AT&T says 29,500 workers failed to ratify contract

AT&T Inc., the biggest U.S. telephone company, said about 29,500 employees represented by the Communications Workers of America failed to ratify a tentative labor agreement reached Dec. 14.

"We regret that this very fair and reasonable contract wasn't ratified," Marty Richter, a spokesman for AT&T, said in an interview. The company disclosed the failed vote in a filing today with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The tentative agreement covered employees in the union's District 3, AT&T's Southeast region. The contract called for pay to increase by 9 percent over three years, AT&T said in a Dec. 14 statement.

"We will continue to work to reach an agreement," Richter said.

AT&T, based in Dallas, fell 18 cents to $25.36 today in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

A call made after hours to Candice Johnson, a spokeswoman for the CWA, wasn't immediately returned.