Communications Workers of America - Members of the Communications Workers of America are building worker power on the job and in our communities.

CWA Issues Response to J.D. Vance Crossing Picket Line in Pennsylvania

Beth Allen — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 12:32:42 -0400

CWA District 2-13 Vice President Mike Davis issued the following statement in response to J.D. Vance’s decision to cross a picket line to publish an op-ed in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Post-Gazette has repeatedly broken federal labor laws and is due in federal court on Monday, October 28th to face the consequences. CWA members have been on strike at the paper since October 6th, 2022 in what is now America’s longest running strike.

With less than two weeks before Election Day, J.D. Vance showed his true colors when he crossed our picket line to publish an op-ed in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – a newspaper due in federal court in a matter of days to face the repercussions for repeatedly violating U.S. labor laws and the rights of workers.

Working people in Pennsylvania are watching to see whose side J.D. Vance is really on, and his actions today spoke volumes. Just like Donald Trump, J.D. Vance is a scab.

Vance wants the trust of the American people to uphold our laws and our constitution, yet he has crossed a picket line to align himself with a lawbreaking newspaper publisher that sought to undermine our laws and the constitution itself in order to evade the consequences of violating workers’ rights.

Our strikers have bravely held their picket lines against the Post-Gazette for more than two years in America’s longest running strike. By crossing their picket line, J.D. Vance insulted the striking workers, insulted the people of Pittsburgh, and insulted working people across the country.

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CWA Members at AT&T Southeast and West Ratify Strong New Contracts

Sarah Splitt — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 10:30:08 -0400

CWA members at AT&T West and Southeast ratified strong new contract agreements last week.

Thanks to a historic month-long strike by members in the Southeast and strong mobilization efforts supported by CWA members and retirees across the country, the new contracts include substantial wage increases and significant improvements to overtime and scheduling practices.

“These new contracts,” said CWA President Claude Cummings Jr., “provide our members with family-supporting wages and benefits and address longstanding concerns about overtime and overscheduling, which not only kept them away from their families and unable to plan their own lives, it negatively affected the quality of service our members want to deliver. Our unity across our union made these monumental contracts possible. Now, over 25,000 AT&T workers across 11 states have a strong contract that reflects their value and will undoubtedly help them keep our communities better connected.”

“For 30 days, our members stood up and made sacrifices to fight for the fair contract they deserve. Because of our members' solidarity and tenacity, AT&T workers now have the support they need to make AT&T a leader in closing our nation’s digital divide,” said CWA District 3 Vice President Richard Honeycutt.

“With this new contract, our members are well positioned to support their families, with improved wages and schedules. They are also ready to get to work bringing high-speed broadband internet to homes and businesses throughout the region now that the Biden-Harris Administration has approved both California and Nevada's ‘Internet for All’ proposals,” said CWA District 9 Vice President Frank Arce. “I’m happy to say CWA District 9 is celebrating with our union siblings in District 3 over our strong contracts.”

Click here to read the full press release and get more details on the contracts.

Over 4,000 CWA Healthcare Workers Prepare to Strike

Sarah Splitt — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 10:17:50 -0400

Members of the University Professional and Technical Employees (UPTE-CWA) Local 9119 working for the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) are voting on whether to strike in response to unfair labor practice charges (ULP) filed against the university. Members hold positions at the Parnassus and Mission Bay campuses, as well as other UCSF worksites across the city, including San Francisco General Hospital.

The decision comes after UPTE-CWA filed a ULP charge against the University of California for failing to provide critical information on systemwide vacancies, despite being legally obligated to do so. UPTE-CWA members assert that this lack of transparency exacerbates the staffing crisis across the system, leaving workers to deal with the severe consequences, including worsening emergency room wait times.

"As a UCSF worker, I’ve seen firsthand how the growing staffing crisis hurts our patients,” said Matt Stephen, a UCSF Physician Assistant and UPTE-CWA member. "Every day, my colleagues and patients feel the impacts of longer wait times and poorer quality of care. The UC continues to take no action to address the staffing crisis but has been quick to implement higher healthcare costs for workers.

