AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) has announced that AT&T Mobility has agreed to extend two mobility contracts by one year with Communications Workers of America. The two contracts cover around 24,000 call center customers support workers, technicians, and AT&T representatives at retails stores across 45 states including the Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia.
AT&T Extends Mobility Orange and Black contracts for another year each
This extended Mobility Orange contract will go into effect on February 13 next year until February 11, 2022. The contract covers 36 states including the District of Columbia and will cover 14,00 AT&T Mobility workers. The extended Mobility Black (or Mobility Southeast) contract will cover around 10,000 AT&T Mobility workers in the southeast Region -CWA District 3. The region covers Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Kentucky, and St. Croix, USVI. The contract will go into effect on February 12, 2022, and run for one year until February 10, 2023.
Interestingly this extension will include a 2.5% wage increase which will be effective in the initial contract expiration dates. The benefits will remain the same as per the existing costs sharing arrangement. Most importantly the breakthrough job security safeguards discussed in 2017 will remain in place. For now, the employees can continue working under the terms of their current contracts until when the extensions take effect.
AT&T workers to continue working remotely
AT&T also reached an agreement with CWA that all AT&T Mobility Call Centre workers that are currently working from home because of the pandemic will continue working remotely until June 2021.
Jim Kimberly, AT&T’s spokesperson stated that the extensions will offer a level of certainty to workers covered through the contracts. Kimberly said that the extended contracts will allow the company to continue offering solid middle-class jobs at competitive salaries and additional benefits. Further, Kimberly indicated that the company wants to maintain flexibility to operate in a highly competitive environment. In June this year, CWA and AT&T Southwest signed a four-year contract extension for 17,000 employees.