Thread regarding AT&T layoffs

The HSA is a very sweet tool. The growth mine has seen with Fidelity is nothing short of stunning. I can appreciate anyone wanting that benefit.

What I think I read....

They want low premiums, low deductibles (probably no copay), low maximum OOP, and the HSA contribution.

The cost to deliver such a package to 13,000 people would be mind boggling. I can see the company rejecting this even before the union could finish voicing the demand. It is the sort of demand that marks you as being ignorant simply for having asked. It is that absurd. Let it go.

So one of the sticking points appears to be healthcare costs. D3 wants rates based only on actual D3 costs and not sharing the burden with their other district brethren and is saying that they're overpaying for what the expenses actually are. How do they know that? I'd think the Southern folks are just as unhealthy as the rest of us. Does that mean you get pi---d off at your brothers and sisters when one of them gets cancer or has a family member with a chronic illness? As high as the management deductibles and OOP maximums are, I know that they are actually better than a lot of people pay in other companies.

Demanding LOWER premiums when the entire country's costs are going up is ludicrous.

what bargained employees get flows to the managers too

...ebb and flows maybe. Every time the union gets great concessions, management benefits get worse. August to November/open enrollment gives them plenty of time to dilute and decrease management coverages. What the company is offering in healthcare (high deductible) is exactly what management already has.

"It's been shown again and again what bargained employees get flows to the managers too."

Um....nope. Our healthcare costs are way higher than yours and your salary is about the same or higher than us low-level managers. Your raises certainly are. So, we don't benefit at all from your gains. Wish we did.

“Now get your self to your CP assignment and quit complaining”

We’ve been told to wfh till the strike ends lol

“ The union contracts have job security in them”

Not just a delusional person, but one who has no clue how close they are to being replaced by an outsourced person. And you wonder why union employees are laughed at 😂

2 hours ago by Anonymous | 3 reactions (+2/-1)
Post ID: @1oam+1u5y8ji7

You are funny. I see non bargained roles fly to India as fast as a 747. Tell me again who is getting outsourced?

Union Demands vs reality
Reading the SE bargaining report seems more like a Xmas wish list.
Out of curiosity… is there a reason why union members ‘deserve’ all those increases? For instance , health care costs have gone up for everyone. Why should yours not only be lowered, but add company matches and significant pension increases?
If T does not base healthcare on the national average , then likely your brother and sister unions will have to see their healthcare rise even more.
Why should T ‘significantly’ increase your wages PLUS annual cost of living increase?

Just because you need or want more money doesn’t (necessarily) mean your work has suddenly become that much more valuable.

7 hours ago by Anonymous | 793 views | 32 reactions (+19/-13) | 32 replies (last just now)
Post ID: @OP+1u5y8ji7

That would be because you are going to take it again and again without lube. Some people can say NO. That is why. Is that simple enough for you?

I’m an essential worker & demand an essential worker pay.

2 hours ago by Anonymous | 3 reactions (+1/-2)
Post ID: @1tkm+1u5y8ji7

Build me a hinge..

I am confused, manager. You say you have been here since 6 am, yet there is such a small pile of hinges.

Locking out the workforce during contract negotiations has serious ramifications"

Choosing to strike rather than negotiate is probably not the best move in avoiding a potential lockout. Another poster was correct. That box has been checked now. Speaking of checks, I suspect this negotiation can better be likened to game of chess. The union rushed forward quickly with a strike, but now they have nothing left. The remaining crushing moves are left in the play of the company. The union may be unwittingly playing against a master. Makes one wonder who is actually in control at that negotiating table.

I've been here for 3 decades. Let the company play their cards. I assure you, the company will fold. Always have.

BTW calling anyone in "leadership" calling themselves a "Chess Master" is an insult to true to a Chess Master.

Now get your self to your CP assignment and quit complaining. Accept your loss of vacation days, retirement health care benefits and the sale of your pension to a 3rd party insurance company.

"Union members please know that you are federally protected."

Not by much. Do you think the government would let the CWA drastically disrupt a TRULY essential communication company like AT&T? Remember back in the 80's when the union backed FAA air traffic controllers decided to strike? Regan told them to get back to work or be terminated.

Don't assume that the feds are going to back you either. All AT&T needs to do is offer a competitive rate above what you are making now and watch how many of us would be HAPPY to cross your picket line. Want to call me a scab for taking your job, go for it.