Among the workers preparing to strike are physician assistants, optometrists, pharmacists, case managers, rehabilitation specialists, mental health clinicians, clinical lab scientists, staff research associates, IT workers, and more. They support UC students, provide world-class patient care in UC hospitals and medical centers, and work on pressing scientific issues including climate change, food sustainability, virology, genomics, and beyond. UPTE-CWA will announce the results of the strike vote on October 31.

UPTE-CWA Local 9119 represents over 19,000 healthcare, research, and technical workers across the University of California system.

Workers Unite to Get Out the Vote for Pro-Worker Candidates in Michigan

Sarah Splitt — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 10:09:33 -0400

On Saturday, CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. joined other labor leaders for two events in Detroit, Mich., to turn out the vote for candidates who support working people, including U.S. Senate candidate Elissa Slotkin. The group kicked off a labor walk in the morning, then joined Vice President Harris for a rally that afternoon. (Pictured left to right) CWA President Claude Cummings Jr., Lee Saunders (AFSCME), April Verrett (SEIU), recording artist Lizzo, Randi Weingarten (AFT), Liz Shuler (AFL-CIO), and Becky Pringle (NEA).

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Labor activists from several unions, including CWA, AFT, SEIU, NEA, AFSCME, and the AFL-CIO, gathered for a briefing before heading out to knock on doors.

Kamala Harris Thanks Union Members

Sarah Splitt — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 10:07:45 -0400

Vice President Harris understands the contributions union members make to our country and fights for working people every day. Watch and share her inspirational video thanking unions for making our nation more equal, fair and free.

Frontier Communications Workers in Connecticut Vote to Strike

Sarah Splitt — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 10:04:42 -0400

CWA members in Connecticut working for Frontier Communications have voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike, with 95 percent of voting members in favor. CWA Local 1298 members cited the company’s use of outside contractors as a particular concern to be addressed at the bargaining table. The strong strike vote sends a message to Frontier management that the members back their bargaining committee and will do what it takes to get the contract they deserve.

The Frontier Connecticut contract, which was set to expire on October 19, has been extended 90 days and will now expire on January 18, 2025. CWA Local 1298 President Dave Weidlich Jr. has stated that the bargaining team will continue to negotiate in good faith, and he expects Frontier to do the same.

Frontier Communications has undermined the bargaining unit for CWA members in Connecticut by offering voluntary buyouts for members who choose to leave and assigning work to contractors. In a new move, Frontier has recently begun using contractors for customer-facing installations in homes and businesses, work traditionally done by bargaining unit members. Members are concerned that contractors are being utilized to reduce the bargaining unit.

Several CWA Locals, including 1170, 1122, and 1111, are currently in bargaining with Frontier.

Members of CWA Local 13571, who work at Frontier Communications Pennsylvania, will begin bargaining their next contract on November 6.

AFA-CWA Pushes Back on United Plan for $1.5B in Stock Buybacks

Sarah Splitt — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 10:00:32 -0400

Last week, in response to United Airlines’ announcement that it would be spending $1.5 billion on stock buybacks, AFA-CWA members and supporters picketed outside the United headquarters at Willis Tower in Chicago, Ill.

The company’s plan to buy back stock boosts financial ratios and benefits shareholders, including United executives. Meanwhile, Flight Attendants at United are the last work group at the company without a contract, having been met with delays in the bargaining process.

“United management could end the games and agree to the contract Flight Attendants have earned tomorrow. But instead, they are choosing to jump back in the greed pool with this century’s robber barons. Make no mistake, United Airlines Flight Attendants are ready to do whatever it takes to get the contract we deserve,” said AFA-CWA International President Sara Nelson and AFA-CWA United Master Executive Council President Ken Diaz.

Click here to watch a video from the action.

