Dozens of AT&T employees say they're getting a raw deal from the Grinch this holiday season because they have no contract and negotiations have stalled.
Employees made sure people knew about their displeasure on Thursday morning by rallying with a bag of coal and a giant Christmas rat.
"Santa Claus is very unhappy. I hate passing out coal," Bill Henderson, president of the Communications Workers of America Local 1298, said.
But Santa's sack is full of coal because that’s what the Local 1298 says they're getting from AT&T.
"We've been negotiating since Feb. 24, over nine months. There's something wrong when we can't agree to when we want to sit down again to negotiate a contract," Henderson said.
Jobs with AT&T have trickled out of state periodically in smaller numbers, adding up to 1,200 jobs in the last 24 months, Henderson said.
"It kind of stinks when every day, you're wondering if you're next. And you know, a lot of it's also healthcare too. But without a job you've got no healthcare," Dave Beaudet said.
Local
The union says the loss in their ranks has led to reduced quality in service for customers around the state and they have received no indication from AT&T that they are ready to talk anytime soon. Unless keeping jobs in the state is part of the discussion, there's nothing to talk about, the said.
A spokesman for AT&T said they have "reached agreements with 97 percent of the 120,000 line workers around the country and Local 1298 remains the only local chapter that hasn't settled, blaming the lack of a contract on the union, not the company.
