[May 17, 2013] AT&T Close East Wireline Contract Negotiations with Communications Workers of America Tweet May 17, 2013 (Close-Up Media via COMTEX) -- AT&T announced that AT&T East has reached a tentative agreement with the Communications Workers of America District 1 (CWA Local 1298) in wireline contract negotiations. According to a release, the agreement covers about 3,000 wireline employees in Connecticut and will be submitted to the CWA's membership for a ratification vote in the coming days. If the agreement is ratified on or before June 3, a ratification bonus of $350 will be paid to each eligible employee. The agreement replaces a contract that expired April 7, 2012 and will run through April 9, 2016 . The agreement includes a compounded wage increase over that four-year period of more than 10.8 percent. It includes an expansion to additional employees of a provision that provides qualified surplus employees a guaranteed job opportunity with AT&T. It maintains a health care plan with increases in employee contributions. The company noted that CWA District 1 is the last AT&T wireline bargaining unit to reach an agreement among seven that had contracts expiring in 2012 and early 2013. AT&T wireline employees represented by the CWA earlier ratified, on Aug. 17, 2012, three-year contracts for the Midwest region and AT&T Corp. (CWA Telecommunications and Technology Office); on Dec. 7, 2012 a three-year contract for the Southeast region; on Feb. 27, a four-year contract in the Southwest; and on May 1, a four-year contract in the West. These ratified agreements collectively cover about 77,000 CWA-represented AT&T wireline employees. In addition, IBEW-represented wireline employees on May 7 ratified an agreement between AT&T subsidiaries and IBEW System Council T-3 covering nearly 6,500 employees primarily in Illinois and northwestern Indiana. AT&T Inc. is a communications holding company. More Information: Att.com ((Comments on this story may be sent to [email protected])) [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]