CWA Tells AT&T: “Our Contract Rights Are Not for Sale”

CWAers are taking action to protect our union contracts and our jobs in AT&T’s proposed acquisition of Lumen’s mass-market fiber network and customer base.

CWA District 7 Vice President Susie McAllister made our union’s demands clear in a letter to AT&T Vice President of Human Resources Jon Nelson: “CWA will not allow this transaction to proceed quietly. Our members, our customers, our communities, and our contract rights are not for sale. We will fight for accountability, and we demand AT&T engage in meaningful negotiation over the effects of this deal before it is finalized.”

CWA’s demands include:

1. Successorship and AT&T Employment: All impacted employees must be hired as AT&T employees—not NetworkCO or any other subsidiary—and AT&T must honor and adopt all existing union contracts as the successor employer. AT&T should take all employees who have supported these customers for years, including network and customer service.
2. Protect Our Hard-Earned Benefits: AT&T must commit to preserving pensions, retiree healthcare, seniority, and all bargained-for benefits without dilution or delay.
3. Transparency and Negotiations: We expect full transparency throughout this process and immediate, ongoing negotiation dialogue with union leadership.
4. CWA Neutrality for Future Work: We seek a written agreement for CWA Neutrality for future work.

AT&T plans to acquire Lumen’s residential fiber business across 11 states, which serves a million customers.

CWA Lumen members and retirees can stay informed by signing up for updates at cwa.org/lumenallin.

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This post originally appeared on cwa-union.org.