March 6, 2019

AT&T notified IBEW Local Union 21 that they are contemplating a Premises Technician Layoff.  A layoff has not been announced. 

Discussions are taking place to reduce the possibility of a layoff and determine if AT&T will reduce the number of contractors performing DirecTV work and if that reduction will eliminate or reduce the number of Premises Technicians that could be affected by AT&T’s contemplated layoff.  

We must stress a layoff has not yet been announced and that AT&T may not eliminate all contractors.  IBEW Local 21 representatives and management are discussing alternatives to avoid AT&T’s contemplated layoff.  We realize this will cause anxiety but our focus right now is to minimize or eliminate the contemplated layoff of Premises Technicians.

We received the notification because of a letter that was negotiated during 2017 Bargaining stating in part: ...that should the Company contemplate the layoff of Premises Technicians, they will continue to discuss whether some stand-alone DirecTV video work being performed by contractors in IBEW Local 21’s jurisdiction should be assigned to Appendix C.

As your Union works through the multitude of issues affecting our members, we will need all IBEW 21 members to stand in solidarity.  While we prefer to work with our employer to resolve our differences, we will not hesitate to challenge them on issues that affect the job security of our members.

The next several weeks will be difficult for all of us.  We remind our membership that things can change daily. We realize members have questions, concerns and that rumors may start to circulate. Union updates will be released as necessary. We will only report on verified factual information. IBEW Local 21 staff is available and will help you during this difficult process.

Our staff directory can be found here.