AT&T Co workers’ unions will urge members and affiliate organisations to boycott the company by imposing an electronic picket of its services, if no agreement is reached on new contracts this month. The Communications Workers of America, CWA, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, IBEW, will seek support for the picket from the AF of L-CIO, the US equivalent of the UK Trades Union Congress. If the picket goes ahead, the 15m member AF of L-CIO will urge its affiliate unions and their members to switch to US Sprint Communications Co by using its local access numbers: this would allow use of Sprint’s services without having to switch long distance carriers. AFL of L-CI0 officials claim most member unions use AT&T for long-distance services, with some of the larger unions paying bills of around $1m a month to the telecommunications giant. But the unions are facing a dilemma on a matter of principle, as the proposed boycott would mean transferring business worth millions of dollars to US Sprint’s long-distance operations, which are non-unionised.
