CWA Members on Strike at Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and other news

Members of CWA Locals 14842 and 14827 who work at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette went on strike last night in response to unfair labor practices by management, including unilateral changes to their health care plan. They were joined by members of Teamsters Local 205/211 and Pressmen’s Union GCC/IBT Local 24M/9N. The workers are responsible for designing, printing, distributing, advertising sales, and accounts receivables at the newspaper. They have been working without a collective bargaining agreement since March 2017. Despite extensive negotiations, Post-Gazette management has refused to engage in good faith bargaining, and the workers have not had a pay raise in 16 years.

The workers’ health insurance was terminated on October 1 after Block Communications, the owners of the Post-Gazette, refused to pay an additional $19 per employee per week to maintain the existing coverage. “They have shown our members nothing but disrespect. Enough is enough,” said Ed Mooney, Vice President of CWA District 2-13. “We will stay on strike until the Post-Gazette recognizes our value to the paper and stops violating our rights.”

Members of CWA Locals 14842 and 14827 walked off the job at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in response to unfair labor practices by management, including unilateral changes to their health care plan.

CWA Call Center Organizers Build International Solidarity

CWA call center organizers joined over a hundred other union organizers and members from 26 countries at the Organizing for Change at Contact Centres conference hosted by UNI Global Union. The conference, held in Antwerp, Belgium, put forward a workers’ agenda for the radically changing nature of the call center industry and the physical and mental health risks of remote work. The CWAers participated in discussions on several topics, including organizing in a work-from-home environment and in an industry with an annual turnover rate of approximately 40%, the challenges presented by AI, and company monitoring and surveillance of employees working from home.

CWA call center organizers met with union organizers from BPO Industry Employee Network (BIEN) in the Philippines and FEDOTRAZONAS in the Dominican Republic at the UNI Global Union Organizing for Change at Contact Centres conference to discuss the shared struggles telecom call center workers face across the globe. Workers organizing with BIEN and FEDOTRAZONAS are supported by CWA’s Eduardo Diaz Union-To-Union International Solidarity Fund.

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Apple

A group of Apple retail store workers, who are organizing with CODE-CWA, released a new video discussing the safety concerns they face at work. The workers reported being harassed, threatened, and even physically assaulted. “I have been present for some customer outbursts. Customers getting violent, throwing things,” said one worker in the video. The Apple workers also feel that the company has let them down by not taking their concerns seriously and addressing the growing safety issues retail workers face. The video features workers who are part of the organizing effort to form a union at Apple. “We need a union because we have nobody else who is listening to us,” said a worker in the video.

In addition to ignoring workers’ concerns about safety, Apple is also interfering with the workers’ right to organize and violating federal labor law prompting several unfair labor practice charges. Following a four month long investigation, the National Labor Relations Board New York region formally issued a complaint against Apple last week for interrogating staff and restricting the posting of union fliers. “It is past time for Apple’s senior management to respect its retail employees and stop its unlawful and heavy-handed attempts to prevent them from forming unions,” said CWA Secretary-Treasurer Sara Steffens.

This week, CWA filed another unfair labor practice charge alleging managers at Apple’s Penn Square location in Oklahoma informed workers that support for the union was futile, threatened to withhold benefits from workers supporting the union, engaged in unlawful surveillance, interrogated workers, and subjected workers to captive audience meetings. The Oklahoma City Apple retail workers are slated to conclude their vote on joining the Apple Retail Union/CWA on Friday, October 14. “At the end of the day, we all just want respect on the job and freedom from intimidation. Apple workers like us deserve a chance to negotiate and envision our future at the company we love so we can all thrive,” said Michael Forsythe, who works at the Penn Square store. The workers are committed to keep fighting for a voice on the job and call on Apple executives to immediately stop the intimidation and retaliation against them and agree to a fair, neutral process for workers to decide to join a union.

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Raven Software/Activision Blizzard

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has found merit on multiple issues raised by an unfair labor practice charge filed by CWA against Activision Blizzard for discriminating and retaliating against workers at its Raven Software studio. The determination affirms that Activision withheld raises from their lowest-paid workers on the basis of their union activity. During its investigation of the charge, the NLRB also discovered that Activision executives attempted to undermine the union by soliciting grievances from the bargaining unit during the organizing drive.

The workers at the Raven Software studio, members of Game Workers Alliance/CWA who are currently in contract negotiations with the company, said in a statement, “Despite their best efforts, Activision’s constant attempts to undermine its workers’ and impede our union election have failed. We’re glad the NLRB recognized that Activision acted illegally when they unequally enforced policies by withholding company-wide benefits and wage increase from Raven workers for organizing. We want the company to bargain a fair contract in good faith and to move past all of the cheap – and illegal – tricks they tried to pull to prevent us from forming our union.”

American Airlines

Passenger Service Agents at American Airlines, members of the CWA-IBT Association, kicked off bargaining this week in Dallas. Wages will be a key issue in negotiations because pay rates are well below industry standards. Members at stations across the country showed their support of their bargaining teams by posting their solidarity selfies on social media.

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Duquesne Club

Workers at the Duquesne Club, members of CWA Local 13500, reached a tentative agreement for a new three-year contract that provides across the board wage increases for all employees. The contract also includes improvements to the employee 401(k) plans, implementation of a new club-funded short-term disability plan, partial carryover of vacation time, no changes in the health plan, and the Club’s commitment to absorb the full six percent health care premium increase that was scheduled for 2023.

