Thread regarding AT&T layoffs

as seen in this thread------"I see so many instances where customers were purposefully taken out of service by employees of this company. Some customers even report seeing people on the poles with ladders or buckets removing their lines, most times it's anonymous actions done at terminals or cross connect boxes. "--------------

this is not directed towards person who posted this as he seems to just have observed the behavior but...

F$ck techs who do this- you have no idea who is on the other end of that service or what could happen because of your negligent actions. Enjoy all the management vs tech bashing you want but don't f$ck with customers. They aren't part of your beef with the union or management.

Most techs would NEVER do this. Those who do are just a$$holes.

Oh and for the a$$holes, You don't think we can find you? You don't think that we cant match the OOS time of that circuit to your truck being there? You are the type of people who think you know the network, but just remember, some of us actually do. Tread lightly dic---ads, fair warning.

@qdm- I can say with 100 percent conviction that a good Prem tech or TFS could do your job so easily it would make your head spin. There may be some bums in management and craft, but there are alot of damn fine ones too. You have not met enough first and second levels to even make the claims you are spouting, there are bad apples in every job including yours.

The "I turned down management" story is an old gem, you just wanted to keep with what you know. Your happy with your choice to be craft, that's good for everyone involved, and there's honor in that. However, It has nothing to do with any moral high ground , so spare us with your superiority complex.

"The truth of the matter is you will do nothing. You will gripe. You will moan. But come Monday morning, you will be at work and do whatever dog-and-pony act we require for that week."

The difference is we'll show up and do the absolute BARE MINIMUM required and nothing more. If mgmt thinks their job is tough now, wait until they have absolutely zero support from anyone they supervise.

You want me to do what ? Have you bothered to train anyone on how to do it ? No ? Maybe I should " Ask Myself " if I should be doing this without any sort of documentation or training to support it . . . . .

Going to fight company policy ? Good luck with that.

Many of us have pretty decent paying jobs in places where there aren't any. Many of us are firmly planted in our communities and have no desire to go somewhere else. Many of us have more than a few bills to pay. I could list a lot more. It's easy for others to say, "if you don't like it, go somewhere else where you do!" If you're relatively new to the company and you don't have as much invested in your career and it may be easier to go work with someone else somewhere else or change careers. But what about those who are in the middle and have invested a lot in their job. Not so easy. The bottom line...this is corporate America. It's ruthless. What are you going to do? What can you do? Not much. The best advice I ever received from anyone was "it's your life - not anyone else's...so pay attention and do what you have to do." Can you put up with the BS and hold on till you retire? Maybe, if you are close to it. Can you start looking at moving to another career and take steps to set yourself up for it? Not a bad idea. Do you need to relocate? Painful but might be necessary. Do you need to cut back on things and sock it away? Probably. It's not easy no matter which path you take but it's yours and no one else's. This is corporate America. No one is going to look out for you. Take control of your life...don't expect anyone in the corporate world to do it for you. It just ain't gonna happen. Regardless of what you do...I hope you land in a good place.

Was with company for many years. Have many friends as both techs and managers. I heard this all the time. "Manager's used to come up thru ranks and at least had an idea what I do - now we get these wet behind the ears college kids for managers who don't know a thing!" "Well, why don't you become a manager? "Are you crazy? Why would I do that?" So no one wants to be a manager but complain incessantly about the ones that do? Well that makes no sense. I've known more than a few techs who became managers and were pretty good at it...at least to the extent a 1st line job allows it. But also knew some who were terrible at it too. Same with the "wet behind the ears college kids too."

$28 dollars an hour is tough to live on, I wonder how I do it on $40 an hour

They can try. I have an IP mask

I know everyone is on edge, and we all need a place to vent, but please restrain yourselves from posting personal insults. not allowed here, admins will nuke your post and block your IP.

OP, you really have no idea what is going on in the field do you? There is so much inferior quality work and even outright sabotage being done at this company due to worker's anger over how they are treated. I see so many instances where customers were purposefully taken out of service by employees of this company. Some customers even report seeing people on the poles with ladders or buckets removing their lines, most times it's anonymous actions done at terminals or cross connect boxes.

I have never seen morale this low, from employees passive aggressively not giving a f#ck about their jobs or their customers all the way up to active resistance against this company and its customers.

