Broadband Service Outage Hits Charleston amid Ongoing Communications Workers Strike
In Charleston, South Carolina, the ongoing strike by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) District 3, has resulted in significant AT&T service outages. As the labor dispute enters its second week, both residential and commercial AT&T customers are struggling with connectivity issues, which have hit Charleston’s downtown area, James Island, parts of Mount Pleasant and West Ashley, and sections of Hanahan, Goose Creek, and Ladson.
Negotiations and Mediation
Contract negotiations between AT&T and the CWA began in late June, and despite several rounds of discussions, no agreement was reached by the time the existing contract expired on August 3. The union, representing approximately 17,000 workers – with nearly 200 in Charleston alone – subsequently declared a strike and filed a labor charge with the National Labor Relations Board, accusing AT&T’s negotiators of bad faith bargaining.
In a bid to resolve the situation, AT&T and the CWA agreed to meet with a federal mediator. A recent press release from the union announced that this meeting, their first mediated negotiation, had taken place.
Impact on AT&T’s Customers
Meanwhile, AT&T customers are bearing the brunt of the dispute. Prolonged service outages have hit several areas across the region. Charleston’s CWA Local 3704 carries significant leverage in these situations, due to its technical expertise and knowledge of the infrastructure. AT&T’s own outage map testifies to the breadth of the impact, detailing vast swathes of service interruptions within the city.
Local 3704 President Bill Johnson noted, “Our people are the ones out there that can fix this and get it up and going properly.” Pointing out that the workers have served and maintained many affected customers for years, he lamented the ongoing dispute and its effect on customers, stating, “We love our clients. We want them to have service, we want them to stay with AT&T, but we need AT&T to negotiate the contract in good faith with us.”
AT&T Response
In response to the ongoing labor dispute, AT&T released a statement on August 16th, saying: “We have various business continuity measures in place to avoid disruptions to operations and will continue to provide our customers with the service they expect.” However, the recent outages bring the effectiveness of these measures into question.
AT&T, when contacted about the cause of the outages and specifics of their business continuity measures, remained unavailable for comment at the time of this publication.
As the labor dispute continues, more serious and sustained outages might occur, likely causing further public and commercial disruptions across Charleston. This situation draws a sharp focus on the importance of both prompt resolution to labor disputes and the need for comprehensive and effective business continuity planning by telecommunication companies.
