Claude Cummings Jr., president of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union, released the following statement in response to Elon Musk’s SpaceX initial public offering (IPO):

Today, Elon Musk’s SpaceX is officially the largest IPO in stock market history. The company’s whopping $1.7 billion valuation is not a reflection of the company’s actual worth but of Elon Musk’s exaggerations about his AI business and corrupt capture of federal subsidies for his satellite broadband subsidiary. As if that weren’t bad enough, Wall Street’s facilitation of Elon Musk’s financial shell game will force this investment through index funds into the retirement and college savings plans of working Americans everywhere, whether they want to invest in SpaceX or not.

Musk’s Starlink, which is a part of SpaceX, successfully lobbied the federal government to redirect funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act’s $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program to subsidize satellite broadband, an inferior technology compared to fiber-to-the-home, which leaves rural communities behind.

CWA represents workers in the telecommunications industry who know what high-quality broadband looks like. This is why CWA filed a letter with the SEC urging the agency to scrutinize whether low Earth orbit satellite companies like Starlink can fulfill their multimillion-dollar promise to truly provide reliable internet service.

Investors should be wary of billionaires and trillionaires eager to steal infrastructure dollars from the American worker. CWA members will not be fooled by the bosses and billionaires who overpromise and underdeliver.

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About CWA: The Communications Workers of America represents working people in telecommunications, customer service, media, airlines, health care, public service and education, manufacturing, tech, and other fields.

cwa-union.org @cwaunion

Highlights of the tentative agreement include wage increases, improved working conditions providing an increase in time between calls, and more.

Huntington, W.Va. ‒ DirecTV workers, represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), have reached a tentative agreement for a new contract that covers 300 customer service call center workers in West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Minnesota, and Colorado.

The new proposed four-year contract includes a 13.4 percent compounded wage increase throughout the life of the contract; an increase in the time interval between calls, doubling the current duration; and quality, affordable healthcare, preserving prescription drug co-pays.

Top priorities for workers at the bargaining table include lower health care costs; fair working conditions—including more than a ten-second break in between calls; and wages that reflect the real cost of living. The union members demonstrated their commitment to these goals by voting to authorize a strike if necessary in April 2026.

Details of the tentative agreement contract are being provided to Local leadership, and a ratification vote will be held on June 26.

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About CWA: The Communications Workers of America represents working people in telecommunications, customer service, media, airlines, health care, public service and education, manufacturing, tech, and other fields.

cwa-union.org @cwaunion

Last week, CWA members and retirees from across the country gathered in Washington, D.C., for two events: the Presidents’ Meeting and the Legislative and Political Conference.

CWA Local presidents and members of the CWA Executive Board began with the Presidents’ Meeting on Monday, June 1. CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. updated attendees on the current state of our union and plans for continued organizing in our core telecommunications sector. Presidents had the chance to debate and vote on pressing issues from the Credentials, Appeals, and Finance committees. CWA Secretary-Treasurer Ameenah Salaam also delivered her Financial Report.

The following day, President Cummings opened the two-day Legislative and Political (LP) Conference, which featured a host of notable speakers, including House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Rep. Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Sen. Ruben Gallego (AZ), Rep. Greg Casar (TX-35), and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker. Members also heard from Minnesota Representative and AFA-CWA member Kaela Berg (MN-55B), who is running for Congress in MN-02, campaigning on a pro-union, pro-worker platform.

 
Pictured left to right: Senator Ruben Gallego (AZ), AFA-CWA member and congressional candidate Kaela Berg (MN), and Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker spoke directly to conference attendees.

President Cummings spoke fiercely against attempts by the current administration to disenfranchise millions of American voters after the Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais. “We are seeing, in real time, white supremacists gerrymandering Black districts out of existence, stripping voters of their rights,” said Cummings. “All because they know their anti-worker, anti-family policies will never win votes from the majority of Americans.

“You may have heard me say this before, but I keep a slip of paper from the so-called ‘good old days.’ It’s my father’s poll tax receipt. In those same ‘good old days,’ Black people who wanted to exercise that most basic right had to pay to be able to vote. Today they call it the SAVE Act, but it’s the same. People who can barely make ends meet being asked to find money for passports and certified birth certificates.

“The right to vote is precious. It should never be taken for granted, and we should never allow it to be taken away at all. We will not go back to those dark days.”

Click here to watch President Cummings’ Legislative and Political Conference speech in its entirety.

 
CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. brandished his father’s poll tax receipt from 1942 as a reminder of the struggles Americans have overcome for the right to vote.

