Workers protest against closure of Meriden AT & T call centers

MERIDEN – Employees will demonstrate Monday against the planned closure of local AT & T call centers.

The company announced Friday its intention to close three call centers in Meriden. That would mean 89 local workers would have to move to Tennessee or Georgia to keep jobs at AT & T, according to a union press release.

Many of these employees have been with AT & T for more than 30 years, says the press release.

In a statement, AT & T said the company was consolidating some of the work done at Meriden into two other facilities in order to "increase efficiency and effectiveness". Most employees will keep their jobs, but affected employees will be offered employment in other facilities. and a $ 20,000 moving allowance, said spokeswoman Kate MacKinnon.

"We hope that as many affected employees as possible stay in the company," she said. "All those who refuse the move offer have the opportunity to look for another job within the company."

The transition will take place throughout the year, said MacKinnon.

US Senator Richard Blumenthal will join the affected workers at 10 am for a demonstration in front of AT & T's Deerfield Lane office.

"AT & T should have to explain why it goes from closure to closure, and disrupting the lives of the workers who gave so much to the company," said David Weidlich, president of CWA Local 1298, in a statement.

The union blamed the telecom company for shutting down call centers and firing employees across the country, despite $ 20 billion in savings from tax cuts. 2017, according to Communications Workers of America.

Last month, AT & T announced the closure of a call center in Syracuse, New York, affecting 150 people. The company has also closed call centers in Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin, while cutting 10,700 jobs since the adoption of the tax bill, according to a union statement.

"Being in front of the tax bill, making promises about jobs and then pushing workers to relocate off, there is simply no excuse," Weidlich said. "AT & T is profitable, there is a lot of work to be done in the company and no valid reason why these jobs need to be removed from Connecticut."

MacKinnon said that almost all employees in these other cases were offered another job in the company and a moving allowance.

She added that the company had invested $ 1 billion in the country last year after the tax cut, in addition to giving a $ 1,000 bonus to US employees, for a total of $ 200 million. The company has also invested $ 800 million in the medical trust for employees and retirees, as well as nearly $ 100 million in the AT & T Charitable Foundation, said MacKinnon.

AT & T also hired more than 20,000 people in the country last year, including over 150 in Connecticut.

"We are adding people to areas where we are seeing increasing demand from customers for products and services," said MacKinnon. "At the same time, technological improvements are driving increased efficiency. In some areas, the demand for our traditional services continues to decline and we sometimes have to adjust our workforce in some of these areas. "