CWA Mourns the Death of Local 1186 Member and other news

On October 26, three CWA Local 1186 members who work at the Buffalo Sewer Authority were shot while driving a work vehicle on New York Interstate 190 in Buffalo. One of the members, 22-year-old Keyshawn Gault, was killed. No arrests have been made in the incident, which remains under investigation.

“Our coworkers, who were violently attacked while working, are men who are loved and respected by their coworkers for their hard work and dedication to not only work but to each other,” said CWA Local 1186 President Salvatore Falzone. “The fact that they are so young is not to be overlooked either. As we continue to mourn the loss of one of our members, we also look forward to a speedy recovery for our other coworkers. We would like to thank Mayor Byron Brown, the Buffalo Police Department, the New York State (Police) Troopers, and the administration of the Buffalo Sewer Authority for their help in working with us throughout this.”

CWA District 1 Vice President Dennis Trainor also commented on the tragedy: “It is incomprehensible that Buffalo has again been affected by a senseless shooting. CWA will do everything in our power to support our members who work for the Buffalo Sewer Authority, including the victims and their families.”

Donations to support Keyshawn’s family can be made here: https://everloved.com/life-of/keyshawn-gault/donate/.

Yesterday, CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. joined labor leaders and workers to speak before the bipartisan Senate AI Insight Forum on Workforce, convened by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

As artificial intelligence programs are widely adopted in the workplace, CWA has led efforts to regulate AI and ensure that new technologies contribute to improved services and shared prosperity. Our union has centered our response to AI on the voices and experiences of our members, which is why CWA’s Executive Board established a Committee on Artificial Intelligence, a group of members from across our union who meet weekly to study the impact of AI on our workplaces and draft recommendations on how to address the challenges AI presents.

President Cummings told the senators that government policy should recognize collective bargaining as an essential safeguard in managing the changes and challenges that AI will bring to America’s jobs and workplaces. Collective bargaining and a union contract give workers a voice in how AI is implemented within their jobs and serves as a counterbalance to corporate control over technology.

Government policy can further bolster the voice of workers by setting standards for safe and ethical adoption and use of AI systems by prohibiting abusive surveillance in the workplace, protecting worker privacy, and ensuring that decisions made by AI systems can be appealed to a human.

By bringing the voices and experiences of CWA members in his testimony before the Senate forum, President Cummings made a powerful case for how AI regulation that is guided by the voices of America’s workers can promote American innovation that builds on workers’ expertise and protects rights and dignity in the workplace.

President Cummings confers with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) at the Senate AI Insight Forum in Washington, D.C.

As state and local governments deploy American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds and finalize plans for $65 billion in broadband funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), CWA Broadband Brigade members and local activists are mobilizing to ensure states use these funds to create good union jobs.

In Michigan, members released a new digital advertisement featuring CWA Local 4009 member James Dennis. He explains the importance of using well-trained local workers for broadband infrastructure projects and encourages viewers to ask state officials to devise high-quality broadband deployment plans. These plans should ensure federal funds go toward building durable infrastructure and generating quality jobs.

“With this historic funding, Michigan has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to not only bring reliable internet service to thousands of residents, but to create good, local jobs in the process,” said Linda L. Hinton, Vice President of CWA District 4. “Now is not the time to rely on low-road contractors that lack adequate safety training, which puts the state at risk for the buildout to be done haphazardly. Michigan needs to use these public dollars to hire a well-trained, local workforce to ensure broadband is deployed equitably, safely, and properly so it can provide Michiganders with reliable service for generations to come.”

In Delaware, CWA Local 13101 President Mike Watson joined Governor John Carney to celebrate progress on broadband expansion in the state and preview next steps. “CWA members are proud to have played a role in Delaware’s successful use of ARPA funds to connect an additional 6,000 Delaware homes and businesses to high-speed internet,” said Watson. “This is just the start. With an additional $107 million in federal funds from the bipartisan infrastructure bill, Delaware can ensure that everyone in our state has access to reliable, high-speed internet services. And by setting high labor standards for broadband infrastructure projects, we can make sure it is done right and create good, family-supporting jobs in the process.”

Delaware Local 13101 President Mike Watson with Governor John Carney and Delaware Broadband Office Executive Director Roddy Flynn at a news conference celebrating progress on broadband expansion in the state.

In Texas, the City of Dallas adopted CWA’s labor standards in the recently released request for proposals (RFP) for the Dallas Broadband and Digital Equity Strategic Plan, which includes $43 million in federal funding from ARPA to provide high-speed internet access to underserved communities. These standards incentivize companies to include plans for using a directly employed, appropriately skilled and credentialed, local workforce, as opposed to a subcontracted workforce; paying prevailing wages and benefits; and taking steps to prevent the misclassification of workers.

