Why Are Protesters Outside AT&T's Annual Meeting Today? Workers Want Higher Wages, Less Outsourcing

Hundreds of AT&T workers are rallying for higher wages and protesting the outsourcing of jobs outside the telecommunications giant's annual shareholders meeting today at Moody Performance Hall in downtown Dallas.The rally is organized by the Communication Workers of America, which represents more than 150,000 AT&T technicians, customer service and call center representatives and retail store employees. About 14,000 workers across five Midwest states are negotiating their contracts with AT&T. Union leaders argue that AT&T is cutting middle-class jobs in the U.S. and shipping them overseas, even as the company saves billions of dollars from tax reform. In a recent report, the union said AT&T is transferring call center jobs to low-wage workers in other countries and technician jobs to cheaper contractors. It said AT&T eliminated more than 16,000 call center jobs in the last seven years. But AT&T said it wants to reach a fair labor agreement and is committed to hiring additional union-represented workers in the U.S. The company had 252,000 employees as of Jan. 31, with 46 percent represented by unions, according to a regulatory filing.  Continue reading...