AT&T officials said Thursday they have made "a strong final offer" to striking union members in the CWA District 3 in the Southeast.
Officials said, "We believe that this offer, if accepted, would provide our employees with competitive market-based pay that exceeds projected inflation. The company is also offering to increase its financial contributions to employee healthcare and wellness by up to 25 percent per year.
"The terms of this offer are largely in line with the 3 other competitive and fair agreements we’ve reached with our unions this year, including the tentative agreement we bargained with CWA District 9 (West).
"We are proud to have the largest unionized workforce in the U.S. telecommunications industry. We respectfully ask CWA employees in the Southeast to carefully consider this offer and to ask their CWA leadership to give them the chance to vote on it.
Letter to employees titled AT&T employees deserve to vote on a new Southeast agreement
It’s been more than two months since bargaining began in the Southeast, and 20 days since the Communications Workers of America (CWA) called for a work stoppage. From the beginning, we have engaged with the CWA constructively and in good faith, all in pursuit of a single goal – a fair agreement that recognizes the hard work our employees do to serve our customers. At our suggestion, a skilled, independent federal mediator was helping the parties bargain productively, but earlier this week, CWA District 3 representatives decided to dismiss them. Nevertheless, we have continued to offer options and solutions that reward our employees for the work they do.
Unfortunately, after many discussions with the union, it seems clear to us that the current bargaining process is unlikely to reach a resolution any time soon. As a result, we made a final offer to the union that we believe is compelling and in the best interest of our employees, their families, and our company.
We ask employees in the Southeast to carefully consider this offer and urge CWA leadership to give them the chance to vote on it, so their voice can be heard.
Here are some details of the improvements to pay and benefits that we are offering:
Substantial annual wage increases
A highly-competitive market-based offer with compounded wage increases of nearly 18% over 5 years. The average employee will receive more than $40,000 of additional cumulative wages over the life of the agreement. Employees will feel the boost right away as this includes an immediate 5% increase upon ratification.
Health benefits among the best in the nation, getting better
Not only will we continue to offer one of the best healthcare plans in the nation, but we will also invest more than ever in employee wellbeing by increasing our financial contribution up to 25% per year with these benefits starting in 2026:
- With twice as many options, individuals and families can choose plans with lower premiums that are right for them.
- Dependents will be covered until age 26 in medical, dental, and vision plans.
- $0 copays for primary care and new fixed copays at the doctor’s office so employees know what they are going to pay.
- A new coinsurance model preserves or lowers the cost for the vast majority of the 50 most commonly prescribed medications.
- Those looking to expand their families will have access to surrogacy, fertility services, and enhanced reimbursements for adoption expenses.
- Unprecedented company match for Health Savings Account (HSA) contributions up to $2,000 for families, and $1,000 for individuals annually.
- $750 in wellbeing incentives for employees, and with spouses/partners, up to a total of $1,500.
Retirement benefits with a generous company match
Comprehensive retirement benefits will continue, including a 401(k), with a generous company match, and continuing pension plans for all employees, plus pension band increases.
Enhancements for wire technicians
All wire technicians will be in the highest wage zone by the end of this agreement, and will get more advanced notice for schedule changes, and a lower cap on mandatory overtime. They will also receive double-time pay for hours worked in excess of 54 hours per week.
Learn more
We wouldn’t take this step if it wasn’t the right thing to do to close the gap and reach an agreement just as we have done so many times before. Since 2022, we have reached 14 other labor agreements with our unionized employees. In each case, we’ve done so by offering valuable pay increases and highly competitive benefits. This offer is no different.
Because we know how important this topic is to our employees and their families, we have shared this detail to ensure they are getting the full picture of what we’ve proposed.