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February 13, 2007
One of the state’s utility regulators wants some answers from AT&T over its decision to lay off or relocate more than 170 employees since its mergers with BellSouth and SBC.
Kris Mayes, a member of the Arizona Corporation Commission, which regulates the state’s utilities, wrote a letter to the Texasbased telecommunications firm saying the decision to cut jobs in the Valley contradicted assurances from AT&T that no significant layoffs were likely to occur. Mayes said officials told the commission that few redundancies existed with the companies’ operations and, therefore, cuts or facility closures were probably unnecessary.
“It certainly looks like AT&T said one thing and is now doing quite another,” she said. “I personally consider 170 layoffs a significant number of job losses.”
In the letter, Mayes makes a number of requests from the company’s associate general council Wayne Watts. She asked why the layoffs were necessary, what the firm is doing to prevent more cuts and if it will add jobs. She also asked company officials to disclose the number of remaining workers in the state and how that figure compares with the number of workers in 1999.
Mayes also said she wants to know what the company’s plans are with two AT&T facilities — one in Mesa at 1355 W. University Drive and one in Phoenix at 211 W. Monroe St. Mayes said AT&T’s assurances were one of the reasons the commission approved the mergers, which the company said were necessary to avoid job cuts in the first place. Mayes voted for the mergers.
Jerry Lawrence, a spokesman with AT&T, said he couldn’t comment on the matter because the company was responding.
Lawrence said there were currently no announcements on further job cuts or closures pending in the state including the facility at 1355 W. University Drive in Mesa. That facility once housed hundreds of workers. Lawrence wouldn’t disclose the number of workers nor the number of positions it has eliminated.
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