On Sunday, June 24, 2018 wage increases for our members working at AT&T go into effect. The new wage rates can be found here. (You will have to scroll down past the first page.)
Since the signing of the contract members have asked, “Where are the AT&T contract books?” This has been answered numerous times at union meetings, in Frontline and by your Officers, Chief Stewards and Business Representatives.
The contract has not been printed as required by AT&T because in the final proof your Union Representatives found errors made by AT&T and the company still needs to correct them. Some of the errors are: missing commas, misspellings, corporate name changes, and other grammatical errors. The errors not only affect Local 21 members but other Locals in the System Council T-3 as well.
It is important to understand AT&T's errors do not affect the substance of the contract. Wages, hours, working conditions and such are not changed. On the surface some could say these errors made by AT&T are minor but in reality a single misplaced comma can affect the interpretation of the language.
This isn’t the first time our Union has seen a delay in the printing of the contracts. This process has taken longer than usual because AT&T Labor representatives have been unavailable to meet. They have been in other negotiations and dealing with other union issues. We expect once current talks conclude, that we will be able to meet with them again to iron out the remaining corrections.
The contract is in full effect. Whatever changes were bargained, like your wage increases, 401K, meal allowance etc., are in full effect. We have a binding collective bargaining agreement.
All changes, along with the new wording, can be found on our website by clicking here.
AT&T 2017 Contract Changes
If you do not see a change there was no change. The 2013 collective bargaining agreement can be found here.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact your Chief Steward or Business Representative.
Why Do Commas Matter…?
To understand how important it is to fix grammatical errors read: How 1 Missing Comma Just Cost This Company $5 Million.
It is about how the lack of one Oxford comma in a Maine state law cost a company $5 million. Learn more by reading the the article here.
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