CWA Members Highlight Candidate’s Anti-Worker Record

Sarah Splitt — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 09:50:20 -0400

Earlier this month, CWA activists from Locals 4320 and 4502 joined other labor siblings to protest outside a fundraiser for Bernie Moreno, a Republican running against labor champion Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) for the Ohio senate seat this November. Members held signs reading “Bernie Moreno screwed over workers” outside the event.

Moreno has never held public office. He has a record of stiffing workers at the car dealership he owned before deciding to go into politics and destroying evidence in order to get out of paying his workers the overtime they earned.

Help turn out the vote in Ohio and other key states! Click here to sign up to make calls.

CWA activists from District 4 joined other labor activists to protest outside a fundraiser for Bernie Moreno, the Republican candidate running against labor champion Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).

Conan the Librarian on Two Years of Striking

Sarah Splitt — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 09:44:30 -0400

Stephen Karlinchak, a.k.a. “Conan the Librarian,” has worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette since 1990 and reflects on two years of striking. He writes, “As the strike, the longest ongoing one in the country, reaches its once unfathomable two-year anniversary, I am still here, with plenty to think about and plenty for which to be grateful, believe it or not.” Stephen continues, saying, “During the past 24 months, I haven’t been dependent 'on the kindness of strangers' but on the support and strength of my [union] brothers and sisters.”

You can read Stephen’s full story here.

In October 2022, journalists and other news workers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette walked off the job over unfair labor practices committed by their employer. No one expected this to become the longest-running strike in America, but more than 700 days later, workers are still locked in a fight against an employer the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has already ruled against for multiple breaches of federal labor law. The NLRB has filed for an injunction to force the Post-Gazette to comply with its rulings, and the hearing will take place on October 28. Strikers plan to rally outside the courthouse prior to the hearing, then attend the proceedings.

To support striking workers and families, you can do any of these three things today:

Federal Judge Rebuffs Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Claim That U.S. Labor Law Violates Constitution

Sarah Splitt — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 15:58:30 -0400

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – A motion by representatives of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette arguing that the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) is unconstitutional was rejected by U.S. District Court Judge Cathy Bissoon on Tuesday.

The Post-Gazette (“PG Publishing Co.”) is facing an injunction hearing on Monday, Oct. 28, in which the National Labor Relations Board will seek a ruling from Judge Bissoon ordering and enjoining the PG to stop violating federal labor law, bargain with its workers in good faith, and pay for their health care costs until a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA), or health care plan, is agreed.

With its rejected motion, the PG joined Elon Musk, Trader Joe’s, and Amazon in claiming that the NLRA, which has regulated labor relations in the U.S. since its passage in 1935, violates the constitution. Judge Bissoon dismissed these arguments.

“While PG's positions are not outlandish by contemporary standards, this Court declines its invitation to ignore nearly a century's worth of settled jurisprudence. See NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp., 301 U.S. 1 (1937),” Bissoon wrote in her order. “Although respect for stare decisis appears less ‘in vogue’ as of late, there is something to be said for tradition. The undersigned will continue to respect it.”

Striking pressworkers, advertisers, and mailers have been on strike since October 6, 2022, following the PG unilaterally canceling the health care of its production and distribution workers over an increase in costs of $19 per week per person.

Editorial workers in the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh joined them on Oct. 18 on an unfair labor practice strike stemming from the company’s illegally unilateral decision to tear up the Guild’s contract in July of 2020 and from the company’s other illegal behavior.

“The Post-Gazette’s owners have gone beyond breaking the law and have argued that there should be no law at all,” said CWA District 2-13 Vice President Mike Davis. “It would be laughable at this point if it wasn’t causing real damage to the Post-Gazette’s workers and their families and undermining the news coverage that the people of Pittsburgh deserve. We are pleased that Judge Bissoon has rejected the Post-Gazette’s frivolous attempt to eliminate the National Labor Relations Act so we can focus on the real issue—the Post-Gazette's failure to follow the law.”

Monday’s hearing in front of Judge Bissoon is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. at the federal courthouse at 700 Grant St. in Downtown Pittsburgh.

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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.

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