Representative Casar chose our Legislative and Political Conference to unveil his landmark legislation, the “Double the Wage for Overtime” Act, which, if passed, will amend the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to require employers to pay double a worker's regular wage for every hour worked over 40 hours in a single week.

 
Rep. Greg Casar (TX-35) took the stage to formally announce his “Double the Wage for Overtime” Act.

This proposed legislation fits perfectly into the CWA political agenda laid out by CWA Deputy Government Affairs Director Elena Lopez. The objectives of our Worker Power Agenda reflect the most pressing concerns of our members, as expressed in the issues survey, which over 6,000 members completed in the spring of 2026. The survey revealed major concerns over attacks on the ability of workers to join unions nationwide, affordable healthcare, artificial intelligence being used against workers, and the outsized influence of the wealthy in our political system.

To address these concerns, Legislative and Political activists will be pushing for a slate of bills outlined in the Worker Power Agenda, including the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act, and the No Robot Bosses Act. Click here to learn more about our legislative agenda and what it will mean for working people.

NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss (above, right) hosted a spirited and insightful panel discussion titled “Worker Power in the Age of AI” with (left to right) CWA Local 3519 Vice President Ylonda Sherrod, The NewsGuild of New York (TNG-CWA Local 31003) President Susan DeCarava, and Representative Chris DeLuzio (PA-17).

Attendees also got to hear from (pictured above, left to right) AFL-CIO Legislative Representative Tom Leibried; CWA Local 1122 Legislative and Political Chairperson and N.Y. Home Care Nurse Tori Henley; CWA Local 6186 member and candidate for Texas District 19 Kyle Rable; and Representative Steven Horsford (NV-04). CWA Public, Healthcare and Education Workers Vice President Margaret Cook (right) moderated the discussion titled “Fighting Back Against Attacks on Our Healthcare”.

Conference attendees participated in a large-scale run-through of the LP Department’s “Fighting Oligarchy” training, currently available to both CWA members and allies. Participants used an interactive mobile system to answer questions related to the role of money in our political system, how to identify abuses of power, and what workers can do to fight back.

Additionally, the conference featured personal stories​ from several CWA members directly impacted by the current administration’s war on workers, including Colleen Burns and Don Reno Intreglia, AFA-CWA members impacted by the Spirit Airlines implosion, which left thousands of Spirit Airlines Flight Attendants without jobs or healthcare. Attendees also heard from CWA Local 7603 Steward Jeremiah Clever, who saw his highly successful apprenticeship program gutted by the Trump administration’s anti-D.E.I. funding cuts, leaving his students and staff in limbo and searching for alternative funding streams.

Members met in the mornings for conference briefings before spending afternoons on Capitol Hill speaking directly to lawmakers.

Click here to watch videos from the CWA 2026 Legislative and Political Conference.

NewsGuild of New York (TNG-CWA Local 31003) members at global mass media company Condé Nast ended May with a momentous win for members. In November, the company illegally fired four Condé United leaders and suspended five other union members after they confronted the boss to demand answers about abrupt layoffs and the closure of Teen Vogue. These terminations were a blatant act of retaliation and an attempt to silence union journalists holding power to account.

Three of four members fired were reinstated as employees in good standing, awarded significant financial settlements, and had all disciplinary records expunged. They subsequently chose to resign on their own terms. A fourth Condé United leader declined a lesser settlement offer from the company. His case is still pending before the National Labor Relations Board.

The five illegally suspended workers received back pay and were cleared of all wrongdoing with their disciplinary records expunged.

“Our fight as a union is about more than a single contract; it is about ensuring workers’ rights to a just workplace,” said TNG-CWA Local 31003 President Susan DeCarava. “When employers attempt to undermine our rights, we will organize, fight back, and hold them accountable. This settlement sends a forceful message: workers united in solidarity have the power to push back against bullying, union-busting bosses, and to demand their workplaces be governed by respect rather than fear.”

Congratulations to our vindicated NewsGuild members!

On June 4, 2026, CWA Human Rights Committee members Vonda Wilkins, Antwan Marshall, and Timmia Wiley testified before the District of Columbia Council’s Committee on Transportation and the Environment in support of the Eric’s ID Amendment Act.

The proposed legislation would allow individuals with hidden or non-apparent disabilities to voluntarily display a butterfly symbol on their identification cards. The symbol would serve as a discreet way to alert first responders, law enforcement officers, and others that the individual may have a disability that is not immediately visible, helping to foster greater understanding, communication, and safety.

Wilkins, Marshall, and Wiley were joined by eight additional CWA Human Rights Committee members from across the country who stood in solidarity to advocate for the bill. Together, they shared testimony highlighting the importance of creating more inclusive communities and ensuring that individuals with hidden disabilities are treated with dignity and respect.

