AT&T Looking to Gain Concessions from Unions on Healthcare :: Labor Link

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Friday, March 13th, 2009

AT&T Looking to Gain Concessions from Unions on Healthcare

AT&T Inc., the largest employer of union labor in the country, is renegotiating contracts that cover 112,500 workers and is looking to reduce health care costs.

Five New York region union contracts expire on April 4. A sixth that expires a few months later is being negotiated at the same time.

AT&T wants concessions on health benefits, saying the wireline workers pay far fewer of their health care costs than employees on the mobile phone side. Retirees’ health benefits are also likely to be affected. AT&T spends $5.5 billion a year on health care; its 2008 revenue was $124 billion.

AT&T said the workers covered by the expiring contracts pay 8 % of their yearly health care costs, compared to the national average of 34 %. Total health care costs are also higher because the benefits structure doesn’t promote responsibility, he said. The company wants to phase in a deductible at a level determined by an employee’s wages.

A 2007 survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the hourly wages of phone company line installers and repairers at $26.80 per hour, compared to $19.50 per hour at cable companies.
Source: AP

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