Cleveland County families say AT&T strike impacted phone service

CLEVELAND COUNTY, N.C. — This is the third week that nearly 15,000 workers across the Southeast have been on strike against AT&T, and now some local neighbors say the strike impacted their service.

Some customers in Cleveland County told Channel 9′s Dave Faherty they didn’t have landline phone service at their homes, and they weren’t sure when they’d get it back. On Wednesday afternoon, Faherty learned their service had returned.

Workers in Morganton told Faherty the company isn’t bargaining in good faith. Many of them are technicians who make the repairs, and they’ve been out striking since Aug. 16.

The workers are striking with their union, the Communications Workers of America, but some said they want to get back and help folks with the outages.

One family near Caesar had been without landline phone service for weeks, and they said when they tried to contact AT&T, they were told it was because of the strike.

That family went out and bought a flip phone for the elderly couple who lives there. They told Faherty they were frustrated with the outage and said it was a safety concern for elderly folks in the area.

“We need that phone because that’s their lifeline, if they need to call 911 and the neighbors, they can’t do it,” said Nita Willis. “And we’re really upset over it but they keep saying, ‘Oh it’s not our fault.’ Yeah, it is their fault.”

Before service was restored, Crystal Gillan, Nita’s sister, said she hadn’t gotten word from AT&T on progress.

“You never see or hear from them or anything. Hasn’t heard a word. Have they said why? They’re on strike,” Gillan said.

Scott Bumgarner is the president of the local Communication Workers of America and a technician for AT&T. He says the families who’ve lost service should contact the company about losing service.

“We want the company to bargain in good faith,” Bumgarner said. “AT&T has contingency plans in place but they’re not working too well. The sooner they’ll bargain with us in good faith the sooner we can get back and serve the customers.”

A spokesperson for AT&T told Channel 9 that the outage was caused by a cable being cut by a third party.

In response to the ongoing strike, AT&T sent the following statement: “The Communications Workers of America (CWA) District 3 has decided it no longer wants to involve a skilled federal mediator to assist in negotiations. This decision was unexpected, since withdrawing from mediation seems inconsistent with the union’s allegation of unfair labor practices.

“We thank the mediator for their efforts throughout this process. Regardless of whether a neutral third-party is present, progress will not be made without a willingness to compromise.

“As we have said from day 1, we are focused on reaching a fair and competitive agreement that benefits our hard-working employees as quickly as possible, and this won’t change. In the meantime, we will remain prepared for all contingencies to ensure our customers receive the excellent service they deserve.”

By Wednesday evening, the family said their phone service was back. Nita Willis said her parents got their service back around 6 p.m.

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