HOPKINSVILLE, KY (CHRISTIAN COUNTY NOW) – A large scale strike from members of the Communications Workers of America continues as 17,000 AT&T workers in the southeast protest unfair labor practices. A group of workers in Hopkinsville have been set up on North Drive at the intersection of Richard Street since Aug. 16 while battling the heat and getting supportive honks from cars passing by.
“We want to get back to work, we want to get back to doing what we are doing because we have families we want to take care of,” said David Newsom on the scene of the strike in Hopkinsville. “They (AT&T) didn’t send proper people up there to negotiate in good faith…they weren’t doing their part in trying to make an agreement and just stalling, so that’s why we are on strike.”
According to the CWA, technicians, customer service representatives, and other workers who install, maintain and support the company’s residential and business wireline telecommunications network are part of the strike. This spans through areas in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
“CWA has filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board against AT&T for not bargaining in good faith, engaging in surface bargaining, and not sending representatives to the bargaining table with the authority to make decisions,” said a news release from CWA from Aug. 16.
A statement from the national AT&T office had their response to the strike saying, “We’re disappointed that union leaders would call for a strike at this point in the negotiations, rather than directing their energies toward constructive discussions at the bargaining table. This action needlessly jeopardizes the wages and well-being of our employees.”
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