Communications Workers of America Local 3301 President Shane Ellis (left) and AT&T Facility Technician Donnie Alford (right) speak with candidate for Bowling Green Mayor Patti Minter during a strike on Tuesday.

Shane Ellis, a facility technician, fiber optic line “splicer” with AT&T and president of the local chapter of the Communications Workers of America, has spent the past few days on a picket line along Lovers Lane.

“I don’t want to be here (striking),” Ellis told the Daily News at the picket line. “I’d rather be splicing fiber.”

Ellis and the workers picketing along Lovers Lane make up part of a 17,000-CWA member strike taking place throughout nine southeastern states. The strike began Friday after workers accused AT&T of unfair practices that took place during contract negotiations during the summer, according to The Associated Press.

According to the AP, striking employees include service technicians, customer service representatives and those who work to maintain AT&T’s network.

CWA Local 3301 covers Warren, Simpson, Butler and Logan counties. Across this area, Ellis said, all 27 CWA workers have been on strike.

“Our contract expired Aug. 3,” Ellis said. “So, from Aug. 3 at midnight until today, we don’t have a contract.”

Ellis said the 27 workers who make up Local 3301 are one of the smallest of the seven CWA chapters in the state, with the chapter in Louisville numbering around 300.

Ellis said on Sunday, 16 members of the United Auto Workers Local 2164 picketed with CWA, and on Tuesday, strikers were visited by former state representative and candidate for Bowling Green Mayor Patti Minter.

Jimmy Bessinger has worked for AT&T as a wire technician in the area since 2014, and was present on the picket line Tuesday. Bessinger believes “there is a disconnect” and a lack of understanding on the company’s side.

“One of the bargaining things that someone brought up was a boot allowance for technicians,” Bessinger said. “The people on the company side didn’t even know we had a requirement for the types of boots we had to wear.”

He said the requirements for footwear are in place because technicians often need to climb poles as part of their job. Heels of a certain size are mandated and boots must meet quality requirements.

“How do you send people that don’t even know what our job does, (or) what it requires, to make decisions for us?” Bessinger said.

National union leaders filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board citing “unfair labor practice,” according to The Associated Press.

In a statement to the Daily News, AT&T described the complaint from CWA as “not grounded in fact” and stated it has reached three separate agreements covering over 13,000 employees.

“We have been engaged in substantive bargaining practices since Day One and are eager to reach an agreement that benefits our hardworking employees,” the company stated. “We’re disappointed that union leaders would call for a strike at this point in the negotiations, rather than directing their energies toward constructive discussions at the bargaining table.”

AT&T also said it has reached a “tentative agreement” with District 9 in the Western United States and remains committed to working with the Southeast district.