Notes On The Current Final Bargaining Report

In looking through the new final bargaining report released by District 6, we noticed that page 2 of the PDF contains the following language, also found on page 4 of the PDF from the failed tentative agreement: “If the agreement is ratified on or before January 31, 2013, a ratification bonus of $1000 will be paid to each eligible employee.”

CWA Local 6203 is working to determine whether this means there is not a ratification bonus on the table with this TA, or if in the rush to conclude early bargaining as quickly as possible the bargaining committee simply included information from the failed TA in this TA in error.

District 6 Announces a Forthcoming Tentative Agreement

At 2:23 PM on February 6th, 2013 CWA Local 6203 President David Patton was notified through e-mail that there would be a conference call for all District 6 Local Presidents at 3:30 PM. On the conference call, President Patton was notified that our Bargaining Committee has reached a new Tentative Agreement with the Company, and have chosen to use Triple A to mail ballots directly to all members. At this time, the Bargaining Committee has chosen not to disclose any information about the pending Tentative Agreement, although we are being informed that the agreement is unanimously endorsed by the Bargaining Committee.

An explanation is to be mailed to each member directly on February 7th, 2013 with ballots following on the 8th. Ballots must be returned by February 25th, 2013 so please plan accordingly. Instructions on how to vote and where to return your ballots should be included with the ballot. District 6 intends to inform Local Presidents of the highlights of the new Tentative Agreement on February 12th. These decisions have been made at the district level without any input from CWA Local 6203, and the district has declined to provide any information about the Tentative Agreement at this time. CWA Local 6203 will make available any information about this tentative agreement immediately as we receive it.

We strongly recommend that in addition to checking this web site, members monitor the District 6 website for possible information on this forthcoming Tentative Agreement, as District 6 has indicated that they intend to make information available through that source as early as today. The District 6 website can be found at district6.cwa-union.org.

CWA Local 6203 is deeply disappointed that our Bargaining Committee has chosen to ignore the ballots from the previous TA, which clearly stated “I understand that a NO vote means CWA/AT&T would engage in traditional bargaining.” and has instead rushed to another Tentative Agreement, seemingly without regard for the desires of the dues-paying members.

President Patton is fully committed to closely monitoring this developing situation and immediately posting all new information as it becomes available. President Patton would like to express his apologies to our membership. He feels that our members should be better informed at this time. When the membership spoke and voted down the previous TA, his recommendation to everyone in District 6 on a Presidents Followup call was to return to the members for additional input on what they would like to see in further bargaining. We regret that District 6 was unable to take the time to meet this request. On that call, District 6 Vice President Claude Cummings expressed his intention to return to early bargaining without delay.

TA Does NOT Ratify

The District 6 Tentative Agreement did not ratify. District 6 has declined to disclose votes by local, stating that the vote was ‘close’. More information will be posted as it becomes available.

There was a Presidents Call at 4:00 PM on 1/30/2013 to discuss this, at which time our Local President David Patton and others on the call requested time be made available for our members to provide feedback on what changes they would like to see as the contract does not expire until April 6th. At the time of the requests, District 6 Vice President Claude Cummings indicated that the bargaining team intends to return to the table tomorrow and would like to quickly come to a new tentative agreement.

CWA 6203 Tentative Agreement Vote Count

The official vote total for 6203 is 41 yes votes, 122 no votes.

2013 AT&T Wireline Final Bargaining Report

District Six has made the following documents available, and CWA Local 6203 feels that it is very important for our members to have a chance to review these documents prior to the upcoming ratification vote.

Final Bargaining Report
Negotiating Report, 1 of 2
Negotiating Report, 2 of 2

Local Tentative Agreement Explanation Meeting

CWA 6203’s local Tentative Agreement Explanation Meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 22nd, 2013 at 6:30 PM. This meeting will be led by CWA District 6 staff representative Charlie Torres. Please make every effort to attend.

AT&T Southwest Contract Explanation Town Hall

District 6 Vice President Claude Cummings, Jr. will be hosting an AT&T Southwest contract explanation Town Hall on Tuesday, January 8th, 2013 at 7:00 PM Central Time. You can register to be a part of this town hall call by texting D6ATT to 69866 or by visiting district6.cwa-union.org/townhall. You will be able to listen to the Town Hall online at the same address.