Where should I start?
Q. What is the most important issue in this bargaining?
A. EVERYTHING!
We are tired of being AT&T's onshore sweat shop employees. Competitive wages? As compared to what? Working fast food maybe!
The time has come to show AT&T we mean business. Regardless of what center you work in, it is time for you to get with the program and start standing up with your co-workers for what is right. Even if you don't care about YOUR job, care about the rest of us and the people who NEED this job. The single parents, people bills bills, people with health problems, people trying to go to school to better their lives, people with families, people without families... EVERY SINGLE EMPLOYEE. The selfishness amongst employees MUST stop and it MUST stop NOW. You need to put your own needs aside and think of your co-workers for a moment. When you decide you are too lazy to wear a shirt or button supporting the union, snap out of that mindset and put it on before coming to work.
Some people may have other plans and options for their lives, but that is certainly not the majority of employees at AT&T. Many will be stuck in this job for a long time and may move up within the company at some point. But to move up, you have to be able to support yourself in the mean time. AT&T is making massive profits all year long and they are sharing none with their employees. But you can bet that the upper management is still getting a bonus and living high on the hog. We are the ones (slaves) who are working to make that money. We keep the customers coming back and paying their bills. When they are ready to give up, we get them up and running again. Why should be not be paid what we are worth?
Many of us would like to see a strike, and I think we may be headed in that direction. And if/when we do, I hope that people are not crossing the picket line and going in to work. Yes, it will suck to lose money for a few days, but sometimes we have to lose a battle to win a war. And kid yourself not, this is a war. We are fighting a machine that is playing on our fears. We, the employees, are what AT&T is comprised of. WE ARE AT&T.
Take this to heart each and every day. It will get better, but we have to force the change. We have to show the company that we mean business. Support your union reps and the bargaining team. They have much on their backs right now. Thank them.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Lets Talk Metrics
Metrics
AT&T tells us there is a certain amount of time we can spend on the phone with a customer. In fact, for each type of call (such as registration, no sync, browser problem, and security center install) there is a metric. A metric that has a time so low that it is unattainable. Are there people hitting these metrics? Sure, but they do NOT hit them consistently. What good is a metric if it is unattainable the majority of the time? You would think the company would open their eyes and see the error of their ways. Nope, not at AT&T!
You see, at AT&T, the customer does not matter. The only thing that matters is the bottom line. Here is the AT&T way of thinking. If a customer calls in for the same issue 3 or 4 times and spends too much time on the line with the rep, that customer has cost the company more money than they pay for their DSL per month. Even if you have the basic DSL service at $19.95 a month, the average Customer Assistant (CA) makes $12.00 per hour. At two calls into support lasting an hour, you have cost the company more than you pay in one month. All the same time, while the CA is providing you with service and help, we are getting the short end of the stick. Are some of us short on the phone with customer, sure. We all have bad days. But when we are paid peanuts for what we do and try and support a family, the stress levels run high.
I received an email from a customer saying "Hey, at least you have a job." Yes, and we are thankful that we have jobs. But does that give the employer a right to take advantage of us? Working at AT&T is like working in a sweat shop.
These metrics do the customer no good. CA's end up having to try and find a way to transfer the call to someone else, or refer the customer to the Geek Squad or the like. The customer gets angry because we refer them out to someone else. Why? Because we can be fired for staying on the phone too long with them.
This is not the only metric that CA's have. There are MANY metrics in the mix. But this metric is the one that impacts the customers the most.
Until customer start complaining, and I mean via emails, phone calls, and letters to AT&T corporate HQ in Dallas nothing will change. Help us to help you.
AT&T tells us there is a certain amount of time we can spend on the phone with a customer. In fact, for each type of call (such as registration, no sync, browser problem, and security center install) there is a metric. A metric that has a time so low that it is unattainable. Are there people hitting these metrics? Sure, but they do NOT hit them consistently. What good is a metric if it is unattainable the majority of the time? You would think the company would open their eyes and see the error of their ways. Nope, not at AT&T!
You see, at AT&T, the customer does not matter. The only thing that matters is the bottom line. Here is the AT&T way of thinking. If a customer calls in for the same issue 3 or 4 times and spends too much time on the line with the rep, that customer has cost the company more money than they pay for their DSL per month. Even if you have the basic DSL service at $19.95 a month, the average Customer Assistant (CA) makes $12.00 per hour. At two calls into support lasting an hour, you have cost the company more than you pay in one month. All the same time, while the CA is providing you with service and help, we are getting the short end of the stick. Are some of us short on the phone with customer, sure. We all have bad days. But when we are paid peanuts for what we do and try and support a family, the stress levels run high.
I received an email from a customer saying "Hey, at least you have a job." Yes, and we are thankful that we have jobs. But does that give the employer a right to take advantage of us? Working at AT&T is like working in a sweat shop.
These metrics do the customer no good. CA's end up having to try and find a way to transfer the call to someone else, or refer the customer to the Geek Squad or the like. The customer gets angry because we refer them out to someone else. Why? Because we can be fired for staying on the phone too long with them.
This is not the only metric that CA's have. There are MANY metrics in the mix. But this metric is the one that impacts the customers the most.
Until customer start complaining, and I mean via emails, phone calls, and letters to AT&T corporate HQ in Dallas nothing will change. Help us to help you.
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