Union Seeking a Strike Vote at AT&T; Unit

The Communications Workers of America threatened Tuesday to strike a unit of AT&T; over the company’s plans to eliminate 24,000 “surplus” jobs as a cost-cutting move. The CWA called for a strike vote authorizing a walkout in early November.

The union’s leaders, meeting in Anaheim, claimed that there aren’t any “surplus” jobs and that American Telephone & Telegraph is handing the work to subcontractors who do the work more cheaply. That is a breach of the labor agreement, the CWA said.

The claims were denied by AT&T;, which announced the massive layoffs in its Information Systems division earlier this year. A spokeswoman said that the jobs are surplus and that there isn’t any work to give to anybody else.

“We have fully honored our obligations to the union, and we are willing to have that position tested in accordance with our contractual agreements with the CWA,” the company said in a statement.

The dispute is confined to AT&T;’s Information Systems division, which employs about 117,000 of the company’s 360,000 workers. The unit, which makes computer and office telephone equipment, has been hard hit by a slowdown in that highly competitive market. The CWA represents about 50,000 employees.

In California, about 9,600 of AT&T;’s 28,000 employees are attached to the Information Systems unit. More than 1,300 California jobs, the highest total of any state, are to be eliminated.

A strike wouldn’t affect ongoing telephone service but would halt installation and maintenance, said Morton Bahr, president of the union. It wouldn’t close down other parts of AT&T; except in cases where Information Systems employees share work sites with other divisions.

Bahr charged that, in some instances, AT&T; has urged “surplus” employees to take early retirement with the understanding that the employees would then sell their services to the company as independent, non-union contractors. The firm denied such practices.