AT&T is requiring more than 150,000 unionized employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19 before entering the workplace

September 30, 2021

AT&T is requiring more than 150,000 unionized employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19 before entering the workplace

A woman walks by an AT&T store in Washington D.C., the United States. — AT&T wants some of its union-represented employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
(Xinhua/Ting Shen via Getty Images

AT&T said it's requiring staff represented by the CWA union to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
The CWA union says it represents more than 150,000 AT&T employees.
This follows a mandate in August that required most AT&T managers to be vaccinated by October 11.
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AT&T announced on Wednesday that it would require most of its unionized employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 before entering the workplace.

The wireless carrier, one the largest employers of union-represented workers, said in a statement that employees who were members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union must be fully vaccinated by February 1, 2022.

CWA represents more than 150,000 staff at AT&T, the union says on its website.

This follows a mandate implemented in August that required most of AT&T's management employees to be vaccinated by October 11.

Insider has reached out to CWA for comment on the mandate.

AT&T said in its latest annual report that it had around 230,000 employees as of January 31, and that as of that date, just over a third were unionized. These workers were represented by the CWA and other unions, it said.

President Joe Biden's vaccine rules, announced September 9, require businesses with more than 100 employees to mandate vaccines or weekly testing. The administration has not said when this rule will come into effect.

Big Tech companies including Facebook, Google, and Microsoft, as well as major US airlines such as United and Delta, have also mandated vaccines for employees.

Some companies have incentivized employees to get vaccinated through bonuses and other benefits. Amazon announced in August a contest giving frontline workers the chance to win $500,000 in cash, cars, and vacation packages if they're vaccinated against COVID-19.

Meat company Tyson Foods said in early September that labor unions had agreed to support its requirement for US employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by November 1, adding it would offer new benefits to staff, including 20 hours of paid sick leave.

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