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AT&T NBBP Bargaining Report #5

As the Company and Union Bargaining Committees prepare to meet face to face in Austin, Texas next week, we remain far apart.   AT&T and CWA bargainers met yesterday and today via phone conference and CWA passed our first two proposals. 

The CWA is trying to mitigate the factors that drive so many employees away from being able to afford health insurance.  As we said in previous reports, the number of employees who opt out of the healthcare makes it apparent that the workers at AT&T Mobility see cost as a roadblock to using the healthcare that is offered. 

AT&T has said their goal for this bargaining is to increase the cost share of what employees pay for coverage.  Really!  This is not an April Fool’s joke.

Currently, about 30% of the bargained for employees opt out of coverage; this is over 12,600 employees! The Company has passed proposals indicating a level of future contributions for years 2018, 2019, and 2020 that are a percentage of an unknown amount.  CWA needs AT&T to get real and not provide a benefit that their employees cannot afford!

We need to make this the last time the NBBP is bargained and “unwind” the National Agreement. As the Regional Labor Agreements expire, the benefits should be bargained with other components of wages and compensation, and we have proposed this.

In Solidarity,

The CWA 2016 Mobility NBBP Bargaining Committee

 

FAQ's

  • What is the NBBP?

Back in 2004, when AT&T Mobility was Cingular Wireless, the CWA made an agreement with AT&T that brought all the Cingular employees together under one bargained benefit plan.

For the first time, employees covered by the contracts CWA had with Cingular were under one benefit agreement that was bargained separately and off cycle from the contracts.  When agreement was not reached, CWA was forced to let an arbitrator decide what our members should have for healthcare!

This solved issues CWA faced at the time, but has not worked out good for us since then.  The NBBP has been renegotiated in 2008, 2012 and now we hope we are renegotiating it for the last time. We cannot let an arbitrator decide our fate again!

  • Our Bargaining goals:
    • “Unwind” the NBBP Agreement and put the healthcare benefit bargaining back into the contracts so we can balance the costs with our wages, and have more leverage to make plans more affordable.
    • Bargain benefits through 2020 now, and when the regional contracts expire, the benefits for 2021 and beyond will be part of each agreement.
    • To maintain the level of benefits while making the healthcare more affordable by offering more options.

 

  • How will we achieve this?
    • We will be successful with your help.  Let the company know that in the next round you want to bargain your benefits with your contract and wage package!
    • Tell the boss you need healthcare you can afford!