Thread regarding AT&T layoffs

The union forces the company to provide better wages, medical and other benefits that help everyone if you have 5 years or 25 years.

Agreed totally, the union concept works only if you have 22+ years seniority, everyone else is a target, and of course they need the rise to continue for obvious reasons

Most are management in name only, no direct reports but on salary.

The scabs mentioned below are management employees that are forced to take 16-80 hours of training and a leader led review class. At the end of the rushed training the students are mostly unfamiliar with how to handle a call comes to them and can barely remember what screens or codes to use. A contract that expires soon is CREDIT AND COLLECTIONS. I take about 15 minutes to do what an agent does in 3. The agent does the task right. I am guessing. I don't like taking the training on my own time, the solidarity of working my job 12 hours a day if not called up, or the feeling of incompetence. Upper management uses the strike duty to pit the lower management against the union. Both sides should work to help each other and be flexible. We all were happy to be hired. How did this change?

T has a ready supply of scabs that they are actively training up, non-union technical people who are told they will be fired if they don't toe the line. Every year there are scab training requirements that everyone hates but have no choice about.

I wish the techies had a union to help us resist this.

The younger generation doesn’t understood the meaning and value of a Union. Let’s face facts the reason AT&T didn’t strike was because that weekend strike they had you had reps crying about losing money for a day or 2. If you have Union members who cant handle a 2 day strike and can’t see the bigger picture how would a strike with an unknown end date worked out? You would have so many scabs crossing picket lines. Unions will continue to weaken and lose power as the older generation retires/dies out. Younger people just don’t get it.

Let's bargain to have non union workers get similar pay of comparable titles for other company's like Comcast, Spectrum, And such which make about 10 to 20 dollars less an hour. Then we will see who wants to be in the Union. Specific to techs your 37 dollars an hour is due to the Union. You would not be making that here today in AT&T if it wasn't for the Union. Denying that fact would make you look stupid.

@9qdo: since Randall technically works Monday-Friday his pay is more like $108,000/day.

Randy, take a Midol and go down for a nap. No one is trying to take away the $78,000 you get paid every single day of the year.

Screw you union crybullies!! Give me or ELSE!!!! End the union!!

Randy, the dinosaurs are in upper management at your company.

Yes, they are similar and still very true.

Same taking points from unions 50 years ago, pulling children out of the mills, we need fresh and new ideas, unfortunately union membership is doomed like our friends the DINOSAURS

Not wanting to pay family wages and benefits is what drove companies to off shore and now to automate.

If you want to rely on only the generosity of big corporations to support your family then you have not been paying attention to history and you do not understand why corporations actually exist. They exist only to maximize profit not to help working people have better lives.

What have unions done, they gave us the 8 hour work day, weekends, medical benefits, vacations and enough personal time to build happy lives with our families.

Silly paying dues if you have less than 20 years seniority

You guys should wake up. We have lost more jobs to machines than trade. They even have kiosk in McDonald’s now. No, labor laws made corporations more eager to invest in automation. Artificially low interest rates made it easier to do. If we had a free market, we would not be here right now

Corporate America was always going to move manufacturing off shore if they paid people 20 cents an hour here but could pay 10 cents an hour off shore.

These flag waving businesses care nothing about the people in this country, corporate greed has no patriotism or loyalty to anything but the bottom line.

Unions, like CWA, have screwed them selves to the ceiling. Just like UAW... killed the goose, now members are scratching their heads.

Unions are really not needed anymore. Their only purpose is to try to preserve jobs that simply are NOT essential now. Some of the most innovate, evolving and lucrative industries have zero need for an antiquated organization. At the end of the day we have labor laws to protect us, unions are pointless now. Best fact is we have industries that are thriving with impressive return of investments and a young, creative, technology driven mindset. There isn't much that can protect you from young innovative minds if your skills are simply replaced by them. That's the harsh reality your Union won't accept It, but you can. Don't mean to be a jerk about it though.

Unions are really not needed anymore. Their only purpose is to try to preserve jobs that simply are NOT essential now. Some of the most innovate, evolving and lucrative industries have zero need for an antiquated organization. At the end of the day we have labor laws to protect us, unions are pointless now. Best fact is we have industries that are thriving with impressive return of investments and a young, creative, technology driven mindset. There isn't much that can protect you from young innovative minds if your skills are simply replaced by them. That's the harsh reality your Union won't accept It, but you can. Don't mean to be a jerk about it though.

Union for mobility failed on so many levels.

Refusal to strike

Allowing IN-Home to build up and negate any threat of strike by getting the best sales people into those roles doing the SAME job.

Essentially agreeing to a laughable wage increase, even though year after year of record profits. Mind you last contract before “bad economy” was

Blamed for the SAME increase.

Same horrible attendance policy limits

All for a fake job security layoff that never was going to happen.

That is why union is dieing

"People have been brainwashed into thinking the Unions aren’t needed. "

Brainwashing are you serious? No brainwashing - just common sense as a result of using the brain.

I've worked both union and non-union also. The only thing the union does is take your money!

I have worked union and I have worked non-union. Union is better.

I know people who are non union that wish they had a union and people that are in the union that wish they had no union. People just like to complain about things.

People have been brainwashed into thinking the Unions aren’t needed. You can see it on this sight, and all the recent right to work legislation. Unfortunately I do not see the situation improving anytime soon. Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before the tide moves in a different direction.