The CWA Human Rights Department is proud of the members who took action and spoke out in support of the Eric’s ID Amendment Act, helping to advance a safer and more accessible future for people with hidden disabilities.

 
Members of the CWA Human Rights Committee joined Linda and Eric Carpenter-Grantham (Linda in blue on the front row and Eric in burgundy behind her), original proponents of the Eric’s ID Law. They were joined by CWA District 7 Civil Rights and Equity Human Rights Chair Vonda Wilkins (center in blue jacket), TNG-CWA National Civil Rights and Equity Chair Tim Fitzgerald (right of Wilkins), CWA District 7 National Women’s Committee Chair Tayqwoiseceyon Akins (behind Wilkins), and CWA District 2-13 National Women’s Committee Chair Melissa Smith-Kupihea (back row between Wilkins and Fitzgerald).

In May, columnists, photographers, and reporters with the Idaho Statesman, represented by the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild (TNG-CWA Local 37085) and affectionately known as the “Idaho NewsGuild,” engaged in a one-day unfair labor practice strike over unfair wages and management’s use of generative artificial intelligence. Idaho members joined other news workers also represented by the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild, from the Tacoma News Tribune, the Tri-City Herald, the Bellingham Herald, and The Olympian, calling out owner McClatchy Media. Statesman members accuse McClatchy of engaging in bad faith bargaining and refusing to bring decision-makers to the table or even identify them.

Workers expressed major concerns over the use of AI in generating news content. The content, like an AI-generated story posted last year that mistakenly reported a local brewery had closed, undermines credibility in the newsroom. Wages are also a concern for members, as McClatchy is offering a paltry 2% wage increase, despite cost-of-living increases in rent and other essentials.

Idaho NewsGuild members have been bargaining since May 2025.

Despite all being represented by the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild, the Idaho NewsGuild workers are currently bargaining a separate contract from the other four news outlets who took part in the strike. Both bargaining teams have decided to put the current proposed contract language before the members to gauge where members stand on it. That vote will likely be held next week.

Every June, we celebrate the many contributions that our LGBTQ+ union siblings have made to the labor movement and to our country. This year, the AFL-CIO is spotlighting various LGBTQ+ workers who have worked and continue to work at the intersection of civil and labor rights in the United States.

From CWA, the AFL-CIO has chosen Miranda Schubert, a member of the United Campus Workers of Arizona (UCW-CWA Local 7065). Schubert also serves her community as a representative for Ward 6 on the Tucson City Council. She never fails to be a voice for the working class and will continue to advocate for labor and the LGBTQ+ community.

Click here to see other labor leaders being honored by the AFL-CIO.

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CWA District 2-13 Rallies for Children

Led by CWA District 2-13’s Human Rights and Women’s Committee Representative and Local 2336 President Melissa Smith-Kupihea, Locals are encouraged to participate in the “No Child Gets Left Behind” initiative. Members are being asked to donate travel luggage to shelters, foster care agencies, and transitional homes within the District so that children in need are able to move their belongings with dignity. Many children are forced to resort to black trash bags for transport.

The initiative will run through July 5, 2026.

For more information on this initiative, please email President Smith-Kupihea.

Last month, POLITICO management, after months of negotiations between our members at the Washington-Baltimore News Guild (TNG-CWA Local 32035), agreed to shut down two artificial intelligence "tools" that spread misinformation. Our members at POLITICO and E&E News announced in December of 2025 a landmark win in their arbitration case against POLITICO over the company’s unilateral introduction of artificial intelligence tools that bypassed negotiated safeguards and undermined core journalistic standards.

The company will shut down Capitol AI Report-Builder, a tool that produced branded policy reports for POLITICO Pro subscribers without any editorial review, despite generating glaring factual errors. It also will not revive the “Live Summaries” AI feature, which generated error-riddled unedited coverage of major political events, including the 2024 Democratic National Convention and Vice Presidential Debate. Both uses were found by an arbitrator in November 2025 to have violated POLITICO and E&E News members’ collective bargaining agreement.

“This is an extraordinary win not just for our members, but for everyone who believes journalism must remain in human hands,” said Ariel Wittenberg, the unit chair. “We refused to back down, and POLITICO heard us loud and clear that these tools do not belong in our newsroom.”

The arbitration case was one of the first major labor rulings in the United States to address the impact of AI on journalists’ work and sets a major precedent for the future of journalism in the age of artificial intelligence.

Click here to read more about this landmark case.