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Catalist

Tech workers at data software company Catalist, who recently organized to become members of CWA Local 2336, have ratified their first contract becoming the first progressive data and analytics firm with a staff union and a contract. In a statement, the Catalist bargaining committee said, “We formed a union in order to guarantee that Catalist workers are empowered to participate in building a more equitable, inclusive Catalist. We have been heard at the negotiating table and, together with Catalist management, have drafted a contract that further enshrines the voice of the Catalist workforce.”

CWAers in Florida Ramp Up Their Election Mobilization

CWA political activists in Florida have been ramping up their efforts to mobilize and build support for pro-worker candidates in the upcoming midterm elections. They have been engaging in door-to-door member canvassing in South and Central Florida for the general election. Earlier this week, teams of members went out to knock on member household doors in Miami and Orlando to build support for Charlie Crist, who is running for Governor; Val Demings, who is running for U.S. Senate; and other CWA-endorsed candidates. Members in Miami are also participating in a new Political Activist Training class.

CWA Local 3108 activists are building support for pro-worker candidates in Florida.

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Vote for Pro-Worker Candidates This Election Season

The midterms are coming up and we have the opportunity to elect candidates that put the interests of working families first. CWAers all over the country are mobilizing to build support for all of our endorsed candidates. It’s crucial that all CWA members take part in this effort, make our voices heard, and vote. To find out more about the CWA Political Program, view all of CWA’s endorsed candidates, and sign up to volunteer in your area visit CWA.org/Vote.

To check your voter registration status and get the information you need to vote, including polling place locations and resources to vote by mail safely and securely, visit aflciovote.org/vote.

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Join CWA’s National Day of Action to Re-Elect Keith Ellison

Join CWAers for a National Day of Action on Thursday, October 13, at 6pm ET, to phone bank for Minnesota Attorney General and long-time labor champion Keith Ellison.

Keith Ellison has a long history of supporting unions and workers during his career in Congress and his current role as Minnesota Attorney General. During his time in Congress, he fought against unfair trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a deal that would have opened the door to more outsourcing of good, union jobs. He has brought his commitment to workers to his role as Attorney General. He played a crucial role in helping protect CWA Jobs at Frontier Communications. In addition, he created the first ever unit at the Attorney General’s office to pursue wage theft against workers. He has also taken on the big corporations that have engaged in price gouging and he has not shied away from standing up to big tech companies like Facebook and Google, who prioritize profits over workers. Time and time again, he has walked the picket line with union members.

Join your fellow CWAers on the National Day of Action to phone bank together and re-elect one of our labor champions. Sign up here.

Workers, union representatives, and labor organizers from a range of industries gathered with U.S. Department of Labor officials at a first-of-its-kind summit held by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The Workers’ Voice Summit focused on health and safety problems affecting workers and the need to foster open dialogue to identify workplace problems and find solutions. Participants also discussed the benefits of advancing equity and making the department more accessible to underserved workers and their advocates.

Amber La Macchia, a senior quality assurance functional tester at Activision Blizzard; Troy Putman, a communications tower installation crew foreman at A&M Communications and a member of the Tower Climbers Union/CWA; and Micki Siegel de Hernández, CWA’s Deputy Director for Occupational Safety and Health, participated in the three-day summit. “I’m here to talk about ‘crunch’ in the game industry,” La Macchia told a reporter. “Game development is a very complicated process with a lot of people working together. Companies exploit the convenience of the passions found in most of the artists that work on video games through crunch, which tends to look like extreme overtime. It results in burnout. It sucks all the passion out of them. They never want to come back.” Activision Blizzard workers in Wisconsin and New York recently joined CODE-CWA.

Putman added, “Tower workers also face issues stemming from long hours, but that time is often spent hundreds of feet above the ground. Obviously our industry is a very dangerous, complicated industry. I’m here to be a pioneer in this industry. I’m passionate about it. Safety is a huge aspect we hope to fix.” “We need the agencies to hear from the workers who are actually doing the work and that’s a main reason we are here,” said Siegel de Hernandez. “You can be sure that CWA members and health and safety activists will continue to push for stronger worker protections and actions on the part of the agencies.”

During the summit, the workers had an opportunity to speak to various officials and present a formal statement in the listening sessions about the specific safety and health concerns impacting workers in their respective industries and urged officials to consider their concerns in policy making decisions.

On the left: Amber La Macchia, an Activision Blizzard worker speaking at a listening session during the Department of Labor’s Workers Voice Summit. On the right: Troy Putman, a communications tower installation crew foreman and a member of the Tower Climbers Union/CWA, standing with Doug Parker, Assistant Secretary for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration at the Workers Voice Summit.

Once again, CWA members have been negatively impacted by the destructive effects of late season hurricanes. On September 18, Hurricane Fiona made landfall in Puerto Rico, causing a power outage on the entire island and extensive flooding and landslides. Last week, Hurricane Ian devastated Southwest Florida and caused damaging floods elsewhere in the state and in the Carolinas. Click here for information on how to support members with a contribution to the CWA District 3 Disaster Relief fund online or via check.

In a major win for AFA-CWA Flight Attendants, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) finalized a rule requiring 10 hours minimum, non-reducible rest for Flight Attendants between duty days – finally implementing a 2018 law that will make aviation safer for over 100,000 Flight Attendants and the passengers in their care.

“Credit first and foremost goes to Flight Attendants on the frontlines who fought so hard for this moment and need this rest more than ever in the most difficult time to work our jobs in the history of aviation,” said AFA-CWA International President Sara Nelson. She added, “We have been successful in setting these rest standards in several contracts, but this raises the minimum standard for all Flight Attendants and airlines will have to meet that standard in 90 days. It’s about time! As aviation’s first responders and last line of defense, it is critical that we are well rested and ready to perform our duties.” Read more here.