it is no wonder every other business headline ends with “opening in the southeast soon.” The American South is “cheap” according to those moving in, and they wish to exploit those of the working south to maximize corporate profits. If the labor actions this month alone could speak they would say “labor is not for sale on a discount! Our lives are not for sale on the cheap! We are not so weak as to take pennies while profits are in the dollars! We are the working class and we deserve to own our labor!”

The Western North Carolina Club was active on the picket lines from Asheville to Canton. Our club members have supported the AT&T workers by being on the picket lines, donating food and water, and have spread the petition to support the strikers across the region. We celebrate with the workers who went back to the job on Monday, September 16. We have also been active with the nurses union at Mission Hospital. We will continue to stand in solidarity with the workers across the region for a better world that places people before profits!

In Florida, our CPUSA members recruited support from our friends in labor, including from the International Longshoremen’s Association Local 1402 in Tampa Bay. In Orlando, there were 5 picket locations in the city and they were large, with several dozen workers and supporters from the community and labor movement.

Our People’s World labor correspondents spoke with union leaders in North Carolina, Atlanta, and Alabama during the strike to give voice to the strikers and to share the stories with a partisan view towards our working class.

We spoke to Erroll Minor, a member of CWA Local 3902, who oversees critical infrastructure for hospitals and other institutions, where a loss of service could be catastrophic.

“We see how badly they treat the techs who are out there crawling under porches, out in the rain, sleet, and snow. And they let us know that they consider office staff a tier below that even. They’re trying to divide us up,” Minor told us, demonstrating that the working conditions for office staff aren’t easy either.

Kevin Doan, Vice President of CWA Local 3601 told us that “the community has been outstanding, just outstanding from people honking horns to dropping off snacks and water and just their support means the world to us. It keeps us going. We appreciate (the CPUSA and People’s World) continued support. We do hope to get back to work soon, and trust me, the service levels will come back to where they were and we’ll take care of our customers like we always have.”

The CWA District 3 Vice President, Richard Honeycutt, said that the union is “incredibly proud of our members and thank CWA members, retirees and allies across the country for the solidarity that has sustained us through these difficult negotiations. Their willingness to make sacrifices in order to win major improvements in their contract not just for themselves, but for future members is truly inspiring.”

Images: CWA Local 3601 On Strike by CPUSA Labor Commission (Creative Commons); CWA Local 3601 On Strike by CPUSA Picket Line by CPUSA Labor Commission (Creative Commons).

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