Activists from CWA Local 6215 and the CWA District 6 Legislative-Political team worked tirelessly to urge the City of Dallas to adopt labor standards for broadband buildout that would create more good union jobs with high safety and training standards.

In San Antonio, Texas, Geronimo Guerra, President of CWA Local 6143, is working to expand internet access and quality jobs and serves on the board of the Ready to Work partnership which helps connect workers with jobs and training opportunities in high-demand occupations. Last week, Guerra participated in a Department of Labor roundtable discussion with U.S. Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su focused on how to ensure that federal investments support equity, job quality, and worker organizing to create good union jobs for Latinx workers. He shared CWA’s national commitment to building pathways to good careers in broadband for people from underrepresented communities.

Guerra told Administration officials, “The funding for building out broadband is going to help make sure that unserved families in Texas communities, who are disproportionately Latino, will have the opportunity to access job opportunities, health care services, and educational resources that are out of reach without high-speed internet access.”

Geronimo Guerra, President, CWA Local 6143 (center) speaks at the Department of Labor in Washington, D.C.

United Airlines

Last week, thousands of AFA-CWA United Flight Attendants, members, and allies picketed at 19 airports worldwide to demand United management negotiate a industry-leading contract without delay.

Like workers across the country, United Flight Attendants are fed up with management’s greed. There’s always money for C-Suite raises, but it’s penny-pinching for the 26,000 Flight Attendants who make the airline fly. At a time of record revenue, management’s public comments don’t match the reality at the negotiating table.

Flight Attendants are United and ready to do whatever it takes for a contract now!

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New York Times Tech Guild

Members of the Times Tech Guild (TNG-CWA Local 31003), the largest union of tech workers with collective bargaining rights in the country, walked off the job on Monday afternoon in protest of the New York Times’ flagrant disregard for their rights as union members. Times management has continually attempted to coerce members to comply with its unlawful return-to-office policy. The Tech Guild is in the process of negotiating its first contract.

“The Times is now not only refusing to recognize our rights to bargain on return to office but is now going a step further and using it as a tactic to intimidate us,” said Kathy Zhang, unit chair for the Tech Guild. “This afternoon’s work stoppage is to send The Times’ senior leadership a strong, unmistakable message: We will not stand by and allow you to trample on our rights.”

Times management has fought the Tech Guild every step of the way since they first announced their intention to be a union in 2021. It’s a pattern of behavior by the company; that’s one of the reasons why the Tech Guild is bringing attention to their contract fight to the public with their walkout.

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Scholastic

Workers at Scholastic, the children’s publishing powerhouse, walked out yesterday in protest of the billion-dollar company’s refusal to pay its workers fair wages. The workers are members of the Scholastic Union (The NewsGuild of New York/TNG-CWA Local 31003).

“What we are asking for, from a billion dollar company, is enough to live on as employees,” said Sandra Roldan, a member of the Scholastic Union. “We have members who have had to use their retirement savings to keep up with the inflationary costs and rent increases since the pandemic. That’s unacceptable for a company who professes to be dedicated to the ‘highest quality of life in community and nation.’”

The union’s last collective bargaining contract with Scholastic expired in May 2022. Employees have been bargaining with the company since last October.

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America’s Test Kitchen

Members of CWA Local 1400 who work at America’s Test Kitchen’s mobilized for an informational picket outside America’s Test Kitchen (ATK) headquarters in Boston on Tuesday to shed light on stalled contract negotiations with ATK leadership.

“We’ve made some progress negotiating our first contract, but there has been little movement on much-needed salary increases,” said Lauren Robbins, a senior print production specialist at ATK and member of CWA Local 1400. “Most of us are working our dream jobs, but for some, the financial compensation is a nightmare. I’m here to fight for everyone to be paid what they are worth.”

Along with fighting for fair pay, union representatives have been negotiating to address expensive health care costs, commuting costs, understaffing, high turnover, and other working conditions that ATK had failed to effectively address.

CWA Local 1400 members at America’s Test Kitchen mobilized for an informational picket on Tuesday – in person and online – to shed light on stalled contract negotiations with ATK leadership.

North Carolina Political Activist Training

CWA Members from locals 3603, 3611, 3607, 3640, 3642, 3645, 3680, and 3683 recently participated in CWA’s Political Activist Training where they developed their skills to build, fight, and win for working people.