As cars rushed back and forth down a busy highway in Hendersonville, James Vandenberg, an AT&T digital technician, held down a picket line on the side of the road with several of his coworkers.
Cars and trucks and motorcycles sounded their horns in support of the workers who held signs reading, ”Honk if you support workers” on one side, “Fighting for the middle class” on the other.
The men, part of Communications Workers of America (CWA), joined 17,000 union workers across the Southeast who have walked off the job since contract negotiations broke down with the telecommunications giant on August 16. On Thursday, AT&T and CWA entered federal mediation in hopes of reaching an agreement. Workers across North Carolina joined others from Georgia, Louisiana, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina, and Mississippi to protest how AT&T treats employees.
“They have been going back on agreements they already made, and they are reluctant to treat certain titles within our workforce with the same level of respect and consideration as others,” Vandenburg said, as he took a break in the shade. “They have been stonewalling at the table.”
The company said the union’s claim of “unfair labor practices are not grounded in fact,” in a statement on the AT&T website.
“We have been engaged in substantive bargaining since Day One and are eager to reach an agreement that benefits our hard-working employees,” the statement said.
Vandenburg’s work in the company is to maintain and repair the company’s equipment in the field. Heworks in all kinds of weather to do it, sometimes climbing under manholes or onto roofs.
Labor like Vandenburg’s is essential to the maintenance of AT&T’s infrastructure, he said. They lay and splice fiber optic cable and maintain the infrastructure of the internet out in the field. Other union workers in call centers field complaints from frustrated AT&T customers about why their internet isn’t working.
“It's all technical work, and it's skilled labor,” Vandenburg said. “It takes years to become proficient at what we do, and we deserve to be compensated as skilled labor.”
He stressed that he loves working for AT&T and has high confidence in his safety on the job. He said he wants to return to work, as soon as the company begins to bargain in good faith.
AT&T workers in Canton and two locations in Asheville joined the call for better working conditions. Supportive community members have spent the past six days showing up in support, bringing snacks, and spreading the word.
Other workers have shown support for the CWA efforts. “In a show of solidarity, Teamsters are refusing to cross picket lines to deliver packages to AT&T locations,” a statement from CWA said.
AT&T issued a statement on the first day of the action, noting disappointment in the strike. “This action needlessly jeopardizes the wages and well-being of our employees,” the statement said.
On Tuesday, the union said AT&T’s decision to send replacement workers who do not have the training and experience of the regular employees could hinder service. The CWA issued a statement Thursday saying a striking worker in Tennessee was injured by a vehicle driven by a contractor.
Representatives from AT&T and CWA met with the federal mediator Thursday morning, according to a statement from the union.