" I’m an essential worker & demand an essential worker pay. "

Paramedics are "essential" workers. I did EMS & Rescue for 20 years [ mostly volunteer ] , I started at $7.25 / hr. As of 2023 the national median income is $ 53,180. Most medics can't join a union because of state laws. However in most states firefighters can join the IAFF and law enforcement can join FOP.

How "essential" is your job? I did my volunteer years as a medic while working for Bell Atlantic & Verizon. BOTH were considered essential, only one was protected by FEMA. The union didn't have my back when I was asked to deploy for 2 weeks for hurricanes, etc. They sided with VZ and said my job was NOT guaranteed if I deployed. FEMA said otherwise.

I hope your local really has your back versus making sure they get paid while delivering empty contracts that most are not binding. Pensions? Ask any steel worker how long they received a pension after the mill declared bankruptcy.

Final offer has been rejected. Lock them out, and send the 60 day notification.

A lockout is a union's wet dream! This clown has no clue.

Why? Because every quarter Stank sends me an email telling me how many millions/billions/trillions/zillions/gagillions they’ve made and how they couldn’t have done it without me.

I’m an essential worker & demand an essential worker pay.

You know it’s funny as you managers always laugh about the union and all this BS but at least we have job security. You could be there 25 years and be fired and you could do nothing about it….. The managers talk how great AT&T is until the company stabs you in the back. They could care less about you just like they care less about core members….sad but true

“ The union contracts have job security in them”

Not just a delusional person, but one who has no clue how close they are to being replaced by an outsourced person. And you wonder why union employees are laughed at 😂

Union members please know that you are federally protected.

I couldn't be on the company's negotiating team. I wouldn't be able to keep a straight face. No, that's not true, I would belly laugh. Unprofessional though it might be, I would belly laugh. I keep thinking of the union negotiators marching in lockstep, and singing that heigh-ho song.... No, I couldn't do it. I would belly laugh.

59 minutes ago by Anonymous | 1 reaction (+1/-0)
Post ID: @uzv+1u5y8ji7

You may think you would be laughing like some kind of clown, but let us face some facts. The company wants to get below 100k employees, probably less (if you don't count our Indian "friends"). The union contracts have job security in them. What does your contract provide? RTO, out of State relocation with no guarantees of further employment, continued loss of benefits. You're lucky the company only sold your pension to an insurance company, if you have one.

You will be back , but before much longer you will be on the outside looking in. Just business.

"Locking out the workforce during contract negotiations has serious ramifications"

Choosing to strike rather than negotiate is probably not the best move in avoiding a potential lockout. Another poster was correct. That box has been checked now. Speaking of checks, I suspect this negotiation can better be likened to game of chess. The union rushed forward quickly with a strike, but now they have nothing left. The remaining crushing moves are left in the play of the company. The union may be unwittingly playing against a master. Makes one wonder who is actually in control at that negotiating table.

Stankey won’t lock them out. You know why? Because he’s one big mistake away from being gone. Why would the executives introduce risk when they are making more money than they ever could have dreamed. They want to keep the money train rolling. One false move and they’re out so the safe play is to settle. Everyone keeps making a paycheck this way especially those people with the 7 figure salaries.

The same people that are talking trash about union employees are the same people worried about layoffs everyday, all year long and the next year. The cycle never stops. Good luck lol

Final offer has been rejected. Lock them out, and send the 60 day notification.

5 minutes ago by Anonymous | no reactions
Post ID: @tmi+1u5y8ji7

If I had a dollar for every time I've heard this "threat" in my decades of working here, I would have several dollars and would still have not ever been locked out.

Locking out the workforce during contract negotiations has serious ramifications, not many that favor the company.

"Final offer has been rejected"

It is a slow process, and all the boxes have to be checked first.

Final offer has been rejected. Lock them out, and send the 60 day notification.

I couldn't be on the company's negotiating team. I wouldn't be able to keep a straight face. No, that's not true, I would belly laugh. Unprofessional though it might be, I would belly laugh. I keep thinking of the union negotiators marching in lockstep, and singing that heigh-ho song.... No, I couldn't do it. I would belly laugh.

manager here... Union you have my full support

Out of curiosity… is there a reason why union members ‘deserve’ all those increases? For instance , health care costs have gone up for everyone. Why should yours not only be lowered, but add company matches and significant pension increases?

It's been shown again and again what bargained employees get flows to the managers too. Managers need to ask whey they are getting pooped on.

No kidding. Just read through them. Equalizing wage zones? Does that mean the guy working out of Macon makes the same as the guy working out of Atlanta? It is no wonder that both sides are accusing each other of bargaining in bad faith.

This guy can’t figure out why the union is asking for us a raise. Weird post.

It’s not about equality or equity. It’s about 2 sides setting at a table and seeing which one blinks first and which one walks away with the goods. Never be concerned about what you gain at the bargaining table over what the non-represented employees get. I’m never thinking of only getting what is considered average for the type of work or the condition it leaves the employer in. Get everything you can, because the other side is trying to take what they can. If contract gains cause a major downsizing, hope you have the seniority to ride it out. Stand that picket line for every dollar you can get and anything else they toss out to sweeten the pot to get you off the picket line.

I don’t remember any managers complaining or returning any of their significant bonuses or wage increase in the first quarter of the year. Only saw a lot of bi--hing, how they deserved a better rating and a higher wage increase. Hypocrite’s

What does one expect out of the company, social media sycophants? Only we the entitled, deserve our bonuses and raise. 🤮🤮 Peons you should accept what we allow and don’t ask for a penny more, we own the company.

Why aren’t they off-shoring exec positions since, you believe this is all about money? How can one justify millions in salaries and compensation packages, for failed performance and no accountability? What is labor’s value, who meets or exceeds? Hypocrisy!

The company is so generous, D3, 401k (cash balance) max match for top craft, avg. is 2k @ year, what is your’s? I know 2k sounds exorbitant to give “Labor”, after all they are the lowest caste and only deserve scraps, from a net multibillion dollar a year, public traded company. In case you are wondering pensions are no longer offered for any bargained employee hired after 2009. $2k @ year, in 2024 is nothing especially, when they traded out fully company funded pensions for a small cash balance match and that’s if, an employee contributes first. The company has control over the match too, it gets less every year. It used to be nearly 100% match at first but over the years, has been reduced to the 56%-65% range.

The pendulum has swung so far one way that it has to return, if not, it starts social upheaval in countries which, results in socialism then, communism. Ever hear of the Bolsheviks? Capitalism only works with some regs in place because otherwise, those in charge, rig the system and the wealth gap increases and you end up without a middle class. Who will buy the products then? It becomes a nation in decline. Ask Cuba, Venezuela, Argentina what happened to their once thriving economy’s?

CEO’s are making on avg. 287 times the avg. employee. BOD’s are nothing but an elite country club, where everyone is voted onto each other’s BOD and rubber stamp everything, base corruption. Hollowing out high to middle class positions and off-shoring overseas, for $$. All while destroying companies innovation, culture and growth. They are using them as their personal ATM’s until, the company is but a shell of it’s former self.

Can anyone say AT&T is more successful, stronger, innovative or a leader today like, it was fifteen or twenty years ago? No, because the elites, and Wall St. funds have been su-king it dry while eliminating hundreds of thousands of good paying positions, R&D, selling hard and intellectual assets, reducing or eliminating benefits, changing policies, etc. They are trying to meet financial guidance. They are getting more desperate every year. There is a reason that AT&T has fallen from being number 1 and a leader, it all rest on leadership and their Wall St. masters, not Labor.

managers got to be managers.stay in your lane

Turn the question around. Why do you think you don’t deserve things like lower healthcare costs? With that mentality, you'll never get more than what someone else wants you to have. What makes you feel that you’re not entitled to these benefits? Don’t rain on someone else’s parade just because they’re not afraid to ask for more.

Interesting that only one of the "requests" is quantified. All the rest of them are heavy on the qualifiers like significant, more of this, lower of that,etc.

Just because you ask doesn’t mean you’re going to get it.

It's not bargaining in good faith if we don't get what we ask for. Pretty simple really.

It's the limited vocabulary and underdeveloped reasoning skills that fascinate the he-l out of me.

“This company is nothing without its union employees.”

Most companies are ‘nothing’ without their employees. That doesn’t automatically mean they have to give in to all their demands.
Is there a specific reason they feel entitled to what they are asking?

The purpose of unions to protect the workers from discrimination and abuse is important, but not intended to have the union leadership strongarm the company and extort their wants .

"Just because you need or want more money doesn’t (necessarily) mean your work has suddenly become that much more valuable."

Kind of sounds like the reason some manager may have been given for them not getting a raise at their annual review.....

Project much?????