Catherwood LibraryILR School

At 3 p.m. on Friday afternoon, AT&T wireless workers ended over four years of labor peace by going on strike. The employees walked out because the CWA and AT&T were unable to reach an agreement by the CWA’s deadline. The union is hoping for increased job security and no increase in employee healthcare contributions, but AT&T is under pressure from Wall Street to minimize costs because the company has seen a decrease in revenue. AT&T’s last labor strike lasted two days in 2012. However, the industry also saw 36,500 Verizon workers strike for seven weeks last year, necessitating former Labor Secretary Perez to mediate between the parties.