AT&T tried that with their CSRs back in the 90s. They had put a hiring freeze in place as they kept downsizing or eliminating jobs right and left. What hit us was, by contract, we were alloted one hour a day to read our updates and take care of personal commitments we couldn't handle on the phone. One day we're told that, due to an emergency situation, that hour was being temporarily dispensed with. We balked, but it was in the contract. We did that for more than a year, and I was so far behind in reading my updates, that I finally said enough is enough. I started taking that hour. a couple days of this and my supervisor came over and asked me why I wasn't taking calls.I told her I was taking my hour of commitment time the contract calls for. She said that we were still under emergency traffic conditions. I replied that after more than a year, it is no longer an emergency, that the company chose to exploit at the expense of the workers. I asked her how long was an emergency. It was well over a year. She countered that if I needed the time, I should have asked. I countered that I shouldn't need to ask, as it's written in the contract. From that day, not only I, but the thousands of workers that had been taken advantage of for more than a year started receiving out daily hour. Coincidentally, the following week, the company lifted their long term hiring freeze. I even helped train some of the new workers. Had a visit from our Local president about it. He couldn't get over how I pulled it off. Yeah, I could have gotten fired, but the legal wouldn't have been worth it for the company. Doesn't matter if you work in the office or in the factory. A strong union is the only protection a worker has.
