Taking care of the CEO

Taking care of the CEO

EDITOR:

Here’s a good question: Why is it OK for AT&T, a profitable that’s leading the industry, to cut workers’ health care benefits and while giving our CEO and his family free health care for life?

Answer: it’s not OK.

When you call AT&T for help, I’m one of the people who will go out in the cold, rain, and the snow and fix your phone. I like my job, I’m good at it and I’m proud AT&T is so successful.

Our economy might be struggling, but AT&T isn’t.

AT&T wants to triple what some of us pay for health care, even though it earned $12.9 billion in profits last year, more than $3 billion in the first quarter of this year, and turned in an outstanding first quarter performance, according to Wall Street.

AT&T is trying to use the bad economy as an excuse to cut our families’ standard of living. That’s not right.

Instead of shifting even more health care costs to workers and retirees on fixed incomes, AT&T should get behind the effort for real national health care reform. Not only would it save about $600 million a year and give a good return to shareholders, but it would be stopping the free ride that some companies get by not contributing at all to employee — and family — health care.

If working families have less in their paychecks, that’s less we’ll be able to spend in our communities. Think about what that will do to an economy already in recession.

RICHARD SCHRADER

Canfield

X The writer is president of Communications Workers of America, Local 4300.