AT&T, CWA West approve tentative labor agreement with mediator's help

AT&T West and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) have reached a tentative labor agreement with the help of a federal mediator.

An agreement was reached after extensive discussions between AT&T, the CWA, and a federal mediator provided through the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. With this agreement, AT&T has reached 31 different labor agreements since 2015, covering about 145,000 employees. The proposed contract covers 17,000 workers in California and Nevada.

CWA local presidents are meeting to discuss details of the proposed agreement. The agreement, which is being sent to CWA members, will then be submitted to the union's membership for an approval vote in the coming days.

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“Out of respect for union membership, AT&T will not comment on the details of the tentative agreement until it has been presented by CWA leadership to members for a vote,” AT&T said in a statement.

The two sides returned to the bargaining table after CWA-represented employees narrowly failed to ratify a prior agreement that had been reached in June. At that time, the union notified AT&T and began working on “next steps.”

As part of this proposed four-year contract, AT&T would provide a series of pay raises, improvements in job security and retirement benefits, continued affordable healthcare, and other improvements for AT&T West and DirecTV West workers in California and Nevada. This was the first proposed contract for DirecTV workers since AT&T acquired the pay-TV operator.

With this agreement, AT&T has reached 31 different labor agreements since 2015, covering about 145,000 employees.