Thousands of AT&T workers go on strike to protest work assignments

An estimated 17,000 AT&T employees in California and Nevada struck work yesterday to protest what they claimed was the illegal manner in which the company was handling work assignments for technicians. The walkout comes after tensions at the telecommunications company built up over a year.

Relations between AT&T and Communications Workers of America (CWA) District 9, the union representing the workers, had been steadily worsening, since their contract expired nearly a year ago.

The two sides were engaged in protracted negotiations to work out a new agreement. The company's retail store employees were not covered by the contract and did not participate in the strike.

The workers - 98 per cent of whom are in California struck work over the company's alleged  practice of directing lower-salaried workers to perform jobs that their contract reserved for their more experienced, higher-paid colleagues.

According to the workers, work allocation of the type jeopardised the positions of employees with more seniority, and failed to compensate less experienced technicians for working above their pay grade. The CWA also planned to file a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency that enforced labour law.

There was also the issue of the closure of US call centres, including a facility near Anaheim. According to the union, AT&T had moved 8,000 call centre jobs in recent years to the Philippines, Mexico and other countries.

''We want to keep our call center jobs here in California - they are displacing middle-class families by eliminating jobs,'' said Armando Zepeda, an AT&T technician and union board member who works in San Diego, told Los Angeles Times reported. ''And we are looking for fair California wages because it is astronomical to live in California.''

It is not clear whether the strike affected services of the company's landline customers or how long the stoppage might last.