(CHEEKTOWAGA, NEW YORK) – It didn’t take long for the Communications Workers of America’s (CWA) three-day, nationwide Strike against AT&T to have an impact here in Western New York as CWA Local 1122 Executive Vice President John Mudie told WNYLaborToday.com that AT&T had chosen to close two of its Western New York retail stores just minutes before the walk-out started at 3 p.m. on Friday (May 19th).

“I ‘really don’t understand why they would do this,’ but AT&T closed one store on Transit Road in Suburban Buffalo and another in (the City of) Lockport (in neighboring Niagara County)” just minutes before CWA officially started its three-day weekend Strike, said Mudie, who also serves as President of the Buffalo AFL-CIO Central Labor Council.

Across the country, the CWA-represented AT&T Workers walked off the job to protest the company’s failure to present serious proposals that invest in good jobs with a future, Union Officials said.  The groups striking represent four different Union contracts, including: Wireless Workers in 36 States and in Washington, D.C.; Wireline Workers in the States of California, Nevada and Connecticut; and DIRECTV Technicians in California and Nevada.

This is the first time AT&T Wireless Workers have gone out on Strike, which could result in closed retail stores this weekend, CWA Officials said, adding it may be the largest Strike of Retail Workers at a national company in U.S. history.

Those CWA-represented Workers who are on Strike are covered by the AT&T Mobility Orange Contract.  Union Employees at AT&T West, AT&T East (Connecticut) and DIRECTV (California and Nevada) were all slated to walk off the job. 

CWA represents more than 150,000 Workers at AT&T, including: 45,000 at AT&T Mobility nationwide; 9,000 at DIRECTV; and 2,000 at AT&T Internet. CWA Members work as Technicians, Customer Service and Call Center Representatives and at retail stores.

At the land-line part of the company, CWA represents Workers at AT&T Midwest (in the States of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin); at AT&T Southeast (in the States of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee); at AT&T Southwest (in the States of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas); at AT&T West (in the States of California and Nevada), at AT&T Legacy, a nationwide unit; and at AT&T East, which includes Western New York.

“We will ‘no longer stand by as AT&T hems and haws at the bargaining table, keeping its own Workers from achieving the American Dream they once promised,’” CWA District One Vice President Dennis Trainor said. “Despite being the ‘largest’ telecom company in the country ‘with nearly ($1 billion) a month in profits and the CEO earning ($28 million), AT&T continues to pinch its Workers’ basic needs and stand in the way of high-quality service its customers pay good money for.’  ‘This is a warning to AT&T.’  ‘There’s only one way out of this now - a fair contract - and we’ll settle for nothing less.’”

While the three-day strike may inconvenience customers in the short term, AT&T Workers are committed to putting an end to unnecessary frustration and poor service because of AT&T’s lack of investment in its core business.

AT&T Workers will return to work on Monday and have vowed to do what they have to do if AT&T violates their rights or an open-ended Strike becomes necessary.

Back in Buffalo, Local 1122 Executive Vice President Mudie told Your On-Line Labor Newspaper that he had a “hard time understanding” AT&T’s lack of movement at the bargaining table, especially in light of CWA’s victory last summer over Verizon after a lengthy and extremely high-profile Strike.

“This is a ‘sample of what they can expect,’” Mudie said as several of his Local’s Members held their Strike Signs high over their heads as motorists whizzed by on a busy Friday afternoon on Walden Avenue in Suburban Cheektowaga, with many honking their horns to show support for the Unionized Workers.

The CWA picket took place outside an AT&T-owned Cricket Store across from the Thruway Shopping Plaza.

For More On This Labor News Story, Go To: www.cwa-union.org/news/releases/on-strike-att-wireless-wireline-and-directv-workers-walk-off-job