NEWSLETTER
September 15, 2022
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Last week, CWAers from across District 9 gathered for the District 9 Meeting and Leadership Conference.
The conference took place on the heels of a successful six-day grievance strike at Frontier Communications in California. After CWA District 9 Vice President Frank Arce shared opening remarks, CWA President Chris Shelton delivered a video message applauding the members’ victory and encouraging them to continue to build solidarity and fight for a fair contract. He also stressed the need to fight back against the company’s increasing and dangerous use of subcontracting companies to perform critical broadband infrastructure work. “We saved them from bankruptcy, and now they are paying us back by trying to get rid of our members. Well, we are not going to allow it. We will do whatever we have to do to make sure that it doesn’t happen,” said Shelton. He also highlighted the critical role CWA District 9 members are playing in winning and advancing key district and nationwide campaigns.
Shelton was followed by Mobi CEO Justen Burdette, who spoke about the importance of labor standards in the telecom industry. The week prior, workers at Mobi, Hawaii’s largest regional wireless company, joined CWA after the company voluntarily recognized the union, a monumental step forward for an industry overrun with union-busting and retaliation.
CWA Secretary-Treasurer Sara Steffens attended in person and spoke to participants about the importance of taking advantage of the moment we are in and building on our recent organizing wins. “We have been through so much, and finally the sun is rising. And workers are stepping into the sunshine. So let’s make the most of this moment we have fought for and dreamed of for so long. Have fun together. Lean into the wins. Cultivate joy. Because when we stand together, we are unstoppable,” said Steffens. She also touted CWA’s success in supporting workers’ organizing in the tech industry.
Conference participants also heard from CWA District 4 Vice President Linda L. Hinton, CWA District 6 Vice President Claude Cummings Jr., IUE-CWA President Carl Kennebrew, AFA-CWA International Secretary-Treasurer Dante Harris, and Western Region At-Large Executive Board Member Keith Gibbs.
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Wells Fargo
A new video from More Perfect Union highlights the challenges that workers at Wells Fargo are facing in the workplace and why they are forming a union with CWA to address them. The video features workers who are organizing as Wells Fargo United, a campaign with the Committee for Better Banks-CWA. “The main four issues to summarize that we see at Wells Fargo are transparency as it relates to pay, safety as it relates to our physical safety or COVID based safety, equal application and adherence to policies and procedures, and then finally, the diversity and inclusion issues that we’ve heard so much about recently in the press,” says Wells Fargo employee Jesse McCool in the video.
Last year, CWA Local 9412 members at Beneficial State Bank successfully won the first union contract in the banking industry in 40 years. The workers at Wells Fargo hope to build on that win and organize to form a union and negotiate a contract that protects their interests as well as the interests of their consumers. They have created a petition to help build support for their campaign and put pressure on Wells Fargo to refrain from union-busting tactics against Wells Fargo workers. Click here to sign the petition.
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United We Dream
Workers at United We Dream (UWD), the largest immigrant youth-led network in the country, won voluntary recognition after a majority of eligible staff showed their support for union representation with CWA. “We’re so proud to win our new union today and join CWA. My coworkers and I started organizing because we believe all workers should have a seat at the table. These efforts have been led by and for immigrant workers of all backgrounds. This is a victory not just for us as UWD employees but for the entire labor and immigrant rights movements,” said Anto Chávez, UWD employee and a leader on the union organizing committee. The workers look forward to bargaining their first contract.
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Condé Nast
Workers at Condé Nast scored a major victory last week, as more than five hundred staffers at a dozen publications secured voluntary recognition of Condé Nast Union, part of the NewsGuild of New York (TNG-CWA Local 31003). The new company-wide union win means that workers at every Condé Nast publication have union representation. The Condé Nast Union covers full- and part-time editorial, video, and production workers at Allure, Architectural Digest, Bon Appétit, Condé Nast Traveler, Epicurious, Glamour, GQ, Self, Teen Vogue, them., Vanity Fair, and Vogue, as well as Condé Nast Entertainment. It also includes more than 100 subcontracted employees who work for a third-party staffing agency. Read more here.
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Sunrise Movement
Workers at the Sunrise Movement, a youth-led movement organization advocating to stop climate change and create millions of American jobs, unanimously ratified a bargaining agreement. “As workers across the country are realizing their power and forming unions, Sunrise Movement management and staff are proud to have reached an innovative and rigorous bargaining agreement with the CWA. We are thankful for all of the workers and bargaining members whose vision and drive in these last nine months have made this a reality,” said the organization and CWA in a joint statement. The workers, members of CWA Local 1180, negotiated a contract with groundbreaking protections against discrimination and innovative time off and leave provisions.
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General Electric
Workers at General Electric’s (GE) factory in Lynn, Mass., members of IUE-CWA Local 81201, secured a new tentative agreement to increase pay and stop management from delaying raises for 540 workers. The new agreement reforms a wage progression system implemented by the company in 2016. The system could have forced workers to wait ten or more years before being eligible for the top pay rate at the facility, regardless of skills or productivity. The agreement comes at a critical time for the workers in Lynn and other locations as they struggle with rising inflation and fight back against GE’s plan to break up the company. “As we prepare to negotiate our national union contract for GE workers across the country, this sends a powerful message to the company that we can organize effectively against stagnating wages and keep good jobs in our community. We are not stopping here, the goal is a fair National Contract that puts money where it belongs, in workers’ pockets, and brings taxpayer-funded work back where it belongs in our domestic U.S. manufacturing facilities,” said IUE-CWA Local 81201 President Adam Kaszynski.
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New 2022 Poll: Workers’ Rights are a Top Election Issue
A new Senate battleground states poll commissioned by CWA and the Worker Power Coalition, the largest U.S. labor-progressive alliance in the country, shows that 87% of young voters under 40 say that a top issue motivating them to vote is support for workers’ rights. The polling results suggest that candidates could increase participation among young voters by embracing the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act and focusing on lifting workers’ wages. Support for the PRO Act cuts across party lines even in the tightest toss-up races in the country.
“Now more than ever, young workers see unions as their best shot at higher wages and better working conditions, but until we pass the Protecting the Right To Organize Act, they are up against employers who are retaliating with impunity,” said CWA Secretary-Treasurer Sara Steffens. “If young workers are going to turn out and vote for Democrats, they need evidence beyond just words of support that candidates are on their side. A Senate vote to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize Act will prove that Democrats mean what they say when it comes to workers’ rights.” Read more here.
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CWA Member Raises Concerns About Pension Takeover at Senate Banking Committee Hearing
Colleen Riedel, a Lumen Technologies retiree, submitted testimony to the Senate Committee On Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs raising concerns about the recent transition of pension annuities for 22,600 Lumen retirees and beneficiaries from the Lumen Combined Pension Plan to the Athene Annuity and Life Company. The Athene Annuity and Life Company is owned by Apollo Global Management, a private equity firm that has also entered into a separate agreement with Lumen Technologies to purchase operations in 20 Midwest and Southeast states in a $7.5 billion deal that will impact 1,200 CWA-represented workers.
Riedel described how she started experiencing significant disruptions in the administration of her benefit since the transition, including the loss of protections under the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, a federally chartered corporation that preserves pension benefits in the event that the plan cannot make payments. “This issue of a government backstop is especially concerning to me because private equity companies like Apollo Global Management have a track record of prioritizing short-term profits at the expenses of workers and retirees,” she said. She also thanked Committee Chairman Senator Sherrod Brown (Ohio) for calling attention to risks retirees face from these schemes. “I have been glad to see that Chairman Brown has been a leader on this issue and has pushed for greater transparency and analysis of the increasing role that private equity companies are playing in the administration of life insurance and annuity benefits,” said Riedel.
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Last Sunday, September 11 was the 21st anniversary of the attacks on 9/11. We remember those who were tragically taken away from us including our CWA, NABET-CWA, and AFA-CWA heroes who were working in the Twin Towers for the Port Authority of NY/NJ, on top of the twin towers servicing TV transmitters, on the job at the Pentagon, and in the skies on the flights that crashed that day. We honor the CWA telecom workers, nurses, 911 operators, traffic enforcement agents and supervisors, public sector members, broadcast engineers and news crews, journalists and media workers, volunteers, and all of those who played a crucial role in responding to this tragic event and rebuilding our country.
Every year, this day is also a reminder that the impact of this tragic day is still being felt by those who developed severe illnesses or have died as a result of the 9/11 attacks and the work they did in the years since. CWA encourages all eligible members to take full advantage of the programs that are available for 9/11 survivors and responders as soon as possible. Information about these available programs and 9/11 remembrance events can be found here.
Unfortunately, the World Trade Center Health Program, which provides health care and medical monitoring for 9/11 responders and survivors, is facing an impending $3 billion shortfall and could stop accepting new members as early as October 2024 unless Congress acts. A coalition of concerned activists, including responders, survivors and their families, are mobilizing to put pressure on Congress to pass the bipartisan 9/11 Responder and Survivor Health Funding and Correction Act, to ensure that all those impacted by 9/11 receive the care they need and deserve, now and into the future. Click here to find out more and take action to tell your representative to support the bill.
Leaders and members of AFA-CWA held their official 21 year remembrance services at the Pentagon with the 2022 AFA-CWA Honor Guard. They were joined by Flight Attendants from the Association of Professional Flight Attendants. AFA-CWA members also held their annual September 11 remembrance ceremony in Shanksville, Pa. They were joined by First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and her sister, Bonny Jacobs, a long time AFA-CWA United Flight Attendant. In addition, AFA-CWA President Sara Nelson delivered this powerful video message honoring the heroes of 9/11.
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Last week, new CWA Shop Stewards from CWA Local 9413 in Nevada and CWA Local 9003 in Southern California completed the CWA Stewards Training and are now ready to protect our members’ rights on the job.
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CWA members across District 1 came together to participate in the New York Labor Day Parade and March, which took place for the first time since 2019. CWA President Chris Shelton, CWA Secretary-Treasurer Sara Steffens, CWA District 1 Vice President Dennis Trainor, AFA-CWA President Sara Nelson, and AFA-CWA International Secretary-Treasurer Dante Harris joined other CWA members and tens of thousands of workers representing more than 200 unions and constituency groups in a powerful show of labor solidarity on the 140th Anniversary of the first Labor Day parade in the United States. U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh served as the Grand Marshal of this year’s parade.
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