AT&T Workers Strike on Weekend

and the District of Columbia, DirecTV workers in California and Nevada, wireline workers in California and Nevada, and wireline workers in Connecticut. They seek better wages, benefits and job security and are protesting outsourcing. It’s the first time AT&T wireless employees have gone on strike, CWA said. They were scheduled to return to work Monday after the weekend strike, a CWA spokeswoman said. “This is a warning to AT&T,” said CWA Vice President-District 1 Dennis Trainor. “There’s only one way out of this now -- a fair contract -- and we’ll settle for nothing less.” Mark Bautista, an AT&T wireline worker from El Sobrante, California, said striking wasn’t easy because he’s a father, but he believes it’s important to stand up to AT&T for his kids’ future. “On the picket lines today, I’ll be chanting ‘No Contract, No Peace,’ until I lose my voice,” he said. AT&T was ready for the strike, but the carrier continues to find the union’s complaints “baffling," said a carrier spokesman. A three-day strike shows workers are serious, emailed 556 Ventures analyst William Ho on Friday. "That strike may disrupt any weekend work and may potentially push any backlog work," he said. "If the majority of the union membership are Monday to Friday workers, it minimizes any bigger monetary impact on them." While a more open-ended strike might show conviction, a protracted strike can make a big dent in union members' incomes, Ho said. "That path is pretty serious and union leadership will need to manage the membership’s expectations, if that is their strategic decision."