CWA Exposes Frontier’s Dangerous Use of Subcontracting Companies and other news

Verizon Wireless

A majority of workers at Verizon Express in Portland, Oregon, have voted for union representation with CWA in an official National Labor Relations Board election. The Portland workers, who were inspired by the groundbreaking union win in Everett and Lynnwood, Wash., are the first Verizon Express store workers in the country to win formal union representation. Despite Verizon’s attempts to squash organizing efforts, workers remained united and overcame the telecom giant’s anti-union tactics. With their newly formed union and a voice on the job, Verizon Express workers are preparing to bargain for fair compensation, comprehensive health benefits, wage increases, appropriate staffing levels, and safe working conditions. The workers in Portland join a growing movement of Verizon retail workers who are organizing across the country.

Google/BDS Connected Solutions LLC

Matt Beck, member of Alphabet Workers Union-CWA Local 1400 and a worker at Google Fiber contractor BDS Connected Solutions LLC, won a settlement with the company after filing an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board. Beck was eligible for a four percent raise in May 2022. When the raise was not given, management told Matt that union members were no longer eligible for raises. The charge was filed in response and last week Beck won a settlement to receive the raise and missed backpay.

Beck works at the Google Fiber location in Kansas City, Mo., where a majority of the workers voted to form a union with AWU-CWA in March 2022, becoming AWU-CWA’s first recognized bargaining unit. Since then, the workers have been meeting with management to secure their first union contract.

American Red Cross

Last week, workers at the American Red Cross (ARC) at four Virginia locations in Blacksburg, Lynchburg, Salem, and Roanoke voted to join CWA Local 2204. The workers who work as Collections Specialists at ARC were able to conduct a successful election due to the labor neutrality language CWA members at Red Cross had negotiated in their contract.

Orchard Park Veterinary Medical Center

Over 30 workers at the Orchard Park Veterinary Medical Center, who recently voted to join CWA Local 1168, held a rally last week after the employer fired several pro-union workers for unjust causes. The workers took this action to send a clear message to management that union busting is unacceptable and that they will not be intimidated or back down from organizing. Members from CWA Local 1122 and the Kaleida Health bargaining committee, composed of members from CWA Local 1168 and 1199SEIU, as well as members from Starbucks Workers United and other supporters also joined the rally in solidarity with the workers.

CWAers in Georgia Building Political Power

Last week, CWA District 3 activists from Georgia came together for an in-person political bootcamp training. Over the two-day training, participants learned about the decades-long strategic campaign corporations have engaged in to undermine workers’ rights, and worked on building critical skills including member-to-member organizing, volunteer recruitment, creating organizing plans, and much more. Attendees also discussed how to strengthen the CWA Political Action Fund (PAF) and discussed CWA’s national legislative efforts to fight for pro-worker legislation, as well as CWA’s field mobilization for upcoming elections.

CWA Members in Tennessee Fight Against So-Called “Right to Work” Amendment

In a new video released by the Tennessee Democratic Party, Yolanda Cunningham, member of CWA Local 3808 and CWA Tennessee Legislative and Political Director, spoke out against a constitutional amendment that will enshrine so-called “right to work” laws into the state’s constitution and urged voters to vote NO in the upcoming election. CWA members in Tennessee in coalition with other union members, activists, and community groups have been actively mobilizing to defeat this amendment. Right to work laws force unions to advocate on behalf of workers who haven’t paid their fair share in dues. They are part of the ongoing attempt by big corporations and their political allies to drive down wages and benefits by weakening the power of union workers.

Workers at the Department of Children and Families (DCF) in Trenton, N.J., members of CWA Locals 1037 and 1038, held a picket outside the DCF central office during a grievance hearing to demand the inclusion of clerical staff in the telework pilot program. Currently, the pilot program excludes 300 clerical staff who have an average of 16 years of service and are disproportionately women and people of color. In July, the workers delivered over 1,400 letters to Commissioner Christine Norbut Beyer urging the state to expand the program to the clerical workers who have already proven that they can effectively carry out their duties while teleworking during the pandemic.

CWA mourns the loss of Joshua Schulze, member of CWA Local 6171 and Customer Zone Technician for Frontier Communications, who died from electrical shock while performing his job last Wednesday. Josh lived in Brownwood, Texas and is survived by his wife and three young children. A donation page has been set up to help support his family.