DETROIT, MI – AT&T workers represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) kicked off
a multi-state “Broken Promises Tour,” calling attention to the impact of ongoing job losses and offshoring in communities across the Midwest. AT&T cut 7K jobs since tax cuts took effect.
Before the Republican tax plan passed, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson pledged that if the tax cut passed, the company would spend $1 billion in capital expenditures and create at least 7,000 jobs. Instead, the company has eliminated over 7,000 jobs. The company’s latest quarterly earnings report reveals nearly $10 billion in profits was used for stock buybacks rather than factory ungrades or adding employees.
Workers will make stops in Toledo, OH; Columbus, OH; Bloomington, IN; Kansas City, MO and other cities in the region that experiencing the effects of AT&T’s job cuts. At each stop, the workers will join with former AT&T employees whose jobs were eliminated and elected officials and community leaders who are taking a stand against AT&T’s outsourcing and offshoring. Along the way, workers will be gathering signatures on a petition urging the company to invest in jobs here in the U.S.
“I worked at AT&T for 15 years, and I loved my job” said Kelly Clay, who was laid off in 2017, along with many of her coworkers, and is participating in the tour. “It’s getting harder and harder to find good jobs. Many of us are struggling to make ends meet. AT&T makes big promises to American workers. But in places like Kansas City, they’ve broken those promises time and again.”
A recent report from CWA found that AT&T has closed 44 call centers and eliminated 16,000 call center jobs in the last seven years. The Midwest has been particularly hard hit by closures and layoffs in recent years.
“Big corporations like AT&T and those running for office need to know that working people in America won’t be forgotten,” said Jeremy Bain, who has worked at AT&T’s call center in Saginaw, MI for 14 years and is participating in the tour. “Our families and communities have been left behind by companies like AT&T that line their pockets offshoring U.S. jobs and collecting big tax breaks. It’s time for AT&T to invest in the workers and communities that have made the company successful.”
The workers will wrap up their trip in Dallas, TX, home to AT&T’s headquarters, where they will deliver the petition and demand that the telecom giant make good on its promises to American workers.
