AT&T Releases Details Of Tentative Agreement In AT&T Southeast Wireline Contract Negotiations

Published on Wednesday, 08 August 2012 18:56 Written by TradersHuddle Staff

DALLAS, Aug. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T* today provided details of a tentative agreement AT&T Southeast (BellSouth Telecommunications) reached Aug. 7 with the Communications Workers of America in wireline contract negotiations.

The agreement covers more than 22,000 wireline employees in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee, and will be submitted to the CWA's membership for a ratification vote in coming days. 

Among provisions of the tentative agreements:

• General wage increases in each year of the contract for most employees – 2.25 percent the first year, 2.75 percent the second year, and 3 percent the third year. 
• A 1 percent pension band increase in each year of the contract to the banded pension plan enjoyed by most current employees. New hires will continue to receive the Bargained Cash Balance 2 Pension Plan, with a one-time, 1 percent pay credit increase and a generous 80 percent match in the AT&T Retirement Savings 401(k) Plan. 
• Expands to additional employees a guaranteed job offer provision that promises qualified surplused employees a guaranteed job opportunity with AT&T – an employment security provision that is virtually unheard of in most of corporate America today.
• Maintains one of the most robust health care plans in the nation, continuing to cover 100 percent of network preventive care, including such items as annual physicals and well-child care, with modest increases in employee contributions. For example, employees with individual coverage will pay monthly contributions of $38 in the first year of the contract, $58 the second year and $79 the third year of the contract. Employees with family coverage will pay monthly contributions of $81, $121, and $163 over the three years of the agreement.  New hires will pay higher contributions. Deductibles for network care will be $500 for individual coverage and $1,000 for family coverage in each year of the contract.

More information will be posted at http://bargaining.att.com/corewireline as it is available.

AT&T on July 21 reached tentative agreements in core wireline contract negotiations for the AT&T Midwest region and AT&T Corp. (CWA Telecommunications and Technology Office), where contracts expired on April 7. The Midwest agreement covers more than 13,000 employees in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin. The AT&T Corp. agreement covers about 5,700 employees located throughout the country. 

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

About AT&T

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a premier communications holding company and one of the most honored companies in the world. Its subsidiaries and affiliates – AT&T operating companies – are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nation's fastest mobile broadband network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet, voice and cloud-based services. A leader in mobile broadband and emerging 4G capabilities, AT&T also offers the best wireless coverage worldwide of any U.S. carrier, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries. It also offers advanced TV services under the AT&T U-verse^® and AT&T |DIRECTV brands. The company's suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world. 

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Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

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SOURCE AT&T Inc.