AT&T put forth their final offer this week to the thousands of workers represented by the Communications Workers of America who went on strike across the Southeast in August.

The communications company said in a statement that they have made “a strong final offer” and asked their employees on strike to “carefully consider this offer and to ask their CWA leadership to give them the chance to vote on it.”

Over 17,000 CWA-represented workers across nine southeastern states, including Alabama, have been on strike against AT&T since Aug. 16. Workers are demanding higher wages, affordable health care, and “improvements to work-life balance for the workers subject to mandatory forced overtime.”

AT&T said they are making a final offer because “after many discussions with the union, it seems clear to us that the current bargaining process is unlikely to reach a resolution any time soon.”

“We believe that this offer, if accepted, would provide our employees with competitive market-based pay that exceeds projected inflation. The Company is also offering to increase its financial contributions to employee health care and wellness by up to 25% per year,” the statement read.

AT&T said their offer included wage increases, improved health and retirement benefits and a lower cap on mandatory overtime for wire technicians.

But the union said the company’s claims were “misleading” and workers escalated their strike efforts, distributing leaflets outside of AT&T stores in Washington, D.C. and New York with plans to expand to dozens of other cities over the coming days.

“AT&T’s negotiators presented our bargaining committee with their 145 page so-called ‘final’ offer yesterday at 6 pm. Prior to that, they had not formally presented a complete economic package, and we had seen nothing on health care. When they presented the proposal at the bargaining table, they stated that they were willing to continue bargaining, and we provided a counter proposal at 11 pm,” said CWA President Claude Cummings, Jr. in a statement released Friday.

“The misleading message AT&T sent to CWA members this morning about their proposal and the status of bargaining amounts to direct dealing and is more evidence of the company’s continued bad faith. This type of conduct is what led to these workers going out on strike and it does nothing more than aggravate the situation.”

Meanwhile CWA-represented AT&T workers from California and Nevada also rejected a tentative agreement on Friday, which included wage increases, retirement benefits, increases in the company’s financial contributions and expanded tuition aid.

CWA West, which represents 8,400 employees who primarily work in technician, call center, and other customer service roles, said 58% of its members voted against the agreement because it did not meet their needs.

“We will be meeting with the members to understand their concerns and go back to the bargaining table to negotiate a contract that addresses those concerns. We will use all the tools at our disposal to win a fair contract, including a strike if it becomes necessary,” said CWA District 9 Vice President Frank Arce.