AT&T, IBEW Reach Tentative Agreement on One-year Contract Extension in Core Wireline Negotiations

AT&T announced that it has reached a tentative agreement with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers on a one-year contract extension covering nearly 7,000 core wireline employees.

The agreement, which will be submitted to the union's membership for a ratification vote in coming days, was reached prior to the current contract's expiration on June 23. Most of the IBEW employees covered under the contract are members of IBEW Local 21 and are in Illinois and northwestern Indiana; the rest are spread across the country. The one-year extension provides a 1 percent base salary increase; and a lump-sum payment of $500 for employees who will make less than $50,000 a year after the salary increase, and $300 for employees who will make more than $50,000 after the salary increase. Health care benefits remain among the best in the nation, with a modest increase in employee contributions. The agreement also would continue to provide employees with a pension and 401(k) savings plan, at a time when such benefits are increasingly rare in corporate America.