- February 6, 2025
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The crowd of people walking near South Williamson Boulevard at The Pavilion had a clear message — they wanted to see change at AT&T.
This group of communications workers and union members had come out to rally for a better contract with AT&T after the company announced there would be layoffs of about 1,600 techs and customers service representatives nationwide.
The rally, held on Friday, Feb. 9, took place on the heels of the Communications Workers of America starting contract negotiations with AT&T Mobility this month. Phil Farruggio, an AT&T retail sales consultant and the union president in Port Orange, said the goal is to support the bargaining team as they work to create a new contract that includes more protection, better pay and job security to ensure more workers won't be laid off.
According to Farruggio, there is also a concern about contracting out work to third party franchises, which would take away full-time work for current employees. He added that outsourcing jobs does not give employees an incentive to stay.
"We want our members to be middle-class, we don't want our members to struggle in this industry," Farruggio said. "We want to show this company that our union members here that are affected by the contract are unified and strong."
AT&T benefited from the the Republican-led tax bill passing in Congress, which cut the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. Due to the tax bill, AT&T announced many employees would be receiving $1,000 bonuses. However, according to Farruggio, the amount had originally been higher, saying that "$1,000, to me, is a slap in the face."
Farruggio explained that he had been told companies should be able to give their employees a $4,000 bonus.
"We're dealing with a company that doesn't really value its employees," Farruggio said. "They treat us like a number."
Keith Schippmann, an AT&T service tech in Port Orange, said since he first started he has seen benefits being taken away and workers getting fewer rights. According to Schippmann, when he started with the company there were 48 people doing the same job he was doing between New Smyrna Beach and Port Orange. Now, that job is done by 10 people.
"They're worried about putting money in the CEO's pocket and the stockholder's pockets," Schippmann said. "I think keeping the customer is way more important than trying to layoff people so you can make the stock prices go up for a year."
Yennifer Mateo, a member of the Volusia and Flagler American Federation of Labor - Congress of Industrial Organizations, said negotiations for a new contract in the southern regions began about a week ago. The contract covers District 3, which would affect nine states, including Florida. Mateo noted that there is no timeline for how long negotiations could go on.
"With a company like AT&T, they never want to answer to what workers demand, like better pay," Mateo said. "This is a fight to keep the few rights as workers we have. We're in a fight for our lives at the moment."
However, according to Josh Leclair, president of the Volusia Flagler AFL - CIO, the rallies aren't solely about Port Orange or Volusia County, it's about supporting workers throughout the country.
"We consider an attack on one of our afflict jobs an attack on all of us," Leclair said. "When there's instances like this we have to all show show solidarity."
