April 4, 2012- AT&T declared yet another surplus of employees today.  Company management advised our local it will be cutting ninety-seven (97) Illinois jobs in the Construction and Engineering Department (C&E).  In a separate announcement AT&T will be offering two general Voluntary SIPPS.

The Surplus breaks down as follows:

• Eighty-five (85) Cable Splicers;
• Eleven (11) Outside Plant Technicians; and
• One (1) Field Support Administrator in Hoffman Estates. 

IBEW Local 21 union representatives received a complete breakdown of the numbers, by location.  Union representative have found discrepancies.  Article 30 of our collective bargaining agreement with AT&T covers affected employees whose jobs will be eliminated.  Contact your Chief Steward or Business Representative for more information.

To view the contract click here.

In talks that have already taken place, an agreement was reached to offer a Voluntary SIPP to all Cable Splicers and Outside Plant Technicians in Illinois and Northwest Indiana.  Our Union also requested all essential documentation to mitigate and reduce the negative impact that AT&T’s announcement today will have on its employees. 

Separately, in other news, AT&T is offering Voluntary SIPP packages to two (2) Customer Advocates working at 225 Randolph in Chicago and to a still undisclosed number of employees working in the NCSC Group in Hoffman Estates.  These employees are not being declared surplus and will not be forced off the payroll. Again, the SIPP for two (2) Customer Advocates working at 225 Randolph in Chicago and to a still undisclosed number of employees working in the NCSC Group in Hoffman Estates, is voluntary.

Talks are continuing between IBEW Local 21 representatives and AT&T management over these items. As more news becomes available, we will communicate that to you via the local union hotline, website, and by email and text messages as warranted.

Bargaining Survey

On Monday, IBEW Local Union 21 posted the Bargaining & Communications Survey on our website.  It is necessary that all members and take the time to complete this survey.  The deadline for taking the survey is midnight on Monday, April 9, 2012.

Again, the survey is designed to be filled out by all members, with a large section of the survey for members working at AT&T. This is due to contract negotiations and more.  The survey should take approximately 5-10 minutes to complete. Instructions can be found in our April 2nd email message sent to members.  To view them click here.

We received questions from members who were unable to see the survey after they logged in.  If you experience this problem check your browser settings and change them to temporarily allow all cookies. 

To take the survey now click here.