AT&T Employees to Strike

20,000 land line employees in California, Nevada and Connecticut walk, apparently over issues unrelated to the decreasing consumer demand for land lines.

AT&T Inc., the largest U.S phone company, said more than 20,000 land-line employees represented by the Communications Workers of America have begun a strike on the East and West coasts.

The West contract covers more than 17,000 employees in California and Nevada, while the East contract covers more than 3,000 in Connecticut, AT&T said today in a statement.

AT&T and its unions have clashed over everything from guaranteed weekend days off to wellness and health-care costs, though other factions represented by the CWA and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers have agreed to new contracts with the Dallas-based phone company.