Contracts for about 40,000 unionized AT&T landline workers represented by the Communications Workers of America expired over the weekend. Four divisions are governed by separate contracts; 9,000 AT&T Mobility workers ratified a new contract last week.

The landline workers had voted March 31 to authorize a strike if new contracts weren't reached, but they have continued reporting to work under the terms of the now-expired contracts as negotiations continue:



"We’re committed to continuing to work together with the union to reach an agreement that will allow us to continue to provide and protect" jobs, Marty Richter, a spokesman for AT&T, said in an e-mail after 5 p.m. [Sunday.]

[CWA Vice President Seth] Rosen summed up the goals of all four negotiations: "We have a very clear common goal that when it is all added up — wages, benefits, the complete package — that every single member, from the lowest paid to the highest, will be better off at the end of the contract than he or she was at the beginning."