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604 More Former AT&T Wireless Employees Organize at Cingular Wireless:452 Customer Service Reps in H

On Sept. 29, 604 more Cingular Wireless employees from AT&T Wireless gained CWA representation in their jobs – 452 customer service representatives at the Cingular Wireless call center in Harrisburg, PA, and 152 retail sales associates throughout Arizona. Since the former AT&T Wireless workers began organizing to get union representation at Cingular this August, more than 5,900 have gained representation with CWA. Through Sept. 30, the workers have been organizing at a rate of nearly 100 a day.

In Harrisburg, 65 percent of the 452 workers supported union representation with CWA Local 13500 in a card check certified by the American Arbitration Association. When the results of the card check were announced in an e-mail from the director of the call center, employees jumped to their feet, cheering and clapping at the news, said District 13 Organizing Coordinator Pam Tronsor. "It was great to see everyone walking around with huge smiles on their faces," an employee who served on the inside organizing committee.

Tronsor praised the hard work and dedication of workers who served on the 20-person inside organizing committee. Prior to signing cards, the committee built support for a union at the call center by educating co-workers about CWA-representation. Members of the committee also signed a public "mission statement" outlining their goals and encouraged 200 of the former AT&T Wireless employees to join with them as signatories.

"Throughout the campaign," Tronsor said, "workers wore 'CWA Yes!' buttons; 'Ask us about our union' stickers, CWA lanyards, and distributed literature on a weekly basis. Every day they talked to co-workers during smoke breaks and in the lunch room. They also leafleted co-workers every week outside the call center," she said.

Workers were supported by volunteer organizers Local 13500's central division: Cleo Owens, Tace Popp, Sue Price, Sue Young, and Gregg Potter. Sandy Kmetyk, Local President; Terri Senich, Executive Secretary-Treasurer; Anna Marie Byrne, Central Division EVP; and Julie Daloisio, Central Division Secretary-Treasurer, all supported the workers' campaign as well.

In the Arizona retail sales associates' campaign, 152 former AT&T Wireless employees gained certification on Sept. 29. They will be represented by CWA Locals 7019 and 7026.

District 7 Organizing Coordinator Jana Smith-Carr said the workers were assisted in a joint effort by Local 7019 in Phoenix and Local 7026 in Tucson. The workers' inside committee were assisted by Local 7019 Organizer Scott Ramsey and volunteer organizer Rosemary Aguayo. Local 7026 Organizers Judy Brown and Susan Aceves worked with volunteers from Cingular in Tucson.

The former AT&T Wireless workers' campaign to have a say in their jobs and working conditions like 27,000 other CWA-represented employees at Cingular is driven by their desire for respect, plus concerns over health care costs, job security, protecting their pay, and other issues. By deciding to join with Cingular's other CWA-represented employees, these worker's concerns will be immediately addressed and improved through CWA's contract with Cingular.