Washington DC – A recent CWA report has documented that AT&T is continuing to eliminate thousands of
jobs in the country while shifting customer service and network maintenance overseas.
The CWA report shows that AT&T has eliminated 11,780 jobs in 2018. The company is also on track to pay out three-quarters of its 2018 profits to shareholders in the form of dividends and share buybacks. While continuing to close call centers in the USA, AT&T operations is rapidly expanding in the Phillippines and other locations outside of the states. At the same time AT&T is eliminating jobs in this country, it reported net profits of $19.4 billion for 2018 and is projecting free cash flow of $26 billion for 2019.
CWA is calling on Congress to investigate how AT&T is using the enormous tax cut benefits they received from the 2018 tax bill. Last month, CWA sent a letter to Congressman Richard Neal (D-Mass.), the current ranking member and incoming Chair of the Ways and Means Committee, urging an investigation of AT&T. A recent survey from the National Association for Business Economics finds that 84% of American companies have not invested their windfall from the tax bill in hiring or investment plans.
“AT&T continues to earn astronomical profits and those profits are not being invested in the communities that it serves and the workers who provide that service,” said Communications Workers of America President Chris Shelton. “Americans handed over $20 billion in tax cuts to AT&T because CEO Randall Stephenson promised to invest in America and create jobs. All that AT&T has created is dividends for its wealthy shareholders. We were mislead, and Congress should investigate.”