I have never seen a company with management as completely clueless, completely incompetent at actually doing their job, and as good at totally destroying the morale and work ethic of the people they should be motivating.

So go ahead and run off at the mouth about how you've broken your workers, the biggest thing that is broken is this disaster of a communications media company itself.

This op is spot on, however this company is f---ed up beyond anything I’ve experienced and left after 7 years. Im still in the industry and have many friends still there so I like to check in here every now and again. T was my first job out of the Army but worked for Nortel a few years before that. I remember getting my first write up ever anywhere at T for not meeting dispatch efficiency. Because you know techs have so much control over that. I nearly flipped because I came out with a chest full of medals. As time went on I saw the treatment of other employees and the brash and brazen attitudes from first and second levels and used to compare the real professionals that I used to work with. Worst leadership I had EVER experienced.

I think the OP is the one who missed the point of many posters. Their “revolt” isn’t with the company. It’s with their own weak do-nothing sell-out Union. They’re talking about voting no on D4 ratification. They’re talking about quitting the union. They’re NOT talking about not showing up for work. The OP purposely twisted the “revolt” to make it sound like employees are saying they’re not going to show up on time or do their jobs.

Well, as techs we could follow the rules to a "T" and you, your bonus and metrics could go f-- yourselves. We can play games, but many of us choose not to because we have some semblance of pride. Do you remember what that felt like, or did you never have that?

If you need more money - there is always loose change behind every bedroom dresser in America - Prem Techs make an extra ten bucks a day this way.

@qdm, passionate, but you missed the point.

This wasn't about some First Line whining about his life - it was a point of view from a frontline guy who has worked with 30 years of dedicated guys and gals trying to make a living at this business and has seen how many get trapped in their predicament.

25 years a tech - good job mate, but surely you know a hundred guys who are stuck in the muck because they have no choice.

To think that you guys are going to go all "Bernie Sanders" on this company and revolt is f'ing ludicrous. All it takes is a couple of guys scared of the DA charging them with missing support payments or some guy freaked about his Ram getting repo'd and your revolt grinds to a halt.

Whats your Union going to do to support your revolution - give you a hundred bucks a month and a list of Food Banks in your area?

You (and I to be truthful) , have zero say-so in this place. Same for any other low on the totem pole schmuck in any other company. Live with it.

@qdm crushed it......

Well said

Doesn't mean he's not right.

I’ll be honest. Having been a systems technician for 25 years and having turned down an FSM position more than a few times (because who is stupid enough to go into middle management?) I can say with 100 percent conviction that those who do sign up to be a first or second level manager are the ones who couldn’t cut it as a technician. Everyone knows this. Cliche’ but true: Those who “can’t do”, manage. I’ve had several managers come and go all while I’ve happily remained a systems tech. All of them were unhappy miserable souls. No backbone to stand up to upper management. Regretted going into management but not allowed to pick up the tool belt again. Always stressed about making their numbers so they don’t lose their job. “Working from home” half the time; no one can ever find the FSM at the office. He must be on the road doing unannounced observations wink wink. Oh wait, he’s doing day trading in a desperate attempt to strike it rich so he can quit his miserable mid level management thankless job. Crying to us techs about how hard their job is and how lonely it is; reeking of desperate need for a friend who will listen. Everyone knows you

1st and 2nd level managers will continue to come to work and get abused by both us techs and your superiors; because you have no choice. You have a mortgage and have no skill sets to do anything other than middle level management. So open those spreadsheets , crunch those numbers , and bend over to take it in the @55 again for not meeting quotas. You’ll take it the @55 from above and get pi55ed on from below again and again because you have no other prospects. I , on the other hand , love being a systems tech. I make more than a first level manager without any of the bs stress. I can go home to my wife every night and look in the mirror proud knowing I didn’t have to s--- dik or kiss @55 just to keep holding my job. I’d offer my sympathies to mid level management but ...they volunteers for it.

Brutal dude. But pretty true. My crew puts up with this c-ap because four of them have alimony and child support payments. Six guys have new babies to pay for. Half of us have house payments and a bunch are shelling out 500 bucks a months on their trucks. The rest of this town pays 15 to 18 bucks an hour and we make 28 per. Hate to admit it - but we will swallow a lot of t–d sandwiches for that kind of money.

Now that’s some leadership right there....I bet my grandpa gave you a wedgie when you were in high school....

Most accurate post I’ve seen on